Dynamite, Spies and Codes: Tales from the Early Days of the New York City Bomb Squad

A classic true crime thriller from the Chief of New York City's first Bomb Squad.

Before America entered the First World War, we were under attack by a new type of foe--international terrorists. Bombs were planted and ships were sunk. To protect America from this new threat the first Bomb Squad was created, headed by Thomas J. Tunney, a young captain of the NYPD. Based in New York City, his team tracked down dozens of spies, from upstate New York to Hoboken to Long Island, as well as India, Japan and beyond.

In Dynamite, Spies and Codes, Tunney tells the riveting story of how he and his men pursued and apprehended these enemies of the state. His story is brimming with details about going undercover, breaking codes and hunting down anarchists. Tunney and his team were responsible for protecting America from some of the biggest threats to our country, from stopping an attempted bombing of St. Patrick's Cathedral, to uncovering the members of the infamous crime gang The Black Hand, to the capture of the man who planted bombs on dozens of American passenger ships--including the Lusitania.

Dynamite, Spies and Codes is a first-hand look at early detective work by the man who has been called, "The nation's first head of Homeland Security" by New York Times bestselling author Howard Blum.

Features rare photos of codebooks, homemade bombs, undercover police and criminals in disguise.

This book was originally published under the title Throttled The Detection of the German and Anarchist Bomb Plotters.

Thomas J. Tunney was born in Ireland 1875 and moved to New York City when he was 15. He became the head of the first New York Bomb Squad when he was 24. Later he moved to military intelligence as a major. He died in 1952 in Tampa, Florida.