close
Lincolns Spies: Their Secret War to Save a Nation Audiobook, by Douglas Waller Play Audiobook Sample

Lincoln's Spies: Their Secret War to Save a Nation Audiobook

Lincolns Spies: Their Secret War to Save a Nation Audiobook, by Douglas Waller Play Audiobook Sample
FlexPass™ Price: $20.95
$9.95 for new members!
(Includes UNLIMITED podcast listening)
  • Love your audiobook or we'll exchange it
  • No credits to manage, just big savings
  • Unlimited podcast listening
Add to Cart
$9.95/m - cancel anytime - 
learn more
OR
Regular Price: $29.99 Add to Cart
Read By: Danny Campbell Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio Listen Time: at 1.0x Speed 12.67 hours at 1.5x Speed 9.50 hours at 2.0x Speed Release Date: August 2019 Format: Unabridged Audiobook ISBN: 9781508292883

Quick Stats About this Audiobook

Total Audiobook Chapters:

31

Longest Chapter Length:

62:42 minutes

Shortest Chapter Length:

25 seconds

Average Chapter Length:

36:34 minutes

Audiobooks by this Author:

3

Other Audiobooks Written by Douglas Waller: > View All...

Publisher Description

A major addition to the history of the Civil War, Lincoln’s Spies is a riveting account of the secret battles waged by Union agents to save a nation. Filled with espionage, sabotage, and intrigue, it is also a striking portrait of a shrewd president who valued what his operatives uncovered.

Veteran journalist Douglas Waller, who has written ground-breaking intelligence histories, turns his sights on the shadow war of four secret agents for the North—three men and one woman. From the tense days before Abraham Lincoln’s inauguration in 1861 to the surrender at Appomattox four years later, Waller delivers a fast-paced narrative of the heroes—and scoundrels—who informed Lincoln’s generals on the enemy positions for crucial battles and busted up clandestine Rebel networks.

Famed detective Allan Pinkerton mounted a successful covert operation to slip Lincoln through Baltimore before his inauguration to foil an assassination attempt. But he failed as General George McClellan’s spymaster, delivering faulty intelligence reports that overestimated Confederate strength.

George Sharpe, an erudite New York lawyer, succeeded Pinkerton as spymaster for the Union’s Army of the Potomac. Recruiting skilled operatives, some of whom dressed in Rebel uniforms, Sharpe ran highly successful intelligence operations that outpaced anything the enemy could field.

Elizabeth Van Lew, a Virginia heiress who hated slavery and disapproved of secession, was one of Sharpe’s most successful agents. She ran a Union spy ring in Richmond out of her mansion, with dozens of agents feeding her military and political secrets she funneled to General Ulysses S. Grant as his army closed in on the Confederate capital. Van Lew became one of the unsung heroes of the war.

Lafayette Baker was a handsome Union officer with a controversial past, whose agents clashed with Pinkerton’s operatives. The unscrupulous Baker assembled a retinue of disreputable spies, thieves, and prostitutes to root out traitors in Washington, D.C. But he failed at his most important mission: uncovering the threat to Lincoln from John Wilkes Booth and his gang.

Behind these secret operatives was a president, one of our greatest, who was an avid consumer of intelligence and a ruthless aficionado of clandestine warfare, willing to take chances to win the war. Lincoln’s Spies, as Waller vividly depicts in his excellent new book, set the template for the dark arts the CIA would practice in the future.

Download and start listening now!

“Campbell offers an engaging narration. His storytelling tone exactly suits the material…He doesn’t add any false drama, but he varies his voice nicely to suit the material. He captures the sense of excitement during action-packed scenes and even provides a hint of humor during some of the more ludicrous espionage efforts.”

— AudioFile

Quotes

  • “Waller’s fast-paced and deeply-researched narrative…cuts through the myths and fabrications…A professional, readable appraisal…This book is vital reading for anyone interested in the Civil War or in the origins of modern spycraft.”

    — James M. McPherson, Pulitzer Prize winner and New York Times bestselling author
  • “[A] fast-paced, fact-rich account…Douglas Waller has most skillfully aimed a spotlight on this neglected aspect of the Union effort. Civil War military history can never again be read or told in quite the same way.”

    — Wall Street Journal
  • “[A] cracking good tale…espionage in the Civil War gets a thorough, fascinating examination.”

    — Publishers Weekly

Lincoln's Spies Listener Reviews

Be the first to write a review about this audiobook!

About Douglas Waller

Douglas Waller is a former correspondent for Newsweek and Time, where he covered the CIA, Pentagon, State Department, White House, and Congress. He is the author of the bestsellers Wild Bill Donovan, Big Red, and The Commandos, as well as critically acclaimed works such as Disciples, the story of four CIA directors who fought for Donovan in World War II, and A Question of Loyalty, a biography of General Billy Mitchell.

About Danny Campbell

Danny Campbell is an Earphones Award–winning narrator and an actor who has appeared in CBS’ The Guardian, the films A Pool, a Fool, and a Duel and Greater Than Gravity, and in over twenty-five commercials. He is a company member of the Independent Shakespeare Company in Los Angeles and is an adjunct faculty member at Santa Monica College.