Nathan Hale: The Life and Death of America's First Spy

Few Americans know much more about Nathan Hale than his famous last words: “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.” But who was the real Nathan Hale?

M. William Phelps charts the life of this famed patriot and Connecticut’s state hero, following Hale’s rural childhood, his education at Yale, and his work as a schoolteacher. Even in his brief career, he distinguished himself by offering formal lessons to young women. Like many young Americans, he soon became drawn…