The Civil War conjures images of blood-soaked battlefields in the United States, but few are aware of the equally important diplomatic and intelligence contest that raged between the North and South in Europe. While the Confederacy sought Great Britain as a strategic ally, the Union utilized diplomacy and espionage to avert both the construction of a Confederate navy and the threat of war with England.
At the forefront of the international fray was Thomas Haines Dudley, the American consul in Liverpool and “the father of modern American intelligence.” As the Confederates determined to utilize British shipyards, Dudley established a network of agents throughout England to report on enemy activities and, ultimately, to negate foreign intervention in the American Civil War.
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"This is really an amazing tale of spycraft in Civil War Liverpool with Dudley the American agent ("station chief") working angles and unfolding plots with violent denoument on the high seas. It really highlights in detail the complicated role Britain played in the American Civil War."
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Tom (4 out of 5 stars)