All readers are welcome to attend. Copies of the book will be available at McMahon Wintonbury Library one month prior to the discussion date. Registration is appreciated, online or by calling 860-242-0041
Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War by Karen Abbott
Karen
Abbott illuminates one of the most fascinating yet little known aspects of the
Civil War: the stories of four courageous women—a socialite, a farm girl, an
abolitionist, and a widow—who were spies.
After shooting a Union soldier in her front hall with a pocket pistol, Belle
Boyd became a courier and spy for the Confederate army, using her charms to
seduce men on both sides. Emma Edmonds cut off her hair and assumed the
identity of a man to enlist as a Union private, witnessing the bloodiest
battles of the Civil War. The beautiful widow, Rose O’Neale Greenhow, engaged
in affairs with powerful Northern politicians to gather intelligence for the
Confederacy, and used her young daughter to send information to Southern
generals. Elizabeth Van Lew, a wealthy Richmond abolitionist, hid behind her
proper Southern manners as she orchestrated a far-reaching espionage ring,
right under the noses of suspicious rebel detectives.