WoW: Historicals

Liar Temptress Soldier Spy
Karen Abbott
Four Women Undercover in the Civil War
Releases 9.3.2014
Civil War

Blurb:

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 the reader into the war as these daring women lived it.

Waiting ON . . . 

So what has my attention on this title this week, was how extensive I have been looking into our reading material for the 2014-2015 district school year. While the lists of what teachers are looking for came in I have been struggling to find suitable materials through all of our K-12 grades. When this book popped up on my radar I was thrilled, because it touches on topics that I have had a hard time digging through the reading material for.