Title:
The Pinkertons - The Detective Dynasty That Made History
Author:
James D. Horan
Publisher:
Crown Publishers, 1967
Library of Congress Catalog:
68-9098

The history of the Pinkertons, from their origins as an Irish cooper, to a multimillion dollar a year international detective agency, is one of the most interesting stories I have ever read. Horan makes a noticable effort to remain an objective historian, but even he cannot help but be captivated by the Pinkertons, father and sons.

The book is 516 pages of text, with another 34 pages of notes. It has a nice index, which makes the somewhat complex organization of the book more accessible. The story itself follows the life of Allan Pinkerton, his sons, grandson, and greatgrandson, into the near present day. To place certain stories in proper historical perspective, the book is not a simple retelling of events as they occured.

Reading the book, I found myself amazed to discover men whose character I would have expected to meet only in fictional tales of dashing heroes. Not just the Pinkertons themselves, but many of the men and women serving in that agency lived lives that seem legendary by today's standards.

Horan succeeds admirably in showing how these powerful people influenced the history of the USA, and how the young nation shaped their lives. Drawing on a wide variety of sources which are detailed in the book's thorough notes he creates a picture of a time and its people, and how they interacted.