Description
Markle combines his studies at the Civil War Institute with his 34 years in the US Department of Defense intelligence to profile spies and their bosses on both sides, which he notes were amateurs like many of the soldiers in that war. He also describes spy organizations. The 1995 first edition was previously revised in 2000. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
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"The history of Civil War espionage is usually mentioned only in passing in general accounts of the war. Lying under a cloud of romanticism, its details have had to be ferreted out in specialized sources. For his complete account of the subject, Markle draws upon just about all the available material and summarizes it with judgment, balance, clarity, and occasional wit. Among the subtopics are technology (photography for mapmaking and Confederate use of a forerunner of microfilm), the value of women spies (less subject to suspicion, they could move with greater freedom than male spies), and the roles of blacks as spies. A good case could be made that this volume is the single most valuable contribution to general Civil War literature so far this year. "--Booklist
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