THE SPY IN AMERICA

A scholarly work dealing with the history of the spy in America from the Revolution through the first World War. Well documented throughout, Bryan re-tells the stories of individual spies from their sources, which in a way slows down the pace of the book. All the well known spies, and others less well known, are included; Nathan Hale, Andre, Tall Burr, Crosby, Pinkerton and his Secret Service, Mrs. Greenhow, Victor Blue and von Papen's organization. The best accounts are first-hand accounts by some of the spies themselves; others, too deeply researched, lack suspense, but, on the whole, it gives a good, solid picture of the development of the spy system through four wars and the period between wars, 1799 to 1846, in which the secret service came to life.