Related
Related Books
Reviews
Reviews
For fans of the American West as well as true crime buffs.
Inventing the Pinkertons is a welcome addition to the history of the long Gilded Age. It will appeal to scholars and students interested in American popular culture, business-government relations, the ongoing struggle between labor and capital, and the formation of the modern surveillance-police state.
This detailed, fascinating book taps into the emerging popular culture focusing on the detective story to examine the transformation of the Pinkerton Agency from a Civil War spy operation into a professional detective agency and finally into a private strikebreaking army. O'Hara tells an important and interesting story.
This fine study not only tells the convoluted tale of the notorious Pinkerton Agency but also seats it in the context of a rapidly-changing American culture. As a read it rivals the best detective novel.
About
Book Details
Publication Date
Status
Available
Trim Size
6
x 9
Pages
216
ISBN
9781421420561
Illustration Description
12 halftones
Table of Contents
Introduction: Pinkerton's National Detective Agency, or heroes and villains of the Gilded Age
Chapter 1: In which Allan Pinkerton creates his agency
The making of Allan Pinkerton
Allan Pinkerton goes to
Introduction: Pinkerton's National Detective Agency, or heroes and villains of the Gilded Age
Chapter 1: In which Allan Pinkerton creates his agency
The making of Allan Pinkerton
Allan Pinkerton goes to war
Crafting the Pinkerton detective
Conclusion: a detective mythology
Chapter 2: In which Pinkerton Men become the anti-heroes of the middle west
Mississippi Outlaws
The Outlaw Jesse James
Wild bandits of the border
Conclusion: Highwaymen of the Railroad
Chapter 3: In which Pinkerton agents infiltrate secret societies
A Noxious Weed of Ireland
Among the Assassins!
Strikers, Communists, Tramps, and Detectives
Conclusion: Anarchists and the Detectives
Chapter 4: In which the Pinks serve as a private army for capital
The "Pinkerton Force" or detectives on trial
"Pinkerton is neither more nor less than the head of a band of mercenaries"
The Knights of Labor and the Pinkerton roughs
Conclusion: Anarchists and the detectives
Chapter 5: In which Pinkerton myrmidons invade Homestead
The Great Battle of Homestead
Mr. Frick's hired invaders
The Pinkerton system is a standing menace to order and good government
Conclusion: Pinkerton raiders, the advance guard to Poles and Hungarians
Chapter 6: In which the disgrace of Pinkertonism is subjected to public scrutiny
Protecting property from the" Tyranny of the Homestead Mo"
Protecting free labor from "this gang of Hessians"
Protecting society from the "Disgrace of Pinkertonism"
Conclusion: Lessons on Corporate management from the Mercenaries of the Oligarchy
Chapter 7: In which the frontier closes and Pinkerton practices are exposed
A Cowboy Detective and a Labor Spy
Surrounded with lice, Pinkerton detectives and other vermin
Pinking the Pinkertons
Conclusion: Anarchists and the Detectives, reconsidered
Chapter 8: In which the modern state takes on the duties of the Pinkerton agency
Birdy Edwards and the last myth of the Pinkertons
The modern state and the detectives
Stool Pigeons, Company gunmen, and the New Deal
Conclusion: Dashiell Hammett, Pinkerton
Conclusion: Pinkerton's Inc.
Featured Contributor
S. Paul O'Hara
S. Paul O’Hara is an associate professor of history at Xavier University. He is the author of Gary: The Most American of All American Cities.Resources
