Born to slave-holding aristocracy in Richmond, Virginia, and educated by northern Quakers, Elizabeth Van Lew was a paradox of her time. When Virginia seceded, Van Lew's convictions compelled her to defy the new Confederate regime. Pledging her loyalty to the Union, her courage in clandestine combat would never waver, even as her actions threatened her reputation and her life. Van Lew's skills in gathering military intelligence were unparalleled in...

The story of four real-life women who risked everything to take on a life of espionage during the Civil War. After shooting a Union soldier in her front hall with a pocket pistol, Belle Boyd became a courier and spy for the Confederate army, using her charms to seduce men on both sides. Emma Edmonds cut off her hair and assumed the identity of a man to enlist as a Union private, witnessing the bloodiest battles of the Civil War. The beautiful widow,...

A scrapbook kept by a young black girl details her experiences and those of the older white woman, "Miss Bet," who had freed her and her family, sent her north from Richmond to get an education, and then worked to bring an end to slavery. Based on the life of Elizabeth Van Lew.