Thomas J. (Thomas Joseph) Tunney

Born in 1873, Thomas J. Tunney is credited in library and archive records as Thomas Joseph Tunney. He is best known as the author of Throttled! The Detection of the German and Anarchist Bomb Plotters, published in 1919.

The book presents Tunney as an inspector connected with the New York Police Department’s bomb squad and was told in collaboration with Paul Merrick Hollister. Its focus on sabotage, explosives, and wartime investigations gives it the feel of both memoir and true-crime reporting.

Little biographical detail beyond his name, birth year, and professional role was clearly confirmed in the sources reviewed here. Even so, Throttled! stands out as a vivid period account of early twentieth-century policing and anti-sabotage work in the United States.