Michael O'Malley is professor of US history in the Department of History and Art History at George Mason University and the author of Face Value: The Entwined History of Money and Race in America, also published by the University of Chicago Press.
What O'Malley accomplishes in The Beat Cop is a highly readable, lush, adventurous examination of Chief O'Neill as a whole person, not just as the collector for the Irish musicians' Bible. The stories of O'Neill's adventures are entertaining and enjoyable, and O'Malley's writing is welcoming to both informed insiders and newcomers. * Sean Williams, coauthor of Bright Star of the West: Joe Heaney, Irish Song-Man *