Allan Pinkerton (1819-1884) was a Scottish detective and spy, best known for creating the Pinkerton Agency, the first detective agency of the United States. Disillusioned by the failure to win universal suffrage, Pinkerton immigrated to the United States in 1842. In 1849, Pinkerton was appointed as the first detective in Chicago. In the 1850s, he partnered with Chicago attorney Edward Rucker in forming the North-Western Police Agency, later known as the Pinkerton National Detective Agency. Prior to his service with the Union Army, he developed several investigative techniques that are still used today. Among them are “shadowing” and “assuming a role”. Following the outbreak of the Civil War, Pinkerton served as head of the Union Intelligence Service in 1861-62. Pinkerton produced numerous popular detective books, ostensibly based on his own exploits and those of his agents. Some were published after his death. These works include: The Expressman and the Detective (1874), Bucholz and the Detectives (1880) and The Burglar’s Fate and the Detectives (1884). --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.