"Lincoln's Spy follows the Civil War career of Charles A. Dana, who began the war as managing editor of the New York Tribune and was hired by Abraham Lincoln and War Secretary Edwin Stanton to be the government's roving troubleshooter and confidential informant at the front. Carl Guarneri tracks Dana's experiences, with plenty of never-before-examined sources and events, to provide a panorama of the war, with special emphasis on decisions about strategy and generals, Lincoln's war leadership, organizing victory at the War Department, and undercover operations related to spies, political lobbying, and the contraband trade"-- Provided by publisher.

Introduction: "The eyes of the government at the front" -- "The responsible editor of the Tribune" -- "A party against the slave power" -- "Forward to Richmond!" -- "A printing house divided" -- "Several propositions" -- "Mr. Stanton's spy" -- "At the side of the conqueror" -- Interlude: "Some duty not yet explained" -- "As fatal a name as Bull Run" -- "Glory to God! The day is decisively ours" -- "Organizing victory" -- "A hand on Lee's throat" -- "The deepest shame that has yet befallen us" -- "All the power of the War Department" -- "Side politics," spies, and swindlers -- "The rebellion finished" -- "Grantism" and retreat -- Epilogue: Remembering (and forgetting) the war.