Karen AbbottLiar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War

The American Civil War is often portrayed as fought by Abraham Lincoln, Robert Lee, Grant, Sherman, McClellan, (and sometimes Matthew Broderick and Denzel Washington) a bunch of plantation owners and escaped slaves.You see what's missing, right? Women didn't fight as soldiers (unless you were Emma Edmondson/Frank Thompson) but they were as integral a part of the war effort as the men--and here Abbott gives us a readable and partly-novelized version of four women who acted as spies during the war. In these portraits of four women, you get a sense of the socially interwoven, small geographical distances (compared to the current US), political manuevering, and social class system that was the background of the Civil War.And the women themselves; two Union, two Confederate spies (the Confederate spies seemed to thrive in the media spotlight in a more flamboyant way than the more secretive Unionists) are fascinating women of their time.You can read the other reviews to find out about who the book is about, so let me just highlight in this review how readable, interesting, and weirdly novelesque the history is in this book. Abbott rotates chapters between each woman, usually cutting off a narrative at some cliff-hangery point like when Union guards come to arrest Belle Boyd, etc. There are primary sources quoted and evocative descriptions of obviously well-researched places like Old Capitol prison, and then there are the "novelized" moments where the narrative takes on a kind of self-conscious literary thrill-seeker quality; such Rose's little daughter's black eyes fervently peeking over snow-white covers when her spy mother puts her to bed during a Union search of her house or the description of Belle's thoughts while she drowned.I like those novelized bits, it made the women seem more real to me than often strictly historically accurate depictions do.Anyway, highly recommended slice of American Civil War history for anyone interested in strong American females' history or Civil War.

This is a thorough and well researched book about four passionate women, each committed to winning the war. The book spans the years of the Civil War from 1861-65, with an epilogue explaining the fates of the women after the war. The book takes place predominately in Virginia. I grew up there, so I especially enjoyed reading about places I had visited many times as part of Virginia History, taught in schools. Guess what was not taught in school in the 1970's? The role of women in our state's early history!Four very different women are profiled. Belle Boyd is 17 years old when the war starts. She is a force of nature and has no fear. She also has quite an ego and has big aspirations to be the most valued and famous spy. Rose O'Neal Greenhow was head of a spy ring and a notorious flirt who had "relations" with many men. She was about 36 years old when the war started. Rose and Belle were fighting for the Confederacy. Fighting for the Union were Emma Edmondson and Elizabeth Van Lew. Elizabeth was a 43 year old spinster who passed important messages through the Richmond Underground and gained permission from a Confederate general to visit Union prisoners. Emma is my favorite. She joined the Union army as Frank Thompson. She worked in the hospital, fought, and also passed messages. She left the war on her own terms and became Emma again.I was blown away by the bravery and conviction of these women. I learned so much about spy tactics and the dangers involved. Sadly, all of these women came to an unhappy end. One died in service to her county, a couple lost children or married unhappily. All of them ended up nearly destitute. The book is well written, detailed, and contains some nice photos. I also read one of Ms. Abbott's other books, Sin in the Second City. I enjoyed this one more. My only negative comments are that I had some difficulty keeping track of the characters and I thought the book bogged down and moved slowly at times. I would still recommend it.

Abbott does tremendous work here, bringing together four disparate threads framed by the Civil War and turns them into a narrative that is as thrilling as it is informative.

While I have a huge interest in the military and political handling of the Civil War, I also enjoy the back stories of how the average citizen and foot soldier survived and his thoughts about participating in the struggle. I found Karen Abbott'sbook very well researched, with a pleasing writing style, that captures the true character of her four heroines.I enjoyed the epilogue where the author finishes each character's final story and provides the reader with informationnot known about them from most sources on their lives. We usually read of the bravery and courage of the men in thisperiod of war, but these ladies showed a sense of purpose, stubbornness and lack of fear that places them alongside all heros and heroines, who served for their side of this great conflict.As a Canadian, I enjoyed reading about Emma Edmonds and her difficult but extraordinary life.

I found the book vey interesting, but in places it strayed off the subject at hand and brought out some information that was more or less repitative!

If all war is terrible, this book shows how civil war can be doubly devastating, turning brother against brother and leaving scars that remain long after any cease fire.Karen Abott has mined the archives with great diligence and assembled her findings into a vivid picture while scrupulously voiding taking sides. To that extent it is a scholarly piece of work but there have to be reservations.In an introduction, Ms Abott claearly differentiates between direct quotes from letters, journals and official documents. She goes on to claim that surrounding material - representing, for example, the thoughts of participants - is soundly based. Perhaps the many pages of notes would have helped substantiate that claim but, as presented on Kindle, they are virtually impossible to use.What worries is the author's apparently uncritical acceptance of anything she finds, even if it comes from a single source . This is particularly worrying in the case of Emma Thompson who enlisted in the guise of a man. The author writes of a teenaged Emma having "spotted six partridges ... One by one Emma shot the birds ... cleanly in the head." This argues astonishing marksmanship with the relatively primitive weapons of the time, not to mention the belief that once the first shot was fired the other five birds meekly waited to be slaughtered.Emma's feats of bravery are told at length but many of them involve her in a one-on-one situation, so the only source has been Emma herself. And there is one lengthy passage which ends with Emma conceding that it is only fantasy.Elsewhere there is an account of a battle where the cannon fire and gun fire could not be heard by the commanding general nearby because of intervening woods and ground formation yet could be head, the author writes, "hundreds of miles away." Hundreds of miles?So the reader will have cause to be doubtful when one person or another "empties their face of emotion" or when "Elizabeth allowed one eyebrow to creep upward."A pity that an interesting and painstaking book should fall between being a valuable document and a Victorian novel.

I enjoyed this book which told the story of several different women spying/fighting for different sides in the American Civil War. I particularly enjoyed reading about Emma's adventures as a man in the army. I have to say I didn't have much sympathy for the Confederate women who were, after all, fervent supporters of that terrible inhumane system of slavery.