Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War

by Abbot Kahler (formerly Karen Abbot)
@AbbotKahler

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, a farmgirl, an abolitionist, and a widow—who were spies.

After shooting a Union soldier in her front hall with a pocket pistol, Belle Boyd became a courier and spy for the Confederate army, using her charms to seduce men on both sides. Emma Edmonds cut off her hair and assumed the identity of a man to enlist as a Union private, witnessing the bloodiest battles of the Civil War.

Interview with the Author

Most Notorious! A True Crime History Podcast 
16: Female Spies in the Civil War w/ Karen Abbott
2/21/16          48 min

Boston Athenaeum 
Karen Abbott, “Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War”
9/18/15          39 min

New Books Network 
Karen Abbott, “Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War” (Harper, 2014)
9/8/14          27 min

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