An excellent book by Chris Enss. As always she has given us a well-researched history book about an amazing time in history and about a woman that I otherwise would have never learned about. I will be using this book in my classes,

This is a very interesting read. I learned a lot about the organization and the events of the Civil War spies. I was not really thrilled with the way it was laid out. It jumped around and was not divided into easy to understand categories but I liked the information and the writing was easy to read.

The female Pinkerton operatives introduced in the "The Pinks" were really interesting and the book gave a nice introduction and overview over some of their most important and interesting cases. The book is well written and easy to read. I would have liked reading about more operatives and cases because this seems like a best-of in a way and it seems like there could have been more to this book.

3.5 STARS
(I received an ARC from the NETGALLEY)
(Review Not on Blog)

This is the perfect companion to the novel, [book:Girl in Disguise|29946121] by [author:Greer Macallister|8137823]. This is the true account of the first women in Pinkerton. You have to give it to Pinkerton to open his door to women BUT even bigger props to the women who talked their way on to the team. These women were amazing and so brave .

I haven't been reading many non-fiction books recently so I thought I'd pick up this one as it sounded so interesting and it's pretty short too. It's about the female detectives that made up part of the famous Pinkerton Detective Agency, their work and cases, the struggles and opposition they faced as females in a male dominated world at that time...same as now. It focused on a few women individually and some of the famous cases they worked on involving murderers, spies and president Lincoln.

I did find the book interesting but it was a little repetitive, it wasn't entirely focused on the women as there were a lot of mentions to mens opinions of their female colleagues and I think it could have been written and also presented in a far more compelling and interesting way - maybe more structured or with illustrations of the women (like The Women Who Made New York) but sadly, it was a little lacking in my opinion and it felt much longer than it actually was.

This is a fascinating book!

I had never heard of this agency before, and once I started reading, I wished I had. These are important stories for the feminist movement, because it shows the strength of women since the nineteenth century.

I loved that Pinkerton introduced female detectives specifically because they were underestimated by the rest of the country. This was a smart technique on his part, since he was able to use this prejudice against everyone else, while also working with great detectives.

A lot of these stories sounded like an action movie. One great tale is when Kate Warne pretended Abraham Lincoln was her brother to sneak him onto a train. It’s amazing how that worked. It’s funny because if I saw it in a movie I would have thought it was made up, but these are all true stories.

The Pinkerton Detective Agency did some amazing crime fighting. These stories are so entertaining. I highly recommend this book!

Once again I marvel at the stories being unearthed about incredible women throughout history. Chris Enss does a phenomenal job bringing to life the stories of the females who worked at the famous Pinkerton Detective Agency. I have to admit I knew nothing of Kate Warne before this reading this book--which I read fairly quickly, and I want to learn more!

After listening to Greer Macallister's Girl in Disguise, a fictionalized account of Kate Warne's life as a Pinkerton operative, I eagerly dove into The Pinks by Chris Enss. History fascinates me, especially when it is about women who stand out from the norm during their time. Kate Warne is one such woman. Just the name Pinkerton itself tends to pique my interest.

The Pinks: The First Women Detectives, Operatives, and Spies with the Pinkerton National Detective Agency offers a look into some of the cases Kate Warne and her associates were involved in early in the agency's life. Allan Pinkerton raised a few eyebrows when he decided to hire Kate Warne in 1856, his first female operative. She became the first female detective in the U.S. as a matter of fact. Not much is known about Kate Warne, unfortunately, even today, as Chris Enss points out in her book. Many of the records about her exploits are believed to have been destroyed in a fire. What is known, however, is enough to show that she was very capable and gifted in her craft. She seemed to have a way about her that encouraged people to open up to her--and she used to it well to take down criminals, learn of plots against the president or country, and solve whatever mystery was presented to her.

While Kate Warne is the main focus on The Pinks given the amount of page space devoted to her exploits, other talented operatives are mentioned, and their stories shared. I was happy to see mention of Hattie Lewis Lawton, who also appears in Macallister's novel. Another name that caught my immediate interest was Union spy Elizabeth van Lew.

The Pinks is well researched, and, while a bit dry, was an engrossing read. I wouldn't have minded more cohesiveness between each chapter, each chapter reading more like like individual stories or vignettes. Nor were they in any sort of chronological order. That could be just a personal preference on my part, however. Overall, I liked The Pinks and found it to be informative. At a time when women were expected to play a more traditional part in society, the women featured in the book were among the pioneers for the roles that would open up to women in law enforcement type agencies in the years to come.

Review: The Pinks: The First Women Detectives

On August 15, 2017 by Dawn
The Pinks by Chris Enss

The Pinks: The First Women Detectives, Operatives, and Spies with the Pinkerton National Detective Agency
by Chris Enss

As a modern feminist*, I’ve always been fascinated by women of past eras who flouted convention to live the lives they desired, over the ones society deemed correct.
The legendary Pinkerton Agency has the distinction of being an early proponent of women in the workforce, and reaped the rewards of it, with women like Kate Warne and Hattie Lawton proving their worth in gold.

I always love a good story starring Pinks in Skirts. This particular book is not that kind of reading though. it’s a history, with character sketches and histories of individual Lady Detectives. Enss writes like an academic, but this is no bloodless textbook either. Each essay draws a complete picture of how these women served their employer, and their country, in good context.

It’s not the kind of thing i’d usually read in a sitting, but if you enjoy having books about that you can dip in an out of, this one might be for you.

View all my reviews

*fem·i·nism -ˈfeməˌnizəm
noun: feminism: the advocacy of women’s rights on the basis of the equality of the sexes.

Share!

This is a fascinating read, but the author glosses over the Pinkertons less than savory reputation and paints too rosy a picture.

The Pinks is a non-fiction book about the women who worked with the Pinkerton Detective Agency - the first agency to employ women as detectives.

This book is very interesting, and also a short, quick read. I found the different cases the women worked on pretty amazing (aka travelling with president-elect Abraham Lincoln to ensure his safety) and I really loved that this actually happened, and in the 1800s rather than the 1900s.


I thought at times the book came off a bit ‘hero worship’ with Allan Pinkerton, who employed the women. A few times there was mentions of how great he was for daring to employ women, and I was “okay, I get it.” Some of the stories were a little bit over the top which does make me understand why some people thought that Pinkerton might have made them up. Some cases as well depended on the agents messing with a person’s mental capabilities and often driving them mad with fear or grief until they confessed, which did make me a little bit uncomfortable at times.

Overall though this was a fantastic read and a bit of history I had no idea about!

This book is utterly fascinating and brings to life the first female to serve with the Pinkertons. a true woman ahead of her time. I absolutely loved this book and learned so much!

This was a good read. I found out some interesting things i never knew. I had no idea who The Pinks were until i read this. I'd love to read some other books which are similar. the only downside was the repetitive nature of the book.

I really wanted to love this book but it sadly lacked in the execution. Much of the text is directly lifted from other sources, especially in the second half of the book. Many stories contained much more information about the male Pinkerton operatives than the females, and in a couple of chapters the bulk of the text just talked about Civil War battles and ships. Hopefully this is all fixed before the final edition is published because the world needs these women's stories.

Highly engrossing, and completely entertaining from start to finish! Girl Power!

Very interesting book on women in the Pinkerton Detective Agency. I have always enjoyed learning about the Pinkerton's and women in history so this combined both interests. Very informative and good book.

This is a great collection of short stories about "The Pinks," and their many missions. Who are The Pinks? Female Pinkerton agents hired by Allan Pinkerton and The National Detective Agency. It all began with Kate Warner, and this was a choice that was highly successful during a time when women were not used with the police. This not even has short stories, but also biographies. This gives a glimpse into the process, missions, ideas the women had and used, the way they carried out operations, and how they gained information. This book showed how women had the chance, and took it, to change history, and proved that women can be totally bad-a and should be recognized along with the men. Inspirational!

Introduction

The Pinks is a book about the women that worked for Allan Pinkerton and his Pinkerton Detective Agency in the years before, during, and after the American Civil War. The author makes it very clear that in hiring these women, especially Kate Warne, Pinkerton was far ahead of his time. Kate Warne led the Pinkerton women - or "Pinks" - and was a master of disguise and espionage. Her actions, as well as those of the women in her network, saved thousands of lives in the war and paved the way for women in the police force (although that would not truly become commonplace for over 100 years later).

The story

Kate Warne had gumption, initiative, and courage. She was resourceful, creative, and perhaps just the right amount of crazy. She fit right in with the Pinkerton Detective Agency, despite being the first woman on the payroll. Her disguises and acting abilities were masterful and crucial to Pinkerton cases involving everything form murder and robbery to espionage and conspiracy. Allan Pinkerton credits her efforts with saving thousands of lives during the Civil War, as well as solving many high-stakes cases. This book provides the harrowing detail of some of the most notorious cases of the Pinkerton ladies. Kate had her hand in all of them, although there were other women, some of whom paid for their efforts with their lives. This is an illuminating tale of one of the parts of history that deserves more of our attention and respect.

Literary analysis

This book was very well written with only a couple of very minor grammatical errors. It has been very well edited for form and grammar. In that respect it is a joy to read.

This book is also very well researched, relying in large part on the personal recollections of Allan Pinkerton himself, among others. Each chapter is a unique story, and as such each chapter has it's own bibliography. This can make the book feel a bit disjointed, but goes to show how thorough the author was in their research.

The biggest criticism I have for this book is the ending. It's far too abrupt! The author seems to make an attempt at a summarization ending in the final story. It could, however, benefit from an epilogue of some sort. The ending feels rushed, as though the author wasn't quite sure how to end so they just included the summarization with the final story. It was a quick read, but one might think a bit too quick.

Conclusion

This is a fascinating and quick read! It is well-written, thoroughly researched, and certainly worth your time. I recommend this book!

A well researched nonfiction about the female operatives that worked in Allan Pinkerton's agency in the American Civil War period. I had no prior knowledge regarding this topic, but Chris Enss unfolds the lives of these women in such a manner that I want to learn more about the "pinks."

This book isn't too heavy of a read, it's actually a fairly quick and easy reading experience. Transitions between chapters are smooth for the most part, perhaps my favorite chapters surrounded the protection of Abraham Lincoln. Loved the extensive bibliography lists at the back of the text.

In 1856, Kate Warne was hired as the first female Pinkerton Detective, the first female detective period. Ms. Enss’ book tells the story of several cases solved through the assistance of Ms. Warne and other female detectives in the employ of the Pinkerton agency. What it doesn’t do is tell the story of the women themselves. There are no personal comments on the stories from the women themselves and instead there are several quotes from newspapers or other sources. I wanted to hear about them as women breaking in to a male dominated field. Instead I got a lot of facts. But, my biggest peeve with the book was that the stories were not told in chronological order. This didn’t make sense to me but led to an overall feeling that the book did not receive the attention it should have from its author and editor.