Washington’s Secret Six
by Brian Kilmeade and Don Yaeger, 2014

George Washington was a spy in the French and Indian War. Therefore, I’m pretty sure he told a lie or two in his day.

This book centers on a spy ring Washington set up in New York City during the Revolutionary War. NYC was taken by the British pretty early in the war and held throughout. The spy ring provided (somewhat) timely information to the general about British activities in the city. They helped thwart a plot to print and devalue patriot currency, helped keep Benedict Arnold from turning over West Point to the British, and provided opportunities for small fort captures and supply seizures on the outskirts of the city.

It was an interesting book about an area I did not know about in the Revolutionary War. Washington did not really outfight the British, he simply outspied them. The tradecraft used by the spy ring (dead drops, invisible ink, codes, 100% secrecy) are taught as a case study to new CIA agents nowadays.

I listened to this book on CD. I believe the first author was also the reader. I wish they had gotten a professional reader; the book was read too forcefully and loudly.