I found this book to be quite enjoyable and informative.. Although a history major, I wasn't familiar with the main figure or his role in the early history of the Secret Service. The book is well-written. It almost read like a novel. i would recommend this book to any history buff who is seeking more information on this topic.

Lane's seemed very promising but ultimately I could not get into the story. I did not find it super interesting.

Who was Hiram C. Whitley, second Chief of the United States Secret Service and the man who broke up KKK during the Reconstruction era? In this easy to understand narrative, journalist Charles Lane describes an enigma of a man who didn’t exactly play by the rules. Despite being known as a pivotal figure in the fight against the Klan, Whitley had previously betrayed abolitionists on the Underground Railroad. Did the man have a change of heart regarding slavery and the plight of the freedman, or was he an opportunist?

I knew nothing about Whitley before picking up this book, but I feel I know something now. I can’t say I know a lot, but that’s due to the man’s complexities rather than Lane’s writing. Anyone who shuts down the Klan and stops their heinous activities should, theoretically, be one of the good guys. But Whitley doesn’t often come across as one. In some ways, he was ahead of his time when it came to detective work. But did “Freedom’s Detective” spend too much time curtailing civil liberties? Would his methods, as Lane describes, be able to withstand the court cases that would surely be brought against him today?

Freedom’s Detective is a comprehensive look at just one aspect of the troubled President Grant administration. It comes complete with graphics, notes, and an extensive bibliography. If you thought the Pinkertons were the main detectives during and after the Civil War, or that the Secret Service was mostly about protecting government officials, then this is an entertaining and enlightening work. It’s definitely worth a read.

Disclaimer: I received an electronic copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. I was not required to write a review, and the words above are my own.

"Freedom’s Detective: The Secret Service, The Ku Klux Klan and The Man Who Masterminded America’s First War on Terror" takes us on a sobering journey through American history to witness the advent of the world of counterfeiting, the rise of the Ku Klux Klan, George W. Ashburn’s murder [and the politicians that helped both try and cover it up and then bribed and bought off people to help the murderer’s go free], and the daring struggle of a detective [and the forming of the secret service] willing to uncover and expose those responsible, at whatever cost.

This is a well-researched, captivating read of the ins and outs of the Secret Service and of Hiram C. Whitley at its helm during Reconstruction. The author’s writing style made for an easy read, easy to understand and follow and the illustrations and pictures that are included are a nice bonus – I find it easier to “see” the person being talked about when I can see how they actually looked.
Whitley is a cunning man in his own right – ready to fight for the US and against the evils of the Ku Klux Klan, but was also willing to fight against the very thing he was trying to vanquish when it met his own personal needs [before the war, he went and rounded up wayward slaves to return them to their owners]. He never, ever took the blame for anything that happened negatively – either denying it vehemently, or tried to push it off on other people – sometimes both. Sometimes with success, and others, not so much. He was, in my opinion, the perfect man to be a spy and to lead espionage against the evils of the Klan, against counterfeiting and against evil in general. He had a spy’s mind and a willingness to bend the rules to get what needed to be done, done. They say if you want to catch crooks and bad men, you have to be a little bit of a crook [or in this case a spy and con-man] yourself.

Be prepared though – many people I had previously held in high esteem [President Grant for one – his willingness to release and pardon men convicted of murder in hopes the South would be willing to accept Reconstruction more willingly, shows just how weak and ultimately, stupid he was in regards to just how powerful the Klan and white supremacy was], slipped several notches in the reading of this book. I realize that most of Washington is tainted, but there are moments in this book that caused real frustration and potential headbangingagainstwall moments. There were actual moments where I wondered just who really wanted the war to end and who really won when the Civil War did end. And even though blacks were considered free, there were many that still considered them to be “non-human” and many of them were based in Washington and had fought for the North. It was, at times, disconcerting and disheartening to say the least. And the lengths that the politicians, on BOTH sides, were willing to go through to get “what they wanted at any cost” was appalling and frustrating to read.

If you know little about this time period, this book is an excellent introduction to the evils that came out of the ending of the Civil War and the beginning of Reconstruction. It shows how powerful the South still was [though bankrupt and poverty stricken otherwise] and how strong the racial divide was [and still is today] in the Southern states. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in this time period and in spies and espionage and the beginnings of the Secret Service and the fight against the Klan.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin/Hanover Square Press for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Anyone interested in American history, particularly in the mid-nineteenth century and beyond, will find this well-researched and well-written book has much to teach us. Charles Lane tells the story of Hiram Coombs Whitley, the first head of the Secret Service, and a man not afraid to take on the burgeoning Ku Klux Klan. Whitley also went after counterfeiters and illegal distillers.

One of the most interesting aspects of the book is Whitley’s own character; like most of us he was a mixture of good and bad, although due to his position his characteristics were thrown into relief. In the end, his federal career came to a halt due to his own bad judgment.

I really enjoyed this book. I had never thought much about the Secret Service other than that they protect the president and other people, and I was interested to learn so much about what they did during this period just after the Civil War. This thought-provoking book is worth reading, and if you have any interest in the period at all I urge you to pick it up.

This is a history book that is pretending to read like a novel. The subject of the book is Hiram C. Whitley, a man of few morals who takes on the Ku Klux Klan. The elements history are interesting but it is hard to get interested in anything related to Whitley. He does not rise to the level of a hero of the Secret Service and the writing is too dry keep the readers attention.

An interesting read about the secret service and how they fought the kik after the civil war, great for any history buff

While the writing in the book was a little too detailed, the story is one that many people will be interested in. It would go well on a display about police history. It is not so well-written to be one of those "reads like a novel" nonfiction books that one can give to any reader, however.