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Book Summary and Reviews of Lincoln's Lady Spymaster by Gerri Willis

Lincoln's Lady Spymaster by Gerri Willis

Lincoln's Lady Spymaster

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

by Gerri Willis

  • Publishes:
  • Jun 3, 2025, 288 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

A thrilling, cinematic saga of a Southern belle whose espionage for Abraham Lincoln and the Union helped win the Civil War.

Wealthy Southern belle Elizabeth Van Lew had it all. Money, charm, wit—the biggest mansion in Richmond. So why risk everything to become the Civil War's most productive Union spy?

The answer was simple: freedom. In this gripping history of a secret espionage genius, Gerri Willis reveals how Elizabeth built a flourishing spy network in the heart of the Confederate Capitol. Flouting society's expectations for women, Elizabeth infiltrated prisons, defied public opinion, and recruited an underground movement of freed slaves, secret Unionists, and brave captives.

Putting her straitlaced Victorian past behind her, Elizabeth encountered vivid characters—assassins, socialites, escape artists, and cross-dressing spies. From grave robbery to a bold voyage across enemy lines, her escapades grew more and more daring. It paid off. Her agents were so well-placed that she had spies gathering information in both the Confederate War Department and the Richmond White House, and couriers providing General Ulysses S. Grant with crucial, daily intelligence for the war's final assault.

Deeply researched and rich with detail, Lincoln's Lady Spymaster is a remarkable true story of courage, ingenuity, and resistance. Gerri Willis pulls back the curtain on one of the most fearless heroes of the Civil War, restoring her to her rightful place as an American icon.

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This information about Lincoln's Lady Spymaster was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

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Author Information

Gerri Willis

Gerri Willis is the host of Fox Nation's Real Tough Women and Fox Radio's Fearless and Proud podcast. She was also a host on Fox Business. She lives in Westchester, New York.

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