Michael J. Schaack

author

Michael J. Schaack

Best known for his firsthand account of the Haymarket affair, this Chicago police captain wrote one of the era’s most vivid and controversial books about anarchism, policing, and urban unrest. His life also reflects the story of a Luxembourg immigrant who rose through the ranks of a fast-changing American city.

1 Audiobook

Anarchy and Anarchists A History of the Red Terror and the Social Revolution in America and Europe; Communism, Socialism, and Nihilism in Doctrine and in Deed; The Chicago Haymarket Conspiracy and the Detection and Trial of the Conspirators

Anarchy and Anarchists A History of the Red Terror and the Social Revolution in America and Europe; Communism, Socialism, and Nihilism in Doctrine and in Deed; The Chicago Haymarket Conspiracy and the Detection and Trial of the Conspirators

by Michael J. Schaack

About the author

Born in Luxembourg on April 23, 1843, Michael J. Schaack emigrated to Chicago as a boy and later joined the Chicago police force. Contemporary and historical sources describe him as a patrolman who advanced steadily, eventually becoming a captain and gaining a citywide reputation for his work in detective and investigative roles.

Schaack is most closely associated with the aftermath of the 1886 Haymarket bombing. He led major parts of the police investigation and later turned that experience into his 1889 book Anarchy and Anarchists, a long, dramatic account of radical politics, the Haymarket case, and the broader fears of social unrest in the late nineteenth century.

Today, he is remembered both as a law officer and as an author whose writing helps modern readers see how the Haymarket affair was understood by one of the officials at its center. Because his book was written from the viewpoint of a police captain deeply involved in the case, it remains historically valuable while also reflecting the strong opinions of its time.