Freedom's Detective reveals the untold story of the Reconstruction-era United States Secret Service and their battle against the Ku Klux Klan, through the career of its controversial chief, Hiram C. Whitley.

“This is a powerful, vitally important story, and Lane brings it to life with not only vast amounts of research but with a remarkable gift for storytelling that makes the pages fly by.” —Candice Millard, author of The River of Doubt and Hero of the Empire

The end of one war, the beginning of another.

In the years following the Civil War, freed African American men had finally gained the right to vote, but former Confederates and white supremacists would do everything to keep them from the ballots. Thus, the KKK was born.

Enter Hiram C. Whitley: as the new controversial chief of the Secret Service, he and his agents led a covert war against the KKK and became the first to use undercover work in mass crime—what we now call terrorism—investigations. But like all spymasters, Whitley had a dark side. His penchant for skulduggery and dirty tricks led him to a conspiracy that would bring an end to his career and transform the Secret Service as we know it today.