Overview

"Karen Abbott, the New York Times bestselling author of Sin in the Second City and ""pioneer of sizzle history"" (USA Today), tells the spellbinding true story of four women who risked everything to become spies during the Civil War. 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 farmgirl, 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. Using a wealth of primary source material and interviews with the spies' descendants, Abbott seamlessly weaves the adventures of these four heroines throughout the tumultuous years of the war. With a cast of real-life characters including Walt Whitman, Nathaniel Hawthorne, General Stonewall Jackson, detective Allan Pinkerton, Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln, and Emperor Napoleon III, Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy draws you into the war as these daring women lived it. Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy contains 39 black & photos and 3 maps."

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9781483005119

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Reviews

This inspiring collective biography reads like a novel while shedding some much-needed light on fascinating chapters in both Civil War and women's history. -- Booklist Thrilling, illuminating, heart-pounding. Liar, Temptress, Solider, Spy reads like a crackling espionage novel...Abbott brings to vivid life four extraordinary and audacious women and runs glorious roughshod over all our traditional notions of the role of women in the Civil War. -- Megan Abbott, Edgar Award-winning and New York Times bestselling author A masterpiece of narrative storytelling, backed by impeccable research and extraordinary material. I was gripped by every page. -- Amanda Foreman, award-winning author Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy is a masterwork of suspenseful plots and unforgettable characters rendered in exacting, gorgeous detail-a brilliant new take on the heroines and villainesses of the Civil War. -- Lydia Netzer, author of the New York Times Notable Book Shine Shine Shine Four Civil War subversives-who happened to be women-garner a lively treatment...Abbott proceeds chronologically, navigating the historical record through quotes and personal detail. Remarkable, brave lives rendered in a fluidly readable, even romantic history lesson. -- Kirkus Reviews You can get away with quite a lot if no one takes you very seriously...Women were largely dismissed as flighty, inferior creatures in Victorian times. That attitude helped several become some of the most effective spies of the Civil War. Again and again, the women who are the focus of Karen Abbott's exciting Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War came close to discovery or death, only to be saved by their enemies' sexism. Not that Belle Boyd, Rose Greenhow, Emma Edmonds, and Elizabeth Van Lew were ordinary women. They were all strong-minded, daring, and difficult...This is compelling material, and...Abbott brings these 'unspoken heroes' to life with a gripping, interwoven narrative that tells their stories with all the suspense of a spy novel. -- BookPage In this gripping book, Abbott (Sin in the Second City) tells the moving and fascinating story of four women who played unconventional roles during the Civil War...Meticulously researched and fluidly written, this book draws the reader in and doesn't let go until the four heroines draw their final breaths. Abbott provides an alternate view of this tumultuous time in history by featuring previously untold stories of the impact women and civilians had on the war effort, and she brings these individuals fully to life, with their passion for their causes, personal flaws, and heartbreak...Abbott tells a remarkable story of passion, strength, and resilience. -- Publishers Weekly (starred review) Smithsonian magazine history blogger Karen Abbott has done it again. The journalist whose Sin in the Second City won her USA Today praise as a 'pioneer of sizzle history' has written another absorbing true tale of extraordinary women. The four talented feminine operatives of Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy all displayed a willingness to put their lives-and often their bodies-on the line to aid their side in the War between the States...It will surprise no reader of this book that Erik Larson hailed its author as 'the John le Carre of Civil War espionage'-with the added benefit that the saga she tells is all true and beautifully researched. -- Barnes&Noble.com, editorial review With Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy, Karen Abbott has taken history and written it with the eloquence of good fiction. Halfway through her book, I decided Ian Fleming could not have invented better spies...nor have written about them with any more suspense. -- Robert Hicks, New York Times bestselling author Beautifully written, meticulously researched, and paced like an edge-of-your-seat-novel-I love this big, ambitious, unstoppable book. -- Joshilyn Jackson, New York Times bestselling author Abbott...[reveals] in such vivid detail the extraordinary lives of women who involved themselves so dangerously in the Civil War. This is that rare work of history that reads like a novel-and a really good one at that-and in which the truth is more thrilling than fiction. -- Michael Korda, New York Times bestselling author Karen Abbott's powerful narrative is first-rate American history about a fascinating, little-known chapter of the Civil War, as well as a compulsive, thrilling saga of espionage. Brilliant storytelling, highly accessible, and impossible to put down. -- Gilbert King, Pulitzer Prize-winning author

A masterpiece of narrative storytelling, backed by impeccable research and extraordinary material. I was gripped by every page. -- Amanda Foreman, award-winning author Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy is a masterwork of suspenseful plots and unforgettable characters rendered in exacting, gorgeous detail-a brilliant new take on the heroines and villainesses of the Civil War. -- Lydia Netzer, author of the New York Times Notable Book Shine Shine Shine Four Civil War subversives-who happened to be women-garner a lively treatment...Abbott proceeds chronologically, navigating the historical record through quotes and personal detail. Remarkable, brave lives rendered in a fluidly readable, even romantic history lesson. -- Kirkus Reviews This inspiring collective biography reads like a novel while shedding some much-needed light on fascinating chapters in both Civil War and women's history. -- Booklist You can get away with quite a lot if no one takes you very seriously...Women were largely dismissed as flighty, inferior creatures in Victorian times. That attitude helped several become some of the most effective spies of the Civil War. Again and again, the women who are the focus of Karen Abbott's exciting Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War came close to discovery or death, only to be saved by their enemies' sexism. Not that Belle Boyd, Rose Greenhow, Emma Edmonds, and Elizabeth Van Lew were ordinary women. They were all strong-minded, daring, and difficult...This is compelling material, and...Abbott brings these 'unspoken heroes' to life with a gripping, interwoven narrative that tells their stories with all the suspense of a spy novel. -- BookPage In this gripping book, Abbott (Sin in the Second City) tells the moving and fascinating story of four women who played unconventional roles during the Civil War...Meticulously researched and fluidly written, this book draws the reader in and doesn't let go until the four heroines draw their final breaths. Abbott provides an alternate view of this tumultuous time in history by featuring previously untold stories of the impact women and civilians had on the war effort, and she brings these individuals fully to life, with their passion for their causes, personal flaws, and heartbreak...Abbott tells a remarkable story of passion, strength, and resilience. -- Publishers Weekly (starred review) Smithsonian magazine history blogger Karen Abbott has done it again. The journalist whose Sin in the Second City won her USA Today praise as a 'pioneer of sizzle history' has written another absorbing true tale of extraordinary women. The four talented feminine operatives of Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy all displayed a willingness to put their lives-and often their bodies-on the line to aid their side in the War between the States...It will surprise no reader of this book that Erik Larson hailed its author as 'the John le Carre of Civil War espionage'-with the added benefit that the saga she tells is all true and beautifully researched. -- Barnes&Noble.com, editorial review With Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy, Karen Abbott has taken history and written it with the eloquence of good fiction. Halfway through her book, I decided Ian Fleming could not have invented better spies...nor have written about them with any more suspense. -- Robert Hicks, New York Times bestselling author Beautifully written, meticulously researched, and paced like an edge-of-your-seat-novel-I love this big, ambitious, unstoppable book. -- Joshilyn Jackson, New York Times bestselling author Abbott...[reveals] in such vivid detail the extraordinary lives of women who involved themselves so dangerously in the Civil War. This is that rare work of history that reads like a novel-and a really good one at that-and in which the truth is more thrilling than fiction. -- Michael Korda, New York Times bestselling author Thrilling, illuminating, heart-pounding. Liar, Temptress, Solider, Spy reads like a crackling espionage novel...Abbott brings to vivid life four extraordinary and audacious women and runs glorious roughshod over all our traditional notions of the role of women in the Civil War. -- Megan Abbott, Edgar Award-winning and New York Times bestselling author Karen Abbott's powerful narrative is first-rate American history about a fascinating, little-known chapter of the Civil War, as well as a compulsive, thrilling saga of espionage. Brilliant storytelling, highly accessible, and impossible to put down. -- Gilbert King, Pulitzer Prize-winning author

Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy is a masterwork of suspenseful plots and unforgettable characters rendered in exacting, gorgeous detail-a brilliant new take on the heroines and villainesses of the Civil War. -- Lydia Netzer, author of the New York Times Notable Book Shine Shine Shine A masterpiece of narrative storytelling, backed by impeccable research and extraordinary material. I was gripped by every page. -- Amanda Foreman, award-winning author Abbott...[reveals] in such vivid detail the extraordinary lives of women who involved themselves so dangerously in the Civil War. This is that rare work of history that reads like a novel-and a really good one at that-and in which the truth is more thrilling than fiction. -- Michael Korda, New York Times bestselling author Beautifully written, meticulously researched, and paced like an edge-of-your-seat-novel-I love this big, ambitious, unstoppable book. -- Joshilyn Jackson, New York Times bestselling author Four Civil War subversives-who happened to be women-garner a lively treatment...Abbott proceeds chronologically, navigating the historical record through quotes and personal detail. Remarkable, brave lives rendered in a fluidly readable, even romantic history lesson. -- Kirkus Reviews In this gripping book, Abbott (Sin in the Second City) tells the moving and fascinating story of four women who played unconventional roles during the Civil War...Meticulously researched and fluidly written, this book draws the reader in and doesn't let go until the four heroines draw their final breaths. Abbott provides an alternate view of this tumultuous time in history by featuring previously untold stories of the impact women and civilians had on the war effort, and she brings these individuals fully to life, with their passion for their causes, personal flaws, and heartbreak...Abbott tells a remarkable story of passion, strength, and resilience. -- Publishers Weekly (starred review) Karen Abbott's powerful narrative is first-rate American history about a fascinating, little-known chapter of the Civil War, as well as a compulsive, thrilling saga of espionage. Brilliant storytelling, highly accessible, and impossible to put down. -- Gilbert King, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Smithsonian magazine history blogger Karen Abbott has done it again. The journalist whose Sin in the Second City won her USA Today praise as a 'pioneer of sizzle history' has written another absorbing true tale of extraordinary women. The four talented feminine operatives of Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy all displayed a willingness to put their lives-and often their bodies-on the line to aid their side in the War between the States...It will surprise no reader of this book that Erik Larson hailed its author as 'the John le Carre of Civil War espionage'-with the added benefit that the saga she tells is all true and beautifully researched. -- Barnes&Noble.com, editorial review This inspiring collective biography reads like a novel while shedding some much-needed light on fascinating chapters in both Civil War and women's history. -- Booklist Thrilling, illuminating, heart-pounding. Liar, Temptress, Solider, Spy reads like a crackling espionage novel...Abbott brings to vivid life four extraordinary and audacious women and runs glorious roughshod over all our traditional notions of the role of women in the Civil War. -- Megan Abbott, Edgar Award-winning and New York Times bestselling author With Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy, Karen Abbott has taken history and written it with the eloquence of good fiction. Halfway through her book, I decided Ian Fleming could not have invented better spies...nor have written about them with any more suspense. -- Robert Hicks, New York Times bestselling author You can get away with quite a lot if no one takes you very seriously...Women were largely dismissed as flighty, inferior creatures in Victorian times. That attitude helped several become some of the most effective spies of the Civil War. Again and again, the women who are the focus of Karen Abbott's exciting Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War came close to discovery or death, only to be saved by their enemies' sexism. Not that Belle Boyd, Rose Greenhow, Emma Edmonds, and Elizabeth Van Lew were ordinary women. They were all strong-minded, daring, and difficult...This is compelling material, and...Abbott brings these 'unspoken heroes' to life with a gripping, interwoven narrative that tells their stories with all the suspense of a spy novel. -- BookPage

Author Information

Karen Abbott is the New York Times bestselling author of Sin in the Second City, American Rose, and, most recently, Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy. She has written for the New York Times Book Review, Wall Street Journal, Smithsonian magazine, Salon, and other publications. Karen White is a classically trained actress who has been recording audiobooks since 1999. An Audie Award finalist, she has earned eight AudioFile Earphones Awards. Her reading of The Hemingses of Monticello by Annette Gordon-Reed was named one of AudioFile's Best Audiobooks of 2009.

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