Harriet Tubman, Secret Agent: How Daring Slaves and Free Blacks Spied for the Union During the Civil War

Thomas B. Allen’s follow-up to the multi-award-winning George Washington, Spymaster is now available in paperback. This compelling biography tells the amazing tale of Harriet Tubman using details uncovered from military and intelligence archives, diaries and little-known memoirs from ex-slaves. In a compelling narrative, surprising new facts about Harriet’s story are brought to light: readers discover that the ex-slave who led hundreds to freedom along the Underground Railroad was also a spy for the Union Army!

Harriet Tubman, Secret Agent brings readers deep into the undercover world of African-American spies--enslaved and liberated--risking everything in the name of freedom. How were the Underground Railroad and slave songs used to pass secret messages? What were ＂contrabands＂ and ＂black dispatches?＂ What did Harriet share with the Secret Six and a maidservant in the home of Confederate President Jefferson Davis? The answers are revealed as history’s irresistible plot unfolds.

This detailed account of one of America’s most fascinating figures provides an authoritative source for paper writers and research students. Thomas B. Allen’s narrative is augmented with attractive woodcuts by Carla Bauer, archival photographs, artwork, and maps. The time line of events, references to Web sites, footnotes with extensive source listings, and comprehensive index make Allen’s biography an invaluable addition to every public and school library.

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Thomas B. Allen is the author of the award-winning book, George Washington, Spymaster: How the Americans Outspied the British and Won the Revolutionary War. He is the co-author with Norman Polmar of Spy Book: The Encyclopedia of Espionage; Code-name Downfall; and Merchants of Treason, a report on modern espionage. He is also the co-author, with Paul Dickson, of The Bonus Army. Tom Allen lives in Bethesda, Maryland. You can visit him on the Web at www.tballen.com.

Carla Bauer is a woodcut illustrator whose work has been exhibited in the National Academy of Design. She lives in New York City.