Thomas F. (hardtack) -
If you have read books about spies in other wars, especially World War II, then some of the stories in this book will be familiar to you. However, these stories often added information I had not read before, as in the case of 'Cicero' in WW II.
I especially enjoyed two stories from the American Revolution. One was about a double-agent who help Washington plan his winter attack on Trenton. Other authors who contend American didn't have a spy system until World War I, need to read these stories. Another story, about a double-agent before World War I, contends he may have been responsible for the downfall of three empires.
My biggest complaint is the editor, Allen Dulles, in his introduction, dismisses most Civil War spy tales as exaggerated or even false. This in the same paragraph in which he mentions Elizabeth van Lew, probably the greatest spy of the Civil War. "Crazy Beth," as she was known to other residents of Richmond, Virginia, was a grand lady who risked her life serving the Union cause. One of her sub-agents was the Confederate coordinator of railroad traffic for Virginia, and she had others in the Confederate "white house," state department and prisons.
The editor, Allen Dulles, was the chief OSS agent in Bern during World War II and is a former director of the CIA. While I criticize the above lapse, he has probably forgotten more about spying than I ever knew.
I especially enjoyed two stories from the American Revolution. One was about a double-agent who help Washington plan his winter attack on Trenton. Other authors who contend American didn't have a spy system until World War I, need to read these stories. Another story, about a double-agent before World War I, contends he may have been responsible for the downfall of three empires.
My biggest complaint is the editor, Allen Dulles, in his introduction, dismisses most Civil War spy tales as exaggerated or even false. This in the same paragraph in which he mentions Elizabeth van Lew, probably the greatest spy of the Civil War. "Crazy Beth," as she was known to other residents of Richmond, Virginia, was a grand lady who risked her life serving the Union cause. One of her sub-agents was the Confederate coordinator of railroad traffic for Virginia, and she had others in the Confederate "white house," state department and prisons.
The editor, Allen Dulles, was the chief OSS agent in Bern during World War II and is a former director of the CIA. While I criticize the above lapse, he has probably forgotten more about spying than I ever knew.
