In the Line of Fire: Eight Women War Spies

by George Sullivan

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. Original.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

George Sullivan is a best-selling nonfiction author with more than 100 books to his credit. He lives in New York City.

Reviews

[Rachel {bibliopals} · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good introduction for children to learn about spy work during wars.

[Ebookwormy1 · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is an adequate introduction to the world of spying. While the title centers on women, the Kuehn family, influential in aiding Japanese preparation for the devastating attack on Pearl Harbor, is also included (incidentally their story was new to me!). The introduction gives kids a context for espionage activities and the author subtlety makes the reader aware that spies and women in particular are not universal prosecuted according to their crimes. Each chapter starts with an explanation of the historical context of the spy, which I thought was well done - not too long, but appropriately informative.

Most stories have a concrete American connection (either spying for or against), but the inclusion of Mati Hari was a bit of a stretch. True, she spied against our allies during WWII, but it seemed the author wanted to cover her because she was famous and controversial, and mostly because he really wanted to tell us she wasn't a very good spy. The French woman, Lily Carre is also only connected to the USA through our allies in WWII, though this chapter is much better done than the previous one on Mati Hari.

I was also a bit disappointed that three of the stories are from the civil war, two confederate spies and one union. I suppose part of the reason for my disappointment is a my recent fascination with Elizabeth van Lew, a Union spy I was sure I would find here, but was not included.

Notably, there were no stories from WWI.

Individuals followed by chapter titles are:
Lydia Darragh - The Spy who saved George Washington
Rose Greenhow - Rebel Rose (Spy for the Confederacy)
Belle Boyd - Confederate Courier and Agent
Emma Edmonds, the woman who posed at Franklin Thompson - The Spy Who Changed Her Color (Union spy during the civil war)
Mati Hari - The Legendary Mati Hari
The Kuehn Family - Family of Spies (Japanese Spies during WWII)
Lily Carre - The Cat (a french woman who switched between spying for/ against the French, English and Germans during WWII)
Betty Pack - Code Name Cynthia (spied for the US during WWII)

There is an excellent bibliography at the end of the book, which I consider to always be a prize!

Overall, I was happy with the book for the 50 cents I paid for it at a used curriculum sale. If you cannot find it so economically, your personal library will be complete without it, and you can check it out from your community library if your child develops a particular interest in the subject matter. If the book merely wets their appetite, the bibliography at the end provides plenty of ground for further study.

[Amber · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh non fiction!

[Shelby]

book recommendation