Book Club of One's Reviews > The Infernal Machine: A True Story of Dynamite, Terror, and the Rise of the Modern Detective

Taking it’s title from the invention of dynamite, The Infernal Machine focuses on that technology, the political violence it made possible and those who sought to prevent or capture the bombers. It is both a history of technologies, as Johnson also discusses the systemization of police records and methods as well as a biography covering the lives of the radical Emma Goldman and her associates and detective Joseph Fausto and reformer and police commissioner Arthur Woods.

Johnson details the key events of the time globally, especially the successful assisnation of the Czar, and when discussing the industrialization delineates who benefitted most. It is a story of the late eighteenth century and early twentieth century anarchist movements exploring their motivations, major incidents such as the Haymarket Affair, Homestead Strike and the efforts to enact an 8 hour working day.

On the police side, Johnson details the police transitioning from corrupt neighborhood toughs to an agency capable of solving crimes through the gathering and presenting of evidence. Focusing specifically on New York Johnson presents the development of detection standards, undercover investigations and the surprising importance of library work in J. Edgar Hoover’s success with the FBI.

Recommended to readers who like multi genre works that could embrace romance, true crime, history and politics.

I received a free digital version of this book via NetGalley thanks to the publisher.