Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.75 AVERAGE
3.75 AVERAGE
This would have been much more compelling at 200 pages.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
medium-paced
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.
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.
I love a good historical retelling, and the fact that this was a fiction story based on tons of diligent research was awesome. There aren't enough stories about women in history and I loved seeing 4 different women on different sides of the civil war and everything they went through. It was engaging and informative and I really enjoyed it.
Really enjoyed the audio version but had to rewind a few times because it's so heavy with dates and names. The author did a great job weaving her research and historical data into an entertaining story. Would have liked her to include Mary Bowser as a 5th main character instead of a secondary character.
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
Listened to this for Women’s History Month. Also represents a bit of resistance because for some unfashionable reason it is on some banned book lists.
It is frustrating to learn again how much the human condition is timeless- lack of self awareness, bias, discrimination, tribalism, and cowardice are all in display in these true stories from 1861-1865. However, there is also some really amazing bravery, cunning, and general bad-assery on the part of the 4 women profiled in this story. Some progress has been made, but theee is still a long road ahead…
It is frustrating to learn again how much the human condition is timeless- lack of self awareness, bias, discrimination, tribalism, and cowardice are all in display in these true stories from 1861-1865. However, there is also some really amazing bravery, cunning, and general bad-assery on the part of the 4 women profiled in this story. Some progress has been made, but theee is still a long road ahead…
adventurous
informative
medium-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
the things we do for sunk cost fallacy. picked up this book because a lot of the women in my family liked it. my first mistake was picking up the audiobook - the narrator does accents that range from the mediocre to the actively racist. the book itself left a bad taste in my mouth, although i can't tell how much of that was personal preference vs actual issues.
informative
slow-paced