Read to improve my understanding of the American Revolution in my role as an elementary teacher. I had really no idea how intricate the espionage networks were during this time frame. All the double agents astounded me. Lots of names - it made it slightly hard to keep track of what was happening at times.

This book reads like a text book - in order and who did what. And, it is not a very interesting as a text book either. But, the appendices are nice. This includes a timeline with map, a glossary for spy terms, and General Washington's actual code and how correspondence would have been created and read.

Found this at a used book sale and didn't realize it was for kids. Read it anyway, and learned much that I hadn't known before. I will definitely pass this along to my grandchildren.

George Washington, Spymaster: tWe think of George Washington as a planter, surveyor, general and president. Seldom do we think of him as a spymaster. Yet in the Revolutionary War, he recruited spies, taught them code and supervised their efforts. At times during the war, spies were as important as or almost as important as the armies. Washington needed both.
tAfter the Revolution, major George Beckwith, the head of British intelligence, said, “Washington did not really outfight the British. He simply out spied us.
tAn added charm of this book was the replication of the code actually used by Washington and his spies. I collect codes, so I loved this feature. This book goes on my shelf of code books. A wonderful find.

While this book had a cool premise and lots of great resources I felt it was dry, too brief, and confusing as a result. I am all about the spy world and so learning about a founding father through that lens was neat.

The book is aimed at young readers and maybe if they were already studying the Revolutionary War this would make sense to them. However, I felt like there were so many names thrown at me with little sense of who they were or how they connected. It was a lot to keep track of and it just seemed like the author could have have delved a little deeper with each one to bring the reader into the personality and character of the various players in the story.

The notes at the end of the book that corresponded with the chapters were particularly fun. I also can see how some might get a real kick out of trying to write things in Tallmadge's code which is provided in the back of the book. The author includes a lot of websites where one can view other primary source materials and I thought that was a real bonus. Ultimately though, I didn't love the book and I really wanted to.

A short but thorough, interesting, informative book for anyone who has interest in spy or American history. I learned an crazy amount on a era of time of which I thought I was very well acquainted with.

*Mitten Award Honor Book*
Not only does this book have great information on Washington's network of spies, it also gives sample codes and coded messages throughout. What a fun way to learn about codemaking, history, strategy and more!

Needs more detail

A fascinating and concise history on Washington as a spymaster and his various spy networks that were run by and under him during the American Revolution. I learned a bunch and enjoyed the fact that I did not have to read a thick history book in order to do so.

In war, there is always intrigue and the spy game, each side always has their intelligence and it's this intelligence that usually tips the scales and wins the war.

Interesting book for any age. American Revolution run down plus how spying helped win the war.

The book is mainly about George Washington. Other characters' names only pop up 2 or 3 times in the book. George was a good thinker and leader. These skills are what made him a Army General at the age of 21. However, he was British, so he was a British General. He was also nice and humble about his leadership. His men liked and respected him because he respected them. George was very tall which also made people think of him as a leader. Height can make you seem more powerful and in charge. These assumptions aren't automatically true but people often still make them.

The book is set in the American colonies during the Revolutionary War. It describes how George Washington set up his spy ring and why he did it. Most of the story takes place in New York alleys and taverns because that's where a lot of spies spent their time. Sometimes I had a hard time picturing them because they're different from my town and places I hang out. And, it seemed like almost all of those taverns must have been occupied by only Americans. I was surprised that they talked so freely because if there were anyone British in the tavern they would have heard all of the spies names. They often hung out in taverns because they hoped British officers would come, get drunk and give away key information. Sometimes the spies pretended to be drunk.

The conflict in the book is gaining freedom from Britain. George wanted free from British rule and taxes and to have a vote. He starts to think that the Colonies could be better off on their own. George switched from being loyal to Britain to fighting for the Colonists. George started the spying so they could know what the British were doing and they could plan counter attacks. British were bad at keeping secretes. They would boat about their plans in front of stable boys, who would pass that information along to George Washington.

The main theme is about loyalty and bravery. The spies are risking their life for an idea that may not even work out. If it doesn't work out, their life is lost.

The book ended with George Washington winning the Revolutionary War at Yorktown. The reason he won some of the battle was because of a spy who got his hands on the British flag code book. If they were putting uncertain flags in a certain order they could tell what the commands were. That helped the French fleet not get sunk. George gave one of the most valuable spies a huge bag of gold. Washington captured one or two British spies trying to escape America. He also took a parade in the middle of New York to tell everyone that the Revolution had been won. I thought this was a little dumb since there could be a British loyalist with a musket who could have shot him. Maybe they should have used a decoy.

I do think it would be fun to spend time with George because he seemed smart and a good leader. I like people who are good leaders. I like how he used clever ideas to outsmart the British. I'd like to spend time talking with him.

I liked this book. I would recommend this book to a friend who likes history or spies, deception and the tools they use, like how to send a false note to your enemy, how to send a note that's supposed to get captured, and codes and cyphers. It includes a lot of good details bout deception and how to use the tools.