Lincoln’s Lady Spymaster

The Untold Story of the Abolitionist Southern Belle Who Helped Win the Civil War

By: Gerri Willis

Narrated by: Nan McNamara

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 of slaves, Unionists, and prisoners of war.

It would cost her almost everything. Flouting society’s expectations for women, 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.

With extensive and fresh research, 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, Lincoln’s Lady Spymaster restores a forgotten hero to her rightful place as an American icon.

The unsung heroes

I love every page! The story weaves together groups of people that end up fighting on opposing sides of the war. Truly an intriguing account of the civil war.

We learned a lot of interesting history of our country during that period.

The book was well written and the reader of the story did a good job.

misleading title

The title is misleading . It is really a history of the civil war. And it was second rate history, at that, It. will mention the spy here and there., in little snippets Over all, i was pretty disappointed .

Less about Elizabeth than a very basic overview of the war

Very basic story and not 100% accurate. She could not have seen Libby prison from Church hill

The Lincoln Years

What an awesome listen. Just when you thought the Lincoln Years couldn’t get any better, then comes Lincoln’s Lady Spymaster. You won’t be disappointed in this historical addition.