Скачать или смотреть Spotlight on History: June 2020

An in-depth interview with S.Paul O'Hara - historian and author of: 'Inventing the Pinkertons: or Spies, Sleuths, Mercenaries, and Thugs: Being a story of America's most famous (and infamous) detective agency' - published in 2016. More information and additional resources regarding this podcast can be found on my website - historiansandtheirbooks.com

Highly recommended: ***** for hard-core history buffs, students of history, and history professionals.

Synopsis: This is a very detailed and fascinating look at S.Paul O'Hara's life in history, his historical influences, as well as a detailed discussion of his wonderful book which is a fine example of American cultural history. Any study of the US Gilded Age (1870-1900) needs to contend with the role and influence of the Pinkerton National Detective Agency as it chased down bandits in the wild-west on behalf of the big Railroad companies - bandits such as the Reno brothers, the James Gang, and later Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. It must also contend with the Agency's brutal role in crushing organized labor strikes on behalf of the notorious Robber Barons. Famous strikes and incidents such as the Molly Maguires, the Haymarket affair, and the Homestead massacre when Andrew Carnegie tried to smash striking workers at his steel plant by using Pinkerton armed guards are highlighted. During this phase, the Pinkertons were essentially a private army for US monopoly capitalism. The interview extends through to FDR and the New Deal in the 1930s, the rise of the FBI, and all the way up to the use of Blackwater and a host of other private US security firms who were contracted by the US government during the Iraq war to deliver security services despite the Anti-Pinkerton Act of 1894 which had expressly forbidden the US government from hiring private militia. S.Paul O'Hara is an Associate Professor of History at Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio, and author of this wonderful book.

NB: The first 29 minutes of the interview focuses on the historian's life and background and historical influences while the interview about the book starts at 29 minutes into the podcast.