Often called the father of our country, George Washington beat the odds to lead the Continental Army to victory in the Revolutionary War, served as the first President of the United States, and retired from public life to farm Virginia's largest plantation.

When George Washington beat a hasty retreat from New York City in August 1776, many thought the American Revolution might soon be over. Instead, Washington rallied—thanks in large part to a little-known, top-secret group called the Culper Spy Ring. He realized that he couldn’t defeat the British with military might, so he recruited a sophisticated and deeply secretive intelligence network to infiltrate New York.

Drawing on extensive research, Brian Kilmeade and Don Yaeger have offered fascinating portraits of these spies: a reserved Quaker merchant, a tavern keeper, a brash young longshoreman, a curmudgeonly Long Island bachelor, a coffeehouse owner, and a mysterious woman. Long unrecognized, the secret six are finally receiving their due among the pantheon of American heroes.

In this DK series, full-color photographs of people, places, and artifacts and sidebars on related subjects add dimension and relevance to stories of famous lives that students will love to read. Modern scholarship and a variety of narrative approaches give the reader a chance to explore the extraordinary world of George Washington.