Lincoln's Lady Spymaster - by Gerri Willis (Hardcover)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

In this gripping Civil War history, Fox Business's Gerri Willis charts the making of a spymaster genius.

Wealthy Southern belle Elizabeth Van Lew had it all. Money, charm, wit--the most elegant mansion in Richmond.

So why risk everything to become a Union spy?

The answer was simple: freedom. Right in the heart of the Confederate capital, Elizabeth played the society lady while building a secret espionage network--the Richmond spy ring--of slaves, Unionists, and prisoners of war.

It would cost her almost everything. Flouting society's expectations for women in the Civil War, Elizabeth infiltrated prisons and defied public opinion. Her story is filled with vivid personalities, including:

• Assassin John Wilkes Booth
• Washington socialite and Southern spy Rose Greenhow
• Prison escape artist Thomas Rose
• Cavalry hero Ulrich Dahlgren
• Black spy Mary Bowser who infiltrated the Confederate White House

From grave robbery to a bold voyage across enemy lines, Elizabeth's escapades only grew more daring. But it paid off.

By the war's end, she had agents in both the Confederate War Department and the Richmond White House, and her couriers provided General Ulysses S. Grant with crucial, daily intelligence for his final assault.

In this meticulously researched biography, Gerri Willis uncovers the Southern abolitionist heroine that the Lost Cause buried--an unbelievable tale of one woman's courage, resistance, and liberation. Heartfelt, thrilling, and inspiring, this work of women's history, Lincoln's Lady Spymaster, restores a forgotten hero to her rightful place as an American icon.

Review Quotes

Gerri Willis' masterful Lincoln's Lady Spymaster will have you glued to the incredible true story of Elizabeth Van Lew, the Southern belle turned Union spy. If you thought you knew the most interesting stories of the American Civil War, you didn't--until now. - Arthur C. Brooks, #1 New York Times bestselling author of From Strength to Strength

Antebellum hoop skirts and coming-out parties juxtaposed with the dark scenes--down the street, families inspected and sold by slave traders. Gerri Willis takes us deep inside the history of the Civil War through the eyes of Elizabeth Van Lew, genteel but fierce, whose life takes an irresistible and dangerous turn as 'Lincoln's lady spymaster.' It is shocking that this story--as captivating as it is historically consequential--was under wraps in the archives for so long. Elizabeth is not unlike Gerri in her courage and tenacity, and she seems to have chosen Willis personally to tell us her story. - Martha MacCallum, New York Times bestselling author of Unknown Valor

Buckle up! Espionage, courage, and resilience are all woven into this true-life history of forgotten Civil War spy, Elizabeth Van Lew. Gerri Willis takes us on an emotional adventure as she recounts the details of this fascinating woman's life and career. Elizabeth risked it all to change the course of history, and every American should know her story. - Alison Levine, New York Times bestselling author of On the Edge

Just when we thought the American Civil War had little new to offer, along comes Lincoln's Lady Spymaster by Gerri Willis, a masterful study of Elizabeth Van Lew, a loyal Southerner who operated a highly successful Union intelligence network right under the nose of the Confederate government in Richmond. With a keen eye for historical detail, Willis spins a yarn with enough real-life colorful characters and cloak-and-dagger twists to make even Ian Fleming blush. - William B. Feis, author of Grant's Secret Service

Willis draws on Van Lew's published diary, a biography of Van Lew, and biographies of Civil War figures to create a brisk, well-populated chronicle of her subject's perilous work. A fresh look at Civil War history. - Kirkus Reviews

In Lincoln's Lady Spymaster, Gerri Willis relates with verve and rich detail the extraordinary story of Van Lew's espionage career. - Wall Street Journal