Strikers, Communists, Tramps and Detectives

An anti-union fictional account of the 1877 Railroad Strike by America's leading strikebreaker, Allan Pinkerton, with many chapters about the great strike's worst violence in Pittsburgh, as well as riots in Johnstown and Altoona. Though the author claims the book is reportage, many scholars consider it a novelization of events to counteract the labor movement's growing popularity and power.

Allan Pinkerton (1819-1884), born in Glasgow, Scotland, founded the infamous Pinkerton National Detective Agency. By the time of his death the Pinkerton Agency was the dominant force—hired by big business—against the American labor movement. Pinkerton also served as head of Union intelligence during the Civil War. Pinkerton detective books claim to be based on his company's own exploits, but are largely fictitious promotional works and most likely written by ghostwriters or his staff. He is buried in Chicago.