Thomas F. (hardtack) -
This book was a major disappointment. Yes, I know novelists have a 'license' to change the facts to fit their story, but they shouldn't be allowed to run rough-shod over one of my favorite Civil War personages.
The author did Elizabeth Van Lew a disservice when she muddled her facts and even had her meeting her "Union lover" behind Confederate lines for a tryst! Especially, since the author kept telling us how much of a lady Elizabeth was and how she valued honor. There was no such instance in Van Lew's life. The author says she did it so she could mention other events in the war, as if I'm stupid. She could have easily done so in another way.
And the author makes numerous mistakes in Civil War history, as well as messing up timelines, and she really didn't understand some of Van Lew's ploys to avoid capture.
For example, the author has a Union major general commanding two regiments when the man was actually a corps commander of several divisions. Then she has Confederate General Hood "losing" Nashville to the Union forces in December, 1864, when the Union had actually captured Nashville over two years before. It was Hood who laid siege to Nashville, and Union General Thomas who attacked Hood, destroying Hood's army in a two-day battle. All the author needed to do was visit Wikipedia to discover this.
The author later states Van Lew was called 'crazy' by southerners to disparage what Van Lew accomplished. Actually, if the author had read at least one of the non-fiction books on Van Lew, she would know Van Lew did this on purpose to fool Confederate authorities about her mental condition, and escape imprisonment. To top it all off, the author has Van Lew carrying on a conversation with her dead father throughout the book. So maybe the author thought Van Lew really was crazy!
Elizabeth Van Lew was the greatest spy of the Civil War, and she also ran the greatest spy network. The author does get it right about some of Van Lew's agents: the literate, free Afro-American woman who Van Lew placed as a servant in the Confederate "White House;" the main clerk who ran the Confederate Libby prison and helped numerous Union officers to escape (but the author only has him helping one); the man who ran the Confederate railroads in Northern Virginia, who was a Unionist and deliberating mismanaged the rail system; and some others. She left out that during the siege of Petersburg, General Grant would sit down to breakfast each morning with fresh flowers from Van Lew's garden in Richmond, as well as the latest Richmond newspapers---all delivered by Van Lew's agents.
I could go on, but this is enough. The only good thing I can say about the book is it might lead readers to obtain one or more of the several really good histories of Elizabeth Van Lew. These include "A Yankee Spy in Richmond" which contains all that is left of her diary, and "Southern Lady, Yankee Spy" by Elizabeth Varon.
The author did Elizabeth Van Lew a disservice when she muddled her facts and even had her meeting her "Union lover" behind Confederate lines for a tryst! Especially, since the author kept telling us how much of a lady Elizabeth was and how she valued honor. There was no such instance in Van Lew's life. The author says she did it so she could mention other events in the war, as if I'm stupid. She could have easily done so in another way.
And the author makes numerous mistakes in Civil War history, as well as messing up timelines, and she really didn't understand some of Van Lew's ploys to avoid capture.
For example, the author has a Union major general commanding two regiments when the man was actually a corps commander of several divisions. Then she has Confederate General Hood "losing" Nashville to the Union forces in December, 1864, when the Union had actually captured Nashville over two years before. It was Hood who laid siege to Nashville, and Union General Thomas who attacked Hood, destroying Hood's army in a two-day battle. All the author needed to do was visit Wikipedia to discover this.
The author later states Van Lew was called 'crazy' by southerners to disparage what Van Lew accomplished. Actually, if the author had read at least one of the non-fiction books on Van Lew, she would know Van Lew did this on purpose to fool Confederate authorities about her mental condition, and escape imprisonment. To top it all off, the author has Van Lew carrying on a conversation with her dead father throughout the book. So maybe the author thought Van Lew really was crazy!
Elizabeth Van Lew was the greatest spy of the Civil War, and she also ran the greatest spy network. The author does get it right about some of Van Lew's agents: the literate, free Afro-American woman who Van Lew placed as a servant in the Confederate "White House;" the main clerk who ran the Confederate Libby prison and helped numerous Union officers to escape (but the author only has him helping one); the man who ran the Confederate railroads in Northern Virginia, who was a Unionist and deliberating mismanaged the rail system; and some others. She left out that during the siege of Petersburg, General Grant would sit down to breakfast each morning with fresh flowers from Van Lew's garden in Richmond, as well as the latest Richmond newspapers---all delivered by Van Lew's agents.
I could go on, but this is enough. The only good thing I can say about the book is it might lead readers to obtain one or more of the several really good histories of Elizabeth Van Lew. These include "A Yankee Spy in Richmond" which contains all that is left of her diary, and "Southern Lady, Yankee Spy" by Elizabeth Varon.
