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Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War
by
Karen Abbott, the New York Times bestselling author of Sin in the Second City and “pioneer of sizzle history” (USA Today), tells the spellbinding true story of four women who risked everything to become spies during the Civil War.
Karen Abbott illuminates one of the most fascinating yet little known aspects of the Civil War: the stories of four courageous women—a socialite, ...more
Karen Abbott illuminates one of the most fascinating yet little known aspects of the Civil War: the stories of four courageous women—a socialite, ...more
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Hardcover, 513 pages
Published
September 2nd 2014
by Harper
(first published July 1st 2014)
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Start your review of Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War

Four Civil War femme fatales? Yes, please.
This book is EVERYTHING!* It's like A League of Their Own had a lovechild with Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, and Doris Kearns Goodwin's (DKG) Team of Rivals , and seasoned with an extra dash of siren song. (Or does one not season children?)
Actually, it's hard to dream up a single concoction to represent all that is contained in Karen Abbott's Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy . It is a unique breed of narrative non-f ...more
This book is EVERYTHING!* It's like A League of Their Own had a lovechild with Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, and Doris Kearns Goodwin's (DKG) Team of Rivals , and seasoned with an extra dash of siren song. (Or does one not season children?)
Actually, it's hard to dream up a single concoction to represent all that is contained in Karen Abbott's Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy . It is a unique breed of narrative non-f ...more

“Frank stepped forward. He was five foot six, two inches shorter than the average Union army recruit, solid but thin. He told the doctor he was nineteen years old, twenty come December. The doctor’s eyes skimmed his shoulders and back, torso and legs. He coiled his fingers around Frank’s wrist and lifted up his hand. He turned it over as if it were a tarot card, studying its nuances, noting the absence of calluses, the smooth palm, the slim and tapered fingers…[T]he doctor marked Frank Thompson
...more

Dec 22, 2014
Carly
marked it as dnf
DNF.
I made it over halfway, but I give up.
To me, the most important aspect of nonfiction is that it be nonfiction. Unfortunately, writers of pop nonfiction usually go for the most sensational versions of the truth that they can find.
To my mind, this book falls into that trap. Abbott's book is clearly well-researched, but she tends to present as fact information from such dubious sources as the women's own memoirs or stories from Harper's Weekly. Since many of the women parleyed their life storie ...more
I made it over halfway, but I give up.
To me, the most important aspect of nonfiction is that it be nonfiction. Unfortunately, writers of pop nonfiction usually go for the most sensational versions of the truth that they can find.
To my mind, this book falls into that trap. Abbott's book is clearly well-researched, but she tends to present as fact information from such dubious sources as the women's own memoirs or stories from Harper's Weekly. Since many of the women parleyed their life storie ...more

Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Karen Abbott's History of Four Women in the American Civil War
Whoever said history has to be dull? Well, when Newsweek Magazine asked one thousand Americans the same U.S. Citizenship Test questions required for an immigrant to gain United States Citizenship, 38% must have found it pretty dull stuff. They failed. Seventy percent couldn't tell you what the Constitution was. That's a pretty bleak loo ...more
I am always on the women's side.-The Diary of Mary Boykin Chesnut
Whoever said history has to be dull? Well, when Newsweek Magazine asked one thousand Americans the same U.S. Citizenship Test questions required for an immigrant to gain United States Citizenship, 38% must have found it pretty dull stuff. They failed. Seventy percent couldn't tell you what the Constitution was. That's a pretty bleak loo ...more

Jan 11, 2021
Jay Schutt
rated it
it was ok
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
owned,
american-history-civil-war
Reluctantly, I'm giving this book 2 stars for the author's/publisher's efforts, but the truth is, I did not finish/could not finish this book. Let me explain.
I had great expectations for this, but whoever put it together should be hung. The author's content was excellent; very informative and well-researched, but whoever laid out the format in which it was presented did a terrible job. The four Civil War era women whose life stories were told had their lives laid out together in timelines for ea ...more
I had great expectations for this, but whoever put it together should be hung. The author's content was excellent; very informative and well-researched, but whoever laid out the format in which it was presented did a terrible job. The four Civil War era women whose life stories were told had their lives laid out together in timelines for ea ...more

Jun 24, 2020
Joy D
rated it
liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
non-fiction,
north-america,
war,
history,
espionage,
strong-women,
zck,
american-south,
biography,
reviewed
Karen Abbott takes a look at four women of the American Civil War, two Northern and two Southern: Elizabeth Van Lew, Emma Edmonds (aka Frank Thompson), Rose Greenhow, and Belle Boyd. She sheds new light on the roles of women in the Civil War and highlights little-known activities of her subjects. This book shows how some women exploited social mores and beliefs to advance their respective wartime causes.
Elizabeth Van Lew was a wealthy abolitionist living in Richmond who supported Union prisoner ...more
Elizabeth Van Lew was a wealthy abolitionist living in Richmond who supported Union prisoner ...more

When I say I want to read about interesting women, this is EXACTLY what I mean. Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy tells the story of:
•BELLE BOYD : self proclaimed "Cleopatra of the Succession" and a real piece of work. Before the age of 20, Belle had already killed a man, become a spy for the Confederacy, and been arrested (for being a spy). Always on the lookout for a husband, and pathologically obsessed with Stonewall Jackson, Belle Boyd flirted and canoodled her way through the Civil War. I found ...more
•BELLE BOYD : self proclaimed "Cleopatra of the Succession" and a real piece of work. Before the age of 20, Belle had already killed a man, become a spy for the Confederacy, and been arrested (for being a spy). Always on the lookout for a husband, and pathologically obsessed with Stonewall Jackson, Belle Boyd flirted and canoodled her way through the Civil War. I found ...more

Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy is the non-fiction account of four women during the U. S. Civil War: Rose Greenhow, Elizabeth Van Lew, Emma Edmonds, and Belle Boyd (guess which side she was on). Two are Confederates and two Unionists, each spied for the cause they embraced and suffered for doing so.
The first half of the book was quite interesting and read more like fiction than non, with the narrative storylines. But, somewhere around the middle it got bogged down and began to drag. Never a good t ...more
The first half of the book was quite interesting and read more like fiction than non, with the narrative storylines. But, somewhere around the middle it got bogged down and began to drag. Never a good t ...more

2 stars - Meh. Just ok.
The synopsis to this book promised a fascinating read and it does indeed start strong. Hearing the back story of the four main historical figures was very interesting. Unfortunately, once the introductions were over it became a dull, dry read, akin to reading history from a textbook.
The author mentions that all included dialogue is factual, based on her sources, and it seems that after doing so much research, she wanted to include every tedious event, quote and tidbit tha ...more
The synopsis to this book promised a fascinating read and it does indeed start strong. Hearing the back story of the four main historical figures was very interesting. Unfortunately, once the introductions were over it became a dull, dry read, akin to reading history from a textbook.
The author mentions that all included dialogue is factual, based on her sources, and it seems that after doing so much research, she wanted to include every tedious event, quote and tidbit tha ...more

I *loved* Abbott's Sin in the Second City, so I put this book on hold the minute I heard it was going to be published. And I did enjoy it, especially as woman are so often overlooked in Civil War history (well, history in general) unless Scarlett O'Hara is present. But it felt a little fractured to me. It may have been the way it was told, jumping back and forth from story to story just when I getting immersed in one life. Partially, I thought it was too long, so all of Abbott's delightful snazz
...more

"Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy" is a fantastic nonfiction narrative about four women and their daring undercover actions during the Civil War. In my own head, I typically don't think about women having a role in fighting the Civil War. We don't typically hear about them out on the battle field unless they are in a nursing role. This book sheds light on some of the bravery that women showed during the Civil War.
The Civil War definitely isn't my favorite historical event to learn about but with bo ...more
The Civil War definitely isn't my favorite historical event to learn about but with bo ...more

W O W.
I have to say that nonfiction has always been my jam. I have read a lot of it and am always adding to my TBR list. I would love to take a year where I read nothing but nonfiction. I actually almost swooned when I typed that. Anyway, I digress. Because I read a lot of this genre, I have favorite time periods and people and places. And the Civil War is right at the top of that list [along with Abraham Lincoln, Grant, Harper's Ferry and John Brown etc etc]- not because war is my jam [it most ...more
I have to say that nonfiction has always been my jam. I have read a lot of it and am always adding to my TBR list. I would love to take a year where I read nothing but nonfiction. I actually almost swooned when I typed that. Anyway, I digress. Because I read a lot of this genre, I have favorite time periods and people and places. And the Civil War is right at the top of that list [along with Abraham Lincoln, Grant, Harper's Ferry and John Brown etc etc]- not because war is my jam [it most ...more

What a disappointment!I make it a point to completely read any book borrowed, but in this case, I admit defeat. The voice and tone of this book are totally inappropriate. Ms Abbott seems committed to using a brutally plain rhetoric that she then combines into a syrupy Blanche Dubois phrasing that really rankles. Moreover, many fascinating facts and details are clumsily lumped into a clothesline of events that becomes numbing and loses all emotional impact. This book seems more like a cut and pas
...more

I was completely entertained; best time I’ve had reading a history book! Abbott gives that extra hundred pages of personality that all of my Erik Larson reads have lacked.

Frank Thompson/Emma Edmondson
A Union soldier, nurse, and spy. There were as many as 400 women, on both sides, posing and fighting as men.

Rose Greenhow
DC socialite ran a Confederate spy ring in the Union capital and later became the first American woman to represent her country abroad.

Elizabeth Van Lew
Ran a Union spy ring i ...more

Frank Thompson/Emma Edmondson
A Union soldier, nurse, and spy. There were as many as 400 women, on both sides, posing and fighting as men.

Rose Greenhow
DC socialite ran a Confederate spy ring in the Union capital and later became the first American woman to represent her country abroad.

Elizabeth Van Lew
Ran a Union spy ring i ...more

Finished this 5 Star Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War in two marathon sessions. These women were just fascinating. Just great reading and very good history. I learned a lot about espionage in the Civil War. Emma's story was also excellent. Here is the definitive review by Mara and I can't improve on it:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Strongest recommendation! ...more
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Strongest recommendation! ...more

Audiobook #214
I've read the paper version, but wanted to read it again. This book presents various profiles of women both North and South and how they survived during the Civil War. I find it really interesting, but honestly I find anything women do from a source of strength to be honored. ...more
I've read the paper version, but wanted to read it again. This book presents various profiles of women both North and South and how they survived during the Civil War. I find it really interesting, but honestly I find anything women do from a source of strength to be honored. ...more

This book examines the lives of four courageous women during the American Civil War: two for the Union and two for the Confederacy. On the side of the Union there's Emma Edmonds, a Canadian woman who disguised herself as a man and fought, nursed and spied for the Union. There's also Elizabeth Van Lew, a wealthy Union supporter living in Richmond who dared use her personal resources to help escaped prisoners and pass on information to General Grant. Honorable mention to her friend and former slav
...more

I've lived the north and south of the Civil War aftermath: born and raised in the DC area, moved to a border state (home of the Dred-Scott decision for most of my adolescence, and then settled here in the South for the past 40 or so years. There are many aspects, besides the politics of the war, that I find fascinating. The fierce loyalty some folks have for their homeland, for instance, or the burning desire to fight for their personal beliefs. To me, fighting means taking an intellectual stand
...more

This is a very readable book about four women during the American Civil War. Abbott choses two women from the Union and two from the Confedracy. Why these four is somewhat unclear - perhaps the least well known is Elizabeth van Lew or Emma Edmonds. Belle Boyd and Rose Greenhow are more well known.
And I think that is the what stops this book from being a five star. It is unclear why these four women - is it to bring little known stories to the fore, okay but Belle Boyd is not obscure (and if you ...more
And I think that is the what stops this book from being a five star. It is unclear why these four women - is it to bring little known stories to the fore, okay but Belle Boyd is not obscure (and if you ...more

this was a terrific read. it's very clear abbott has done tremendous research in creating this book, and the biographies and history are presented well in a very engaging style.
over the past year, i have been hearing more about women serving in the civil war, whether they went incognito, disguising themselves as men, or functioned as supporters and spies - there may be a mini-movement in publishing to get these stories some attention. novels like I Shall Be Near to You and Neverhome would be gre ...more
over the past year, i have been hearing more about women serving in the civil war, whether they went incognito, disguising themselves as men, or functioned as supporters and spies - there may be a mini-movement in publishing to get these stories some attention. novels like I Shall Be Near to You and Neverhome would be gre ...more

This book about 4 female Civil War spies was a must-read for me and was everything I'd hoped-- the final line of the epilogue leaving me with goosebumps (I'm not even kidding). I already knew about each of these women-- had even read parts of Rebel Rose's and all of Sarah Emma Edmonds' memoirs-- but I feel like I learned SO MUCH about them and the lengths that they and many others went through in pursuit of their ideals. Abbott gives a thorough, compelling, suspenseful account of each woman's li
...more

As someone who's super scared of nonfiction and who hates reading about wars, I was nervous about this book. But when I heard that Karen Abbott was coming to town, I decided it was time to give this book a chance. Everybody who has read it loved it and the subject matter certainly sounded interesting. Badass women undercover?? Sign me up. I've just always had trouble with history, for whatever reason. Abbott makes Civil War history so interesting and accessible, without dumbing it down. All of t
...more

This is the kind of NF I always love, yet struggle to find. Immersive and rich in the smaller historical details that may not ultimately affect the record but that brings its characters--and humanity--to life. (HOT TIP: If you are female attempting to pose as a male soldier, don't try to put pants on over your head. Immediate giveaway.)
I chose this for my book club's non-fiction round largely because of the Washington Post's odd review (below), but worried that the content itself might not lend ...more
I chose this for my book club's non-fiction round largely because of the Washington Post's odd review (below), but worried that the content itself might not lend ...more

I received an uncorrected proof copy of this book from HarperCollins.
In this work of non-fiction, Abbott tells the story of four women who served as spies during the Civil War. Belle Boyd was a teenager when work broke out, and a hotheaded one at that. Belle became a spy for the Confederacy, seducing men to get them to tell all. Emma Edmonds ran away from home to avoid a forced marriage. To survive, she dressed as a man and joined the Union army, where she was eventually recruited to serve as a ...more
In this work of non-fiction, Abbott tells the story of four women who served as spies during the Civil War. Belle Boyd was a teenager when work broke out, and a hotheaded one at that. Belle became a spy for the Confederacy, seducing men to get them to tell all. Emma Edmonds ran away from home to avoid a forced marriage. To survive, she dressed as a man and joined the Union army, where she was eventually recruited to serve as a ...more

I enjoyed this book as it provided another aspect of the Civil War that one rarely hears about. Abbott provides an alternate view of the Civil War by featuring previously untold stories of the impact women and civilians had on the war effort. She brings these individuals fully to life with passion for their causes. The subjects of Karen Abbott’s engrossing book are four women who worked undercover in the Civil War. Belle Boyd and Rose O’Neal Greenhow worked for the confederacy and Elizabeth Van
...more

About five years ago I read They Fought Like Demons: Women Soldiers in the Civil War. It was a fine book, but on the dry end. What was exciting to me was the discussion of women in a position that was filled primarily by men, and the education most of us receive in schools about the American Civil War keep women out of the lectures pretty much entirely, except when talking about women in a feminine role during the war (nurses, teachers, prostitutes, mothers, sisters, wives, etc. etc.).
The realit ...more
The realit ...more

This is the story of four different women and their contributions during the Civil War. This was a four star rating because, while the information and story was intriguing, it was confusing going back and forth between the stories and trying to figure out who's on what side.
All four women qualified as Liars and Spies, but my favorite was Emma, who wore a Union uniform and fought in battle in addition to delivering the mail. I liked that Emma and Elizabeth spent their time nursing soldiers back ...more
All four women qualified as Liars and Spies, but my favorite was Emma, who wore a Union uniform and fought in battle in addition to delivering the mail. I liked that Emma and Elizabeth spent their time nursing soldiers back ...more

I found this to be a highly readable and eye-opening account of the unsung role of four women "spies" in the Civil War. The narrative alternates between Emma and Elizabeth (both Union supporters), and Belle and Rose (Rebel sympathizers), and follows a chronological trajectory through the war and beyond. I recently read one of Karen Abbott's other books, Sin in the Second City: Madams, Ministers, Playboys, and the Battle for America's Soul which was teeming with interesting historical characters,
...more

I found this book somewhat confusing. I guess I should have brushed up on my American Civil War knowledge , before reading this nonfiction account of four women , two from each side who are the Liar, Temptress, Soldier, and Spy. Actually most of these ladies fit more than one description. For the Union side , we had Emma Edwards, my favorite of the bunch, who disguised as a man actually joined the troops, also Elizabeth Van Lew, who used her wealth , and the help of her former slave Mary Jane Bo
...more
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Houston County Pu...: March~April 2021 Liar Temptress Soldier Spy | 1 | 1 | Mar 02, 2021 12:11PM | |
Play Book Tag: Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy by Karen Abbott-3.5 stars | 2 | 9 | Jul 30, 2020 04:17PM | |
Play Book Tag: [Poll Ballot] Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy by Karen Abbott - 3 stars | 3 | 8 | Jun 24, 2020 05:57PM | |
Play Book Tag: Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy by Karen Abbott 3 stars | 5 | 17 | May 03, 2018 10:27AM | |
Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy | 3 | 6 | Mar 25, 2018 08:02AM | |
Evergreen Park Re...: Non-conforming women | 1 | 5 | May 17, 2016 02:48PM |
Karen Abbott is the New York Times bestselling author of Sin in the Second City: Madams, Ministers, Playboys, and the Battle for America's Soul, American Rose: A Nation Laid Bare: The Life and Times of Gypsy Rose Lee, Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War, and, most recently, The Ghosts of Eden Park: The Bootleg King, the Women Who Pursued Him, and the Murder Th
...more
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