In 1949, a reporter looking for a juicy crime yarn called the FBI and asked for a list of the toughest, most wanted men in America. The list was printed in The Washington Times and promptly stirred the imagination of post-war America. It garnered so much publicity that FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover created the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted List, which was to become one of the most powerful tools in the FBI’s crime-fighting arsenal. From its inception on March 14, 1950, through January 2000, a total of 458 men and women made the FBI’s Most Wanted List; 94 percent of them were captured and brought to justice.

The Encyclopedia of the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List: 1950 to Present features chronologically ordered profiles on each and every individual who has appeared on the list, from fugitive bank robber Willie Sutton (#11) in the 1950s to reputedly still-at-large Middle Eastern terrorist mastermind Usama Bin Laden (#456). Each entry includes the criminal's vital statistics, details of his or her crimes, length of time on the list, and methods used by the FBI to apprehend the fugitive. The author worked closely with the FBI in Washington, D.C. to produce a thrill-packed collection of the greatest crime stories ever told, while providing a valuable reference tool for those interested in the history of criminology, law enforcement, and the FBI.