Wealthy Southern belle Elizabeth Van Lew had it all. Money, charm, witthe most elegant mansion in Richmond. So why risk everything to become a Union spy?
The answer was simple: freedom. In this gripping Civil War history, Gerri Willis charts the making of a spymaster genius. Right in the heart of the Confederate capital, Elizabeth played the society lady while building a secret espionage network of slaves, Unionists, and prisoners of war.
It would cost her almost everything. Flouting societys expectations for women, Elizabeth infiltrated prisons and defied public opinion. She met assassins, socialites, escape artists, and cross-dressing spies. From grave robbery to a bold voyage across enemy lines, Elizabeths escapades only grew more daring. But it paid off. By the wars 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.
With extensive and fresh research, Gerri Willis uncovers the Southern abolitionist heroine that the Lost Cause buriedan unbelievable tale of one womans courage, resistance, and liberation. Heartfelt, thrilling, and inspiring, Lincolns Lady Spymaster restores a forgotten hero to her rightful place as an American icon.
