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A review by bookph1le
Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War by Karen Abbott
5.0
Fantastic. Full review to come.
Full review:
History was one of my least favorite subjects in school. With one notable exception, it seemed like my teachers excelled at taking the material and making it as dry and boring as possible, distilling what should have been thrilling events and interesting characters into a checklist of names and dates. In other words, all of the context was removed. As an adult, I now suspect my dislike for history had less to do with my teachers and more to do with textbooks and the way education tries to cram in as much as possible at the expense of robbing the subject of all relevance and interest.
I bring this up because Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy is the kind of book that, as a kid, I wouldn't have believed could have existed (because history couldn't possibly be interesting) and that, as an adult, blows me away. Compulsively readable, this book is a page-turner like any good work of fiction, bringing to life four fascinating and extraordinary women, and the perilous times in which they lived.
We meet Emma Edmondson, AKA Frank Thompson, who fled the restrictions of life as a woman by posing as a man, going door-to-door selling Bibles before enlisting with a Michigan regiments. Then there's Elizabeth Van Lew, the wealthy socialite living in Richmond who uses her family funds as she risks not only her good standing in society but her very life to spy for the Union army. On the Confederate side is the bold, brash (and often outrageous) Belle Boyd, who at seventeen defies a Union soldier in order to protect her mother, and Rose Greenhow, who goes as far as Europe to plead the Confederate case.
By the time I finished reading, I couldn't believe I had never heard of these three women, and that all I knew of Belle Boyd was that she had been a spy. School history does an excellent job of erasing the contributions of women and minorities that it's jarring to realize they played their roles. Though I was by no means disappointed by the four women on whom Abbott chose to focus, I was sorry not to learn more about Mary Jane Bowser, a former slave Rose had emancipated, and who infiltrated Jefferson Davis's house, posing as a servant while collecting invaluable intelligence. I wonder how anyone could find such story anything less than compelling.
The book is rich in detail, both about the lives of these women and the time in which they lived. Abbott does an excellent job of painting a portrait of all four, giving details about their lives, passions, and interests outside of the war so that each feels three-dimensional. Belle Boyd in particular was endlessly fascinating to me, her behavior sometimes so brash and outrageous that it was hard to believe she wasn't a work of fiction. I was also shocked to read about Emma Edmondson and the extraordinary women like her, whose desire to serve their country was so strong it inspired them to place themselves in great personal danger--not just on the battlefield, but also from their fellow soldiers, who could never know the truth about their comrades-at-arms.
I've always been interesting in the Civil War, but this book presented an entirely different perspective on the conflict. This is history brought to life in all its drama, intrigue, and suspense. Had I learned history the way Abbott presents it in this book, I'd have paid a lot more attention in school.
Full review:
History was one of my least favorite subjects in school. With one notable exception, it seemed like my teachers excelled at taking the material and making it as dry and boring as possible, distilling what should have been thrilling events and interesting characters into a checklist of names and dates. In other words, all of the context was removed. As an adult, I now suspect my dislike for history had less to do with my teachers and more to do with textbooks and the way education tries to cram in as much as possible at the expense of robbing the subject of all relevance and interest.
I bring this up because Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy is the kind of book that, as a kid, I wouldn't have believed could have existed (because history couldn't possibly be interesting) and that, as an adult, blows me away. Compulsively readable, this book is a page-turner like any good work of fiction, bringing to life four fascinating and extraordinary women, and the perilous times in which they lived.
We meet Emma Edmondson, AKA Frank Thompson, who fled the restrictions of life as a woman by posing as a man, going door-to-door selling Bibles before enlisting with a Michigan regiments. Then there's Elizabeth Van Lew, the wealthy socialite living in Richmond who uses her family funds as she risks not only her good standing in society but her very life to spy for the Union army. On the Confederate side is the bold, brash (and often outrageous) Belle Boyd, who at seventeen defies a Union soldier in order to protect her mother, and Rose Greenhow, who goes as far as Europe to plead the Confederate case.
By the time I finished reading, I couldn't believe I had never heard of these three women, and that all I knew of Belle Boyd was that she had been a spy. School history does an excellent job of erasing the contributions of women and minorities that it's jarring to realize they played their roles. Though I was by no means disappointed by the four women on whom Abbott chose to focus, I was sorry not to learn more about Mary Jane Bowser, a former slave Rose had emancipated, and who infiltrated Jefferson Davis's house, posing as a servant while collecting invaluable intelligence. I wonder how anyone could find such story anything less than compelling.
The book is rich in detail, both about the lives of these women and the time in which they lived. Abbott does an excellent job of painting a portrait of all four, giving details about their lives, passions, and interests outside of the war so that each feels three-dimensional. Belle Boyd in particular was endlessly fascinating to me, her behavior sometimes so brash and outrageous that it was hard to believe she wasn't a work of fiction. I was also shocked to read about Emma Edmondson and the extraordinary women like her, whose desire to serve their country was so strong it inspired them to place themselves in great personal danger--not just on the battlefield, but also from their fellow soldiers, who could never know the truth about their comrades-at-arms.
I've always been interesting in the Civil War, but this book presented an entirely different perspective on the conflict. This is history brought to life in all its drama, intrigue, and suspense. Had I learned history the way Abbott presents it in this book, I'd have paid a lot more attention in school.