Washington's Spies: The Story of America's First Spy Ring, Alexander Rose

The dis-oriented author is a history buff.  Of course I have read several books on the the American Revolution like David Hackett Fischer's Pulitzer Prize winner, Washington's Crossing. I also enjoy reading books on the edges of history. Alexander Rose's Washington's Spies is one of those edge books.

This book is not about the major character of the Revolution. Nor is it a book about the major battles or events. It is the back-story of the revolution — the story of intelligence gathering in British occupied New York.

This is a fascinating book, it helped round out my understanding of the Revolutionary War.

In this book, Rose, relates the story of American spies in occupied New York. he starts with the story of the ill-fated Nathan Hale. Hale is revered as a hero of the Revolution. The truth is that Hale was a well-meaning amateur bungler. Hale was an officer in the Continental Army who volunteered to cross into occupied territory as a spy. Unfortunately, Hale continually drew attention to himself and knew nothing of tradecraft. The British shortly captured and hanged him.

As a general, George Washington knew that he needed better intelligence. Unfortunately, this was a time when soldiers were gentlemen and spying was not a proper occupation for a gentleman. Eventually, Washington turns over intelligence gathering to a group of friends who formed the Culper Ring. The book gets into details like cryptography and secret ink.

This book gave me a better idea of how difficult the task of intelligence gathering was — and is.

Washington's Spies gets 5 of 5 dis-oriented smileys

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