Allan Pinkerton : America's legendary detective and the birth of private security / Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Jeffreys-Jones, Rhodri, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Pinkerton, Allan, 1819-1884.

Pinkerton, Allan.

Pinkerton's National Detective Agency--History.

Pinkerton's National Detective Agency.

Detectives--United States--Biography.

Detectives.

Private investigators--United States--Biography.

Private investigators.

Private security services--United States--History.

Private security services.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

xiv, 313 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Washington, DC : Georgetown University Press, [2025]

Summary:

"Allan Pinkerton was the world's most famous detective, and his pioneering techniques in crime detection, catching criminals, and undercover work defined the profession of private eye. Pinkerton was a man of great contradictions, accomplishments, failings, and always a self-promoter. Pinkerton and his Pinkerton National Detective Agency's (PNDA) filled a gap in the capacity of government from the local to the federal level to catch criminals, provide security to individuals or property, and conduct counterintelligence. Indeed, the PNDA became the principal model for the eventual creation of the FBI. The PNDA's work was also controversial and at times notorious, especially after multiple generations of heirs took over the firm after the founder's death. Strike breaking and union busting became some of the most lucrative lines of business but also caused a public and Congressional backlash against the firm. Both the founder and his sons engaged in threat inflation to promote business. On the other hand, the PNDA also chased the most high-profile criminals of the day including Jesse James and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. This is a biography of Pinkerton and also a book about how the private-security industry as we know it today has its origins in the PNDA"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

The Gorbals Man

The Revolutionary

Escape to America

Pinkerton & Co.

The Baltimore Plot to Assassinate Lincoln

A Secret Service

The Secret Service

Labor Violence : a New Source of Income

McParland Tilts at the Molly Maguires

Inventing Anti-Communism

Inventing Private Detection

Jesse James as Robin Hood

Death of the Founder

Odyssey of the Sons

Pinkertons in the Haymarket Trial

Homestead Lockout and the End of Legitimacy

Anti-Pinkerton Legislation

Sundance and the Setting of the Western Sun

The Trial of the Wobblies

The Verdict

The BofI : Challenge and Succession

Private Rivals

Of Harvard and Hammett

The LaFollette Inquiry

A Corporate Era

Who Was the Greatest Detective of Them All?

Conclusion.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 283-300) and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Jeffreys-Jones, Rhodri. Allan Pinkerton

ISBN:

9781647125844

1647125847

OCLC:

1461740394