My girls and I listened to this and learned so much! Worth the listen

This was a young adult book but well told and gripping enough to keep my interest as well.

I bought this book at the International Spy Museum while on vacation in DC. It is totally outside of my usual subject matter but it looked interesting because the title made me think I could actually understand how the Americans outspied the British and won the Revolutionary War.

It took me a long time to comprehend the text because some of it is written in Old English...I believe. The text notes in the back of the book did aid in my understanding.

What helped me also is my natural proclivity to look for the relational parts to tie into humanity...something I look for when reading so that it's not just a book. On that note, some things that stood out was Washington's disappointment in not being able to go off to school due to his father's death. The mention of him wearing dentures - his teeth were bad and thus, all pulled. An occasion when he wept out of anger.

Elaborating a bit on the schooling, one's destiny will seek them out. After all, look at who he became.

Given the purchase was made in DC, while there I visited the National Museum of African American History and Culture where Crispus Attucks was displayed along with his contributions to American history.

Other honorable mentions in the book are:

Ralph Waldo Emerson - he was a boy during the time of the war. His father was a minister, whose house women and children ran into when the British marched into Concord to seize the weapons stored there.

Boston Tea Party - I remember studying about the BTP in high school. It was a protest against taxes led by Sam Adams. Patriots dressed as Indians dumped 342 chests of British tea into Boston Harbor.

Paul Revere - Also reminiscent of high school. Riding on his horse, he went to warn the Adams brothers that the Redcoats (British) were coming to capture them. There was also a rap song out years ago that mentioned Paul Revere.

Last but not least were ALLLLL the women spies! Old Mom Tinker was one. Sprinkled throughout the book are many women who were quite creative in their spy quests.

It took me a long time to read this book because I was also studying for a big test so there were times when I put it down for weeks on end. After getting used to the style, I read it faster in the end than initially.

I wouldn't characterize it as a fun read unless you have a streak for learning more about history but it does clarify and bring together chronologically all the stuff you may have heard about the war at that time.

Short book, but packed with information.

I'm not a big fan of reading history but this book is so cool! It's a different take on the American Revolution by talking about how George Washington was a spy with many undercover agents working on both sides. I wish my American History textbooks were written this way.

This is such a cool book! I had no idea that spying was such an important part of the Revolutionary War. This little book is informative and interesting for anyone, say, 5th grade on up. The subtitle on the front sums up the whole book: “How the Americans Outspied the British and Won the Revolutionary War”. The brilliant mastermind was our own Gen. George Washington. He was a remarkable man, a determined general, and absolutely instrumental in America’s independence.

Two great quotes: George Washington - “There is nothing more necessary than good Intelligence to frustrate a designing enemy, & nothing that requires greater pains to obtain.” (Back cover); and Page 149, Major George Beckwith, head of British intelligence operations in America at the end of the war “Washington did not really outfight the British, he simply outspied us!”

It’s filled with lots of fascinating documentations of spying that are not common knowledge. And I was happy that it was written in just enough detail for my non-expert understanding. The Revolutionary War was so complicated!

I especially enjoyed reading about the female spies and just how they operated. Very clever! I knew about the Darragh family, but the other women were extraordinarily effective and essential in Washington’s network.

The documentation, war timeline, maps, text notes, etc. were very helpful and provided a complete picture. Also the codes, decoding explanations, and the invisible inks were fascinating!

I would give it 5 stars for content, but my criticism is solely on the publisher: the outside margins were so wide that the inside margins became very tiny, which made it difficult to hold. I had to force the book open enough to read the sentences. The subject was worth it, but seriously - very cheap of you, National Geographic Society.

Lots of little known facts surrounding the Revolutionary War, George Washington, Spymaster: How the Americans Outspied the British and Won The Revolutionary War, will have young readers questioning history as they know it.

From spies within spies, covert operations, masterful strategizing, codes, ciphers, and clotheslines, the ragtag army used whatever means they had to win their independence. Here in this little book, big facts will amaze and enlighten.

Includes War Time Line, Spy Talk, The Code, Text Notes, Quote Sources, Further Reading, and an Index.

This was a fun little history book for older elementary school kids. I thought it covered a lot of material and was enjoyable.

My 10 year old and I read this together. And it was a slog. We both love history but this was not written in a very engaging way. Partial quotes were often added into sentences which made the writing a little disjointed and awkward. I love the topic and written in a more narrative way would have made it so much more enjoyable,

George Washington was a SPY?!

One simple thought struck me about halfway through this book: this is not the Revolutionary War I learned about when I was a kid. Not even close. I vaguely remember learning about the many problems folks in America had with King George (so many, in fact, that they made a list). There were lessons about the desire for independence, about military strategy, muskets, and a guy riding around on a horse waking people up. Don’t even get me started on the military commanders in white wigs and white pants (!). Interesting stuff, sure. But if you had told me way back then that there were spies in this war, that George Washington was not just a General but a spymaster...well, you know, that is something that would have made me sit up and pay attention.

This is precisely the angle that Thomas Allen explores. Narrowly focused on the role that spies and spycraft played in the Revolutionary War, Allen presents an entertaining and thorough narrative coupled with a substantial amount of archival evidence showing how espionage affected the War’s outcome. He shows examples of actual codes that were used, explains how some of the tools of spycraft (such as invisible ink, masks, etc.) played a role, and, perhaps most interesting of all, reveals the actual codebook that was used by Washington’s ring of spies. In doing so he opens up a fascinating window on the war itself, showing a dimension of the war that is often ignored in American History texts.

This book would be a terrific supplement to classroom lessons on the Revolutionary War and is sure to delight kids (and adults) with an interest the world of spies and spycraft. It just goes to show: not every guy in a white wig and white pants, with a legend about chopping down a cherry tree following him around, is entirely what he seems. Definitely true in the case of George Washington. That guy was cool.

I thought it was a good book, and I learned a lot about the war against the British in America. I would recommend someone who reads this to know a little bit about this time so its more of an enjoyable read.

A solid look at how vital intelligence was to the war effort! There is, of course, a lot of misinformation on both sides, but I have faith that this book was written with the best facts available at the time.