Washington's Spies
by Alexander Rose
Based on remarkable new research, acclaimed historian Alexander Rose
brings to life the true story of the spy ring that helped America win
the Revolutionary War. For the first time, Rose takes us beyond the
battlefront and deep into the shadowy underworld of double agents and
triple crosses, covert operations and code breaking, and unmasks the
courageous, flawed men who inhabited this wilderness of
mirrors—including the spymaster at the heart of it all. In the
summer of 1778, with the war poised to turn in his favor, General
George Washington desperately needed to know where the British would
strike next. To that end, he unleashed his secret weapon: an unlikely
ring of spies in New York charged with discovering the enemy’s battle
plans and military strategy. Washington’s small band included
a young Quaker torn between political principle and family loyalty, a
swashbuckling sailor addicted to the perils of espionage, a
hard-drinking barkeep, a Yale-educated cavalryman and friend of the
doomed Nathan Hale, and a peaceful, sickly farmer who begged Washington
to let him retire but who always came through in the end. Personally
guiding these imperfect everyday heroes was Washington himself. In an
era when officers were gentlemen, and gentlemen didn’ t spy, he
possessed an extraordinary talent for deception—and proved an adept
spymaster. The men he mentored were dubbed the Culper Ring. The
British secret service tried to hunt them down, but they escaped by
the closest of shaves thanks to their ciphers, dead drops, and
invisible ink. Rose’s thrilling narrative tells the unknown story of
the Revolution–the murderous intelligence war, gunrunning and
kidnapping, defectors and executioners—that has never appeared in the
history books. But Washington’s Spies is also a spirited, touching
account of friendship and trust, fear and betrayal, amid the dark and
silent world of the spy.
brings to life the true story of the spy ring that helped America win
the Revolutionary War. For the first time, Rose takes us beyond the
battlefront and deep into the shadowy underworld of double agents and
triple crosses, covert operations and code breaking, and unmasks the
courageous, flawed men who inhabited this wilderness of
mirrors—including the spymaster at the heart of it all. In the
summer of 1778, with the war poised to turn in his favor, General
George Washington desperately needed to know where the British would
strike next. To that end, he unleashed his secret weapon: an unlikely
ring of spies in New York charged with discovering the enemy’s battle
plans and military strategy. Washington’s small band included
a young Quaker torn between political principle and family loyalty, a
swashbuckling sailor addicted to the perils of espionage, a
hard-drinking barkeep, a Yale-educated cavalryman and friend of the
doomed Nathan Hale, and a peaceful, sickly farmer who begged Washington
to let him retire but who always came through in the end. Personally
guiding these imperfect everyday heroes was Washington himself. In an
era when officers were gentlemen, and gentlemen didn’ t spy, he
possessed an extraordinary talent for deception—and proved an adept
spymaster. The men he mentored were dubbed the Culper Ring. The
British secret service tried to hunt them down, but they escaped by
the closest of shaves thanks to their ciphers, dead drops, and
invisible ink. Rose’s thrilling narrative tells the unknown story of
the Revolution–the murderous intelligence war, gunrunning and
kidnapping, defectors and executioners—that has never appeared in the
history books. But Washington’s Spies is also a spirited, touching
account of friendship and trust, fear and betrayal, amid the dark and
silent world of the spy.