Double Death: The True Story of Pryce Lewis, the Civil War's Most Daring Spy

In this often, but not always, sprightly picaresque, journalist Mortimer (Chasing Icarus) presents the exploits of a Welsh-born Pinkerton detective and Union spy as a kind of high-wire theatrical. Pryce Lewis's greatest role was as a wealthy English dandy taking the waters in Virginia in the war's early days. Resplendent in a carriage and red leather shoes and imperiously barking orders at the long-suffering Pinkerton colleague who played his coachman, while dazzling Confederate officers and backwoods militiamen alike, Lewis was invited to tour rebel army camps and gave rousing speeches to the troops, promising British help to the South. Mortimer credits his intelligence reports with a crucial role in the Union's first significant victory. Lewis's exploits crossing enemy lines, bluffing patrols, and sussing out Southern operatives in Washington have their share of tension, but don't quite fill out the book, so Mortimer's meandering narrative visits tangential topics like Confederate female agents and military observation balloons. The tale sags a bit after Lewis is caught in Richmond and thrown into prison, but parts of the book read like a spy thriller written by Mark Twain. 8 pages of b&w illus. (Aug.)