Spies, Double Agents, and Traitors

Children's Literature - Greg M. Romaneck

In many ways the world of espionage is a murky one. Spies sometimes serve multiple masters. Such double agents may or may not be dependable or trustworthy as their allegiances shift like the tides. In this selection from the illustrated series "The Secret World of Spies" readers encounter some of the more notorious turncoat agents. Mitchell traces the careers of double agents with a particular focus on how such minions operated in a world of constant suspicion. One such example from American history is Benedict Arnold. Arnold was a highly successful and trusted American commander. However, after becoming dissatisfied with his career advancement, Arnold changed sides and became a British agent. While pretending to remain a loyal patriot, Arnold actually plotted to hand over West Point to the British. Eventually, Arnold was discovered, the plot was foiled, and his British contact, Major Andre, was captured and hung by the Americans. Benedict Arnold has come down through the years as a notorious traitor who betrayed his homeland for personal gain. However, as Mitchell points out in this well-crafted book, there have been many such double agents, most of whom probably remain unknown. By telling the tales of double agents Mitchell touches on a fascinating aspect of spying. Men and women who led double lives had to develop sophisticated cover stories, drop boxes, and persuasion tools. Such lives seem almost fictional but, as Susan K. Mitchell shows in this fine book, they have and continue to occur. Reviewer: Greg M. Romaneck