The Fox and the Hound: The Birth of American Spying

by Donald E. Markle

Most books about espionage in the American Revolutionary War tend to focus solely on General George Washington, but as noted historian Donald E. Markle explores in this fascinating account, there was an entire system of intelligence communication autonomous from his direction. General Washington and General Charles Cornwallis were engaged in a constant battle to outmaneuver each other, and Cornwallis seemed to always be one step behind Washington and his intelligence departments. As the war progressed, the Americans and British slowly learned one another's tactics, allowing the hunt between the fox (Washington) and the hound (Cornwallis). THE FOX AND THE HOUND walks readers through the early stages of the war, when gathering and distributing intelligence was a challenge without a centralized government to organize a network. Markle tells us how and why Washington created multiple intelligence-gathering departments within the colonies, which included most of the East Coast from Georgia to New Hampshire and even parts of Canada--all operating under a command structure unique to their surrounding geography. This book explores the many depths of the intelligence networks from civilian men and women who dedicated their lives to the American cause, to the introduction of code ciphers and the first spy equipment such as David Bushnell's turtle submarine and Benjamin Franklin's jet boat. Without the dedication of Washington and his innovative loyal supporters, it's quite possible that the outcome of the war may have been different. Military and American history enthusiasts will find this a valuable resource for their collections.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, American Revolution, American Revolutionary War, American History

284 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2013

Reviews

[Ken M · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are books written by authors and there are books written by historians. This was written by a historian. Immaculately laid out and factual in every aspect. Just a dull read. He moves from point to point with no variation or break. Like driving the same stretch of highway over and over. He did inject some sense of drama when he discussed specific people, but it was rare and still not entertaining.

I feel bad because he's obviously quite smart and put a lot of time into this. It just read more like a graduate thesis than a retail book. The cover was beautiful and led me to expect a more entertaining read.

[Bret · Rating 2 out of 5]

Full of great facts, but a very slow read. Reads more like a thesis or dissertation than a nonfiction book.

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to enjoy this book more than I did. Especially after reading the introduction, in which the author relates that he went through a number of physical trials while writing the book, among them loss of eyesight and even cancer.
But the book is just not what it could have been. It has a lot of interesting information, and was clearly researched very well. But the writing is just a shoddy mess overall. The organization is blocky, without any real central narrative. First off, each chapter is devoted to one of the Departments of the Continental Army, which may not seem like a bad way to organize a book, but here, they are basically independent units. Information is repeated as if beings stated for the first time whenever there happens to be an overlap in the narratives. Next, there is bad grammar all over the place. What was the editor doing while reading some of the sentences in this book? There are also some embarrassing typos. "Monrovian" instead of "Moravian" is one example. Probably the most egregious example is on page 134 of my edition (in the section about Alexander McGillivray), where part of a paragraph is repeated before and after a large block quote.
On the plus side, I learned some pretty interesting things. Despite the poor writing, editing, and organization of this book, it's not as if I couldn't learn anything about Revolutionary War spying while reading. So if you're curious about that subject, this book may satisfy you; it has a broader scope than Washington's Spies by Alexander Rose, considered perhaps the definitive volume on Revolutionary War espionage. But if you do decide to go for this one, you might want to hold your nose a time or two.

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a gift in more ways than one! This is a fascinating story of how the colonists spied on the British to finally win the war. The book is clearly divided into sections, such as the Departments of the colonies; the fledgling country was divided regionally with people in charge reporting to General Washington. Names, dates, stories of real people who spied, pretended to defect, and who created codes and technology cover the pages. The reading is easy, equal time is given to male and female spies. If you are a Revolutionary War geek, this book is for you! What I loved about the book was so much information on New England. The people of CT were so important during the Revolution, and that has never really been communicated to the people of this state. This book does it!

[Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

While this book is a bit dry and probably written from a historians perspective this is valuable because it covers all aspects of spying in the Revolutionary War rather than focusing on a specific ring like the Culper Ring. He goes methodically thru the various Revolutionary War departments covers the spies, the battles they helped provided intelligence for and how they helped to shape the outcome of the War. At the end of each section he gives a short profile of an exemplary spy. One of the good things about this book is that is also covers British and Loyalist spies in addition to American spies.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

A concise examination of intelligence operations conducted by British and colonial armies during the Revolutionary War and their effectiveness. Written with a slight academic bent, readers should already be familiar with the time period as the focus is on how intelligence operations on both sides were affected the outcome of major events, including Saratoga and Yorktown. Includes chapters on technological advancements and codes and ciphers as well as sections highlighting specific spies. Inclusion of an index would have been beneficial to the work.

[Hapaxes · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting topic that got was ruined by poor writing. The book is badly in need of an editor, it reads like a graduate degree thesis. The author lists facts and lack of facts more than he tells a story.

[John Bacin · Rating 2 out of 5]

The cover and subtitle made it seem like the book would be more exciting than it turned out to be. Feels like half of the book's writing is dedicated to rationalizing (on minor evidence) why this book needed to be written in the first place (it maybe didn't).

[Bill Freil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book. Easy read.

[Danny Vargas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very factual, with excerpts from letters between Washington and other military figures of those times, but don’t expect a nice fluid story. This could be a textbook.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another case of interesting information presented poorly. This also needed a better editor- I spotted a number of errors and typos throughout. It also just didn't hang together very well.

[Paul Lunger · Rating 1 out of 5]

Donald Markle's "The Fox and the Hound: The Birth of American Spying" is a book that reads more like it should be a textbook in a college class or high school rather than a book that we the general public should have access to. The concept is basically a simple one of discussing the various spying efforts throughout the Revolutionary War. Where Markle goes astray is that he breaks everything down into extremely simple parts (including an abbreviated history of all the departments that existed w/in the Continental Army) & then summarizes the chapter after it ends. There's no organization nor rhyme or reason at times to the people he does mention where he does. Also, the book picks out biographies of 10 people important to the various departments in the war or regions & gives them at times more information than the spies he briefly mentions in other places. Overall this book is a huge disappointment since there are far too many better ways that the information could've been presented in this rather important period of American history.

[Deborah Sparrow · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really interesting historical material, but unfortunately, dry as dust. I learned a lot and now feel like I should be studying for a final exam. If you want the details on the birth of American spying, this is your book. Just don't expect to be especially entertained.

[Hank · Rating 1 out of 5]

many factual errors