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Loading... Dark and Tangled Threads of Crime: San Francisco's Famous Police Detective Isaiah W. Leesby William B. Secrest
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. If you read this book’s back cover blurb, you expect no more than a biography of Isaiah W. Lees, 19th century San Francisco detective. What you get is considerably more, an excellent social history of the City from the Gold Rush to the turn of the century. Lees’ life involved not only pursuing crooks (though as one of the pioneers of scientific detection, he was famous) but coping with the political and social upheavals of the day. Secrest draws upon a wide variety of diaries and contemporary accounts to bring us, year by year, from Lees’ arrival in San Francisco in 1849 to his death in 1902. It is a straight-ahead chronological account for the most part, and in it we see the slow evolution of a major city from what was little more than a muddy village. It’s a really excellent account, bolstered by excellent production – small insets on nearly each page featuring “mug shots” (Lees was one of the first to use them), document reproductions, and newspaper illustrations and attractive page layouts. I was pleased and surprised at how much I enjoyed this biography/history, and give it my highest rating. ( ) no reviews | add a review
He came to California with the great Gold Rush, but instead of riches, Isaiah W. Lees discovered his great talent for solving crimes and catching criminals. He captured stage robbers in Missouri, tracked con men to New York and caught the notorious eastern bank robber, Jimmy Hope in the middle of a San Francisco heist. San Francisco in the 1850's, was the gateway to the gold fields, a city filled with adventurers, outlaws, con men and desperadoes of every description. In 1853 Isaiah Lees was appointed the first Chief of Detectives on the new Police Force and during nearly fifty years he acquired an amazing record. An innovator of police methods, Lees easily eclipsed such legendary lawman as Bat Masterson and Wyatt Earp. When he retired as chief in 1900, the San Francisco Chronicle stated that "in point of service, no one has ever equalled the record of Lees." He was the right man, in the right place, at the right time, and this is his exciting, true story, told here for the first time. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)363.2Social sciences Social problems and services; associations Other social problems and services Police ServicesLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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