Wealthy Southern belle Elizabeth Van Lew had it all. Money, charm, wit, and one of the most elegant mansions in Richmond. So why did she risk everything to become a spy? Author Gerri Willis charts the course of this Civil War spymaster genius, from her early work infiltrating prisons and collecting Confederate secrets. Her path crosses those of assassins, socialites, escape artists, even a cross-dressing spy. As the war ground on, Elizabeth grew more bold, secretly crossing enemy lines, developing agents in the Confederate War Department and collecting the secrets that would prove critical to General Grant’s prosecution of the war in its closing days.
Gerri Willis is an award-winning journalist, television personality, podcast host, and author. Currently a correspondent and anchor for Fox Business, she was the host of two long-running shows for CNN, and an editor and reporter for SmartMoney, Crain’s New York Business, and others. Her journalism earned the prestigious midcareer Knight-Bagehot Fellowship from the Columbia Journalism School. She is the author of Lincoln’s Lady Spymaster: The Untold Story of the Abolitionist Southern Belle Who Helped Win the Civil War.
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