"O'Hara argues that American capitalists used the Pinkertons to enforce new structures of economic and political order. Yet the infamy of the Pinkerton agent also gave critics and working communities a villain against which to frame their resistance to the new industrial order. Ultimately, [this book examines] how the histories of American capitalism, industrial folklore, and the nation-state converged"--Provided by publisher.

Introduction -- Pinkerton's National Detective Agency, or heroes and villains of the Gilded Age -- Chapter one. In which Allan Pinkerton created his agency : The making of Allan Pinkerton -- Allan Pinkerton goes to war -- Crafting the Pinkerton detective -- Conclusion : A detective mythology ; Chapter two. In which Pinkerton men become the antiheroes of the middle west : Mississippi outlaws -- The outlaw Jesse James -- Wild bandits of the border -- Conclusion : Highwaymen of the railroad ; Chapter three. 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 four. 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 five. 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 six. In which the disgrace of Pinkertonism is subjected to public scrutiny : Protecting property from the "tyranny of the Homestead mob" -- 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 seven. 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 detectives, reconsidered ; Chapter eight. 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.