Undercover Girl

Known as Angie to friends, Angela Calomiris was recruited by Edgar J Hoover the Head of the FBI to spy on communists in the Greenwich village community in which she lived and worked as a photographer.
After the Depression and despite America being allied to Russia (who knew Stalin featured twice on the cover of Time magazine!) the FBI and Government were worried about the growth of communism 'the Red Scare' with ideas infiltrating the minds of citizens across the country.
Angela was a lesbian who had found sanctuary,a home and work (with the Photo League) in the more bohemian world of Greenwich village. Brought up in a Home for Children of the Bronx (destitute children aged 5-10 years) Angela was a tough young woman. She was also ambitious and wanted both fame and wealth.
What convinced her personally to turn traitor amongst her close friends and colleagues cannot really be established. Extensive research is a feature of the author's work. There is detailed evidence from her FBI file and the transcripts from the Foley Square Courthouse trial in 1949 at which Calomiris played such a role as a prosecution witness.
We are also to learn about the hypocrisy of prominent people in American society upholding democracy alongside practising deviance themselves (Edgar J Hoover was a cross dresser and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt whose famous interviews featured across the continent lived as a lesbian herself near to Calomiris).
Nothing much changes really as those that seek to end deviance and disloyalty are found wanting themselves.
The book is sometimes heavy going for the details it outlines but there are some excellent photographs of the time and overall I learnt so much more about this time in American history which went beyond just the infamous McCarthy trials but into many other government sanctioned interrogations and surveillance.
Lisa E Davis adds to a growing collection of LGBTQ work with this book.

This book is more about the history of the cold war then Undercover Girl's sexuality of being gay.
If your into history and/or the cold war then this is a book for you. Lots of names, dates, and places just like in all history books.

Undercover Girl was a very interesting read. It was a bit dense, so I wouldn't recommend it if you don't like reading about facts and dates that are common in history books, but if that doesn't bother you then it is probably a really good choice.

An interesting book. A tad dense in spots. But that only means that the research was impeccable. I wouldn't recommend this for a leisure read. Much more suited for academic works.

This excellent and thoroughly researched biography of Angela Calomiris introduced me to someone I’d never heard of, a deeply troubled and unlikeable woman, who became an FBI informant in the American Communist Party and betrayed many of her friends and colleagues without, apparently, a qualm. The book is at the same time a history of the Cold War in the US and the Red Scare, surely one of the most shameful episodes in US history. History related in an engaging and entertaining way. Recommended.

I loved the sound of this book and it did not disappoint. Like other reviewers said it was dense and not an easy read but it was well worth the effort. It was an enjoyable read which also lead to me feeling more informed about Russian history.