e-Book Washington's Spies: The Story of America's First Spy Ring download

I live on Long Island, near Setauket, the scene of much of the action in this book. A local historian wrote a review of this book for our hometown newspaper in which she compared "Washington's Spies" to the currently popular "George Washington's Secret Six" by Brian Kilmeade and Don Yeager. Here is some of what she had to say:

"Kilmeade and Yaeger have spun more than one story here. This non-fiction book hovers dangerously close to the side of fiction" [whereas] "Historians can refer with confidence to Alexander Rose’s book."

The reviewer provides this side-by-side comparison of Rose’s book with Kilmeade’s and Yaeger’s:

“Washington’s Spies”
Bibliography: 16½ pages, including 4½ pages of primary sources alone.
Notes: 60 pages, documenting every quotation and inference.

“Secret Six”
Bibliography: 6 pages, with 3 primary sources listed.
Notes: None.

I will add this: Not only is "Washington's Spies" the better history, it is well-written history that will keep you reading from cover to cover. It's not just about the Culper Spy Ring; it's also an interesting look at life in New York City and on Long Island during the Revolutionary War. You will gain added insight as to why the British lost that war and their American colonies by indulging in neglect, greed, corruption, and brutality that ultimately hardened the resolve of Patriots and lost the allegiance of many disheartened Loyalists.

I give 5-stars to "Washington's Spies: The Story of America's First Spy Ring."

After watching the first three seasons of Turn: Washington’s Spies, I felt a kind of desperation to hear the rest of the story. I read an announcement that said that AMC, the studio that was making the show, had committed to a 4th and final season, and that (because I don’t have cable), I’d have to wait at least a year to watch season 4.
If you haven’t seen TURN and you like historical fiction, watch it. The best series I’ve seen since Roots. Maybe the best ever.
A cliffhanger series is as close as fiction can ever get to being as addictive as cocaine or heroin. Although I didn’t see the point of committing a crime to get my fix (it wouldn’t have helped!), I did scour the globe for something more about the story, about this set of characters that had so captivated my imagination.
Finally, on Amazon, I found this book that actually inspired the series to begin with. Even better than a novel, TURN is a history book. It provides a 3rd and 4th dimension to the story. I was pretty astonished to discover how many of the characters are historical.
Major Benjamin Tallmadge, Major Robert Rogers, Captain John Simcoe, Nathaniel Sackett, Abraham Woodhull and Robert Townsend all were real people. This book of history contains actual correspondence between Tallmadge and Woodhull--and between Woodhull and General George Washington. The letters discuss the business of spying down to its most mundane details: the fact that Woodhull (like most people in Washington’s armies) was not getting reimbursed for his expenses.
This book is a fascinating addition to the story for anyone into the series and excellent standalone reading for someone interested (as I am) in American History. I recommend it highly.

Alexander Rose's book is certainly on my "top ten" list of books about the American Revolution. Is has a taut narrative that, despite all of the characters and plot twists and turns, is easy to follow. The book is also scrupulously researched, with the author delving into a myriad of original sources, as well as addressing the small body of secondary sources and their weak spots (sixty pages of footnotes and a great bibliography). There is a photo section (even in the paperback edition) with copies of some key documents accompanied by thorough decryptions, and two valuable maps. But that said, this scholarly work of non-fiction reads like a novel.

In the summer of 1778 (after Nathan Hale was discovered by the British and executed for spying), General George Washington desperately needed to know where the British (ensconced in their New York City North American HQ) would strike next. To that end, he unleashed his secret weapon: an unlikely ring of spies in New York, Long Island, and Connecticut charged with discovering the enemy's battle plans and military strategy. As noted by Washington's top general Nathanael Greene, "intelligence is the life of everything in war," and the American War of Independence was no exception to this insight.

Washington's small band included a young Quaker (Robert Townhend, Samuel Culper Jr.) torn between political principle and family loyalty and posing as a Loyalist, a swashbuckling sailor (Caleb Brewster) addicted to the perils of espionage, a tavern owner (Austin Roe), a Yale-educated cavalryman (Major Benjamin Tallmadge, alias John Bolton who bcame Washington's chief intelligence officer) and friend of the doomed Nathan Hale, and a peaceful, sickly farmer (Abraham Woodhull, Culper Sr.) who begged Washington to let him retire but who always came through in the end. Personally guiding these brave, flawed, everyday heroes was Washington himself. In an era when gentlemen were officers, and gentlemen did not spy, he possessed an extraordinary talent for deception--and proved an adept spymaster.

Among the Culpers' greatest successes were thwarting a British attempt to counterfeit Continental currency in Connecticut in an attempt to devalue it completely, and deceiving and diverting the British in New York away from interfering with the arrival of a French fleet and troops in Newport, Rhode Island.

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 (also known as "sympathetic stain" courtesy of John Jay's brother, Sir James Jay). Washington's Spies tells a little known story of the American Revolution--one encompassing a deadly intelligence war, gunrunning, kidnappings, and defections--that has not received its due in many history books. The story is also a spirited, touching account of friendship and trust, fear and betrayal (the Culper's were almost exposed by Benedict Arnold's treachery), amid the shadowy world of divided loyalties and spies.

In my original review I wrote, "I can't wait for new offerings from AMC on April 6, 2014 will be Turn, billed as "the story of America's first spy ring," based on the book. You can google the two minute trailer or a C-SPAN lecture by Dr.Rose." Unfortunately, while TURN provided some decent Revolutionary War era TV entertainment, it deviated too sharply from Dr. Rose's book. When it comes to history, there continues to be something sadly lacking in TV and movie script-writing. The true stories researched and narrated by Dr. Rose are so much more compelling than the history-as-soap-opera of AMC's TURN. For great reviews of the 10-episode series, go to the denofgeek website and search for TURN or J.L. Bell (another great scholar: check out his blog Boston1775).

PS - Dr. Rose was kind enough to answer an email inquiry from me.