In the Line of Fire: Eight Women War Spies [Paperback]

George Sullivan (Author)

Book Description

The stories of eight American women spies include the heroic tales of Lydia Darragh, who warned Washington of an imminent British attack, and Emma Edmonds, who disguised herself as a male slave in a Confederate camp.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Gr. 3^-6. Sullivan recounts the stories of eight female war spies who risked their lives to obtain information for the military. Some, such as Lydia Darraugh (who warned George Washington about an imminent British attack), were ordinary wives and mothers who found themselves privy to secrets, which they relayed to the proper authorities. Others, such as Betty Pack (who stole a secret code book for the Allies during World War II), relished the thrill and adventure their espionage careers afforded them. The author refrains from glorifying his subjects' activities or motives, nor does he ignore the often tragic endings to their ventures. A section of period photos and an appended bibliography will assist young report writers, but no source notes are included. This helpful addition to classroom units on history or women's studies will also be popular with middle-graders looking for a quick read. Kay Weisman

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks (March 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0590482947
• ISBN-13: 978-0590482943
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,159,856 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A demonstration that women took a very active role in the making of world history, May 23, 2007

By 

Charles Ashbacher (Marion, Iowa United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: In the Line of Fire: Eight Women War Spies (Paperback)

In many ways, especially in the past, it was easier for a woman to be a spy than a man. There was the strong social bias that women were the weaker sex, less intelligent, too emotional for the psychological rigors of spying and the chivalrous notion that men must protect women. Furthermore, since officers were male, there was the potential sexual component, namely that a man would reveal secrets to a woman to impress them so that sex would be his reward.
This book describes the actions of eight women who worked as spies:

*) Lydia Darragh, who spied for the American Revolutionary forces under George Washington.
*) Rose O'Neal Greenhow, considered by some to have been the most effective spy for the Confederate forces in the American Civil war.
*) Belle Boyd, a strong proponent of the Confederacy in the American Civil war.
*) Sarah Emma Edmonds, who posed a man in the Union forces in the American Civil war, then posed as a black man and a slave so that she could penetrate the Confederate forces and act as a spy.
*) Mata Hari, the most well known female spy and quite possibly the least effective in this list.
*) The female members of the family of Dr. Bernard Kuehn, a German-born man who lived in Hawaii before the attack on Pearl Harbor. They provided important information to the Japanese to help them plan their attack.
*) Lily Carre, a French woman who spied for both the Allies and the Germans in World War II.
*) Betty Pack, whose code name was Cynthia and who was instrumental in the Allies acquiring a copy of Italian code books.

With the exception of Mata Hari, whose skills as a spy are significantly overblown, these women truly put their lives on the line for what they believed in. Some of them actually fired shots for their cause. The most interesting note was the data on how many women posed as men so that they could serve as fighting soldiers in the American Civil war. The number given in this book is somewhere around 400. Although I have no actual information to support my claim, this seems to be too low. Civil wars generate such passions among all people in a country, so it is reasonable to believe that among the millions of men engaged in the conflict on the Union side, more than 400 were in fact women.
This book is yet another demonstration that women took a very active role in the making of world history. For that reason, it is an excellent book for young girls to read and appreciate.