A riveting account of the anarchists who terrorized the streets of New York-and the detective duo who transformed policing to meet the threat.

Cast of characters -- Preface -- Part One: Ruse 1866-1892. The controlled explosion -- Mutual aid -- A nature-copy of the forever unchangeable -- The dynamite club -- The terrible power of the powerless -- Dancing on the surface of a volcano -- The reaper works -- Comrades -- Part Two: Blasting cap 1892-1913. The pivot around which the story is written -- Western penitentiary -- Le departement d'anthropometrie -- A little Joan of Arc -- September 6, 1901 -- The black hand -- Palermo -- The people versus Charles Crispi -- The body and the blood -- Part Three: Detonation 1914-1919. Down inside the cave to sleep -- The siege of Tarrytown -- The blast -- The Italian Squad, revisited -- Cathedral -- A madman and a marriage -- They are fine and beautiful characters -- The radical division -- Ellis Island -- Aftershock -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Acknowledgments -- Index.