Allan Pinkerton: America's Legendary Detective and the Birth of Private Security

by Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones

1 pages, Audio CD

Published December 23, 2025

About the author

Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones was born in Wales and grew up in the ancient town of Harlech. He attended the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, then the Universities of Michigan, Harvard and Cambridge, where he obtained his PhD. He was active in anti-apartheid, anti-Bomb, anti-Vietnam War and pro-civil liberties campaigns and aimed at a career in politics, but then settled down to family life and scholarly pursuits. He was a Professor of American History at the University of Edinburgh, where he is now emeritus. He played rugby in Wales, England and America, and remains a keen fan, his other interests being opera, vegetable gardening, and snooker.
Rhodri’s latest book, published in different formats in the United States and the UK, tells the story of how FBI detective Leon Turrou hunted down a German spy ring in 1938 and then conducted an effective propaganda campaign against the Nazis. He is currently writing a history of the CIA, and researching the Glasgow background of the private detective Allan Pinkerton.
For further information:
“Learning the Scholar’s Craft" (2020): https://hdiplo.org/to/E221
Wikipedia entry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhodri_...

Reviews

[Theresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Allan Pinkerton: America's Legendary Detective and the Birth of Private Security (Audio CD)
by Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones (
A clinical look at the history that is known and supposed of the Pinkerton influence. The book shows how Allan Pinkerton used stories to add to his renown and history to embellish it to intrigue and competence. This nature of the story teller shows how Pinkerton used his stories to gain not only business, but also to publicize his work.
The reader has a calm voice that brings gravitas to the story.

[Kai · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you Tantor Media for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own. I reviewed the audiobook narrated by Adam Barr

I enjoyed this book, but it was not what I expected. From the title, I was thinking it was going to be more about Allan Pinkerton and how he started his famous detective agency. I was very interested in hearing more about the man behind the agency. While I did get a little of what I wanted, the book largely focused on the agency itself, rather than going through Allan's life (which only took up the first half of the book) and what he had to do to get the agency off the ground.

I think perhaps a better title would have been something like Pinkerton - the Detective Agency and the man who gave it his name

The book does get a little repetitive because of the way it is set up, each chapter dealing with a particular case or theme, such as the labour wars in America or the Civil War. Occasionally, this means that information is repeated as it was relevant in more than one chapter. This is not a major drawback, but just something I found a little unnecessary or that could have been handled by structuring the book differently.

Many interesting matters, such as how Allan used his connections to secure business, how he negotiated big contracts for services, and how he used the rogues gallery to launch and grow his business, were not discussed. I would have liked more on this.

The narrator was excellent, though a little slow for my liking. Admittedly, I tend to listen to my books at 1.15-1.25, so most people are too slow for my liking. His delivery was excellent and kept me interested in this book. I have a feeling that if I were reading this, I might not have finished, but his reading style kept me engaged.

Overall, a good book if you are looking for an introduction to the man and the agency he gave his name to.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

The subject matter is undoubtedly interesting, and Jeffreys-Jones’ analysis of Pinkerton the man is balanced - neither lionising him, nor focusing exclusively on the adverse impacts of his work. This is clearly a strongly-researched book, and Jeffreys-Jones has gone to great lengths to untangle the mythology that has grown up (and been self-consciously planted) around the PNDA, while also explaining how and why the mythology occurred.

I particularly enjoyed that the book also serves as a history of the development of policing, detection, and the labour movement in the US, which makes it far more expansive and relevant to an understanding of US history than the title alone would suggest. 



The audiobook narrator was a wonderful choice for the subject-matter, his tone is perfect for a book about the pre-eminent private eye, and delivery was smooth.


Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

[A V B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank to RBmedia for providing me with the ALC of this book and to Rhodri Jeffreys - Jones for this great book. All the opinions here are my own.

I have asked for this mainly because of the image that Alan Pinkerton still has in my mind due to the image I had from the basic reprentetation in popular culture. For someone , who has more indepth knowledge of this subject, some themes might be underdeveloped or omitted, but for me this was the opposite.
It has covered all the aspects that I was interested in and opened a few more that left me intrigued in this subject. And it is quite well researched and very objective view of Alan Pinkerton, historical evidence and legacy that continues today.
I also enjoyed the narrator that has done an amazing job with this book.