Stealing Secrets

January 3, 2011
In this breezy overview of 36 women who spied for the Confederacy and the Union, Winkler (Lincoln's Ladies) tells "stories of women spies…filled with suspense and seduction, treachery and trickery, romance and bravery." Divided into chapters on each woman, Winkler finds his heroines equally appealing, no matter what side they spied for. He strongly sympathizes with Mary Surratt, who became the first woman executed by the U.S. government; although many female spies were caught, their gender saved them (it was not considered moral to hang women). Winkler argues that Surratt "was not a spy and played no role on the night of assassination," but was hanged, along with three male collaborators of John Wilkes Booth, "primarily because of the dogged determination, vindictiveness, and unforgiving actions of Secretary of War Edwin Stanton." Winkler also includes an account of Harriet Tubman's services organizing slaves into a guerilla force behind enemy lines, but most of his stories are in a lighter vein, showing women using their charms to wheedle secrets from officers and soldiers. Although Winkler could have delved more deeply into gender issues in the 19th century, this effort entertains.

October 15, 2010

Some of the exploits of these female Civil War spies seem incredible, but by modern standards security was almost nonexistent. How could a woman be caught red-handed and released merely on the basis of a gentleman's regard for the fair sex? This is not the first study of these women, many of whom (e.g., Harriet Tubman, Elizabeth Van Lew) have received individual, book-length attention; however, because Mary Surratt, portrayed in Robert Redford's forthcoming film The Conspirator, is covered here in a final chapter, this readable book, a lively addendum to Civil War collections, may be of increased interest.

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