I only knew the basics of Ethel Rosenberg. The author believes that she was innocent and wasn’t a traitor. After reading Anne Sebba’s Ethel Rosenberg: An American Tragedy, I have to say she made a compelling case. This book was very well written and well sourced. Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC. All opinions expressed are my own.

I had a vague knowledge of who Ethel Rosenberg was, mostly from pop culture, not school. I knew she was charged and executed for espionage, but could not have told you what time period this was in. This means that almost all of the information in this book was new to me. I can't speak to it's veracity but it seemed well researched including citations and a bibliography.

This book served as reminder to me as to how absolutely bonkers the Red Scare was. Julius and Ethel were executed literally on the word of essentially one person. The fact that there was no real proof beyond someone's word is absolutely insane. Their case in addition to being a prime example of Red Scare court cases, is a testament to how broken the American legal system is and provides an argument for the abolition of the death penalty.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley & St Martin Press for gifting me this book in exchange for an honest review.

I have always been fascinated by this story but have never really delved into it. This book is extremely well researched and brings Ethel from the caricature that she has become to the woman, wife and mother she was. We get to read letters that she wrote from prison and really get to know the whole story behind what put her there.

This was a case that rocked America. There was such a fear of communism that people were blacklisted for even being thought to be communists. People lost their jobs, their homes etc this was a time of fear. It was this fearful witch hunt for communists that inspired Arthur Miller's The Crucible.So is it any wonder that family would turn against each other in order to save themselves?

This was a fascinating book however I felt the writing was very dry. It read a bit more like a text book, it was difficult to stay engaged but this tragedy helped pull me through as well as all the very well researched facts. There is no doubt that Julius was in fact spying for Russia but the evidence that Ruth knew or was involved is sketchy and based on testimony of people trying to save their own skin. Overall this truly was an American tragedy.

The true story of Ethel Rosenberg, the wife and mother whose execution for espionage-related crimes is documented by the author.

The author certainly does a thorough job of researching the case and her conviction, but the way the story was presented was too flat for me. I was bored throughout and never "felt" invested in learning more about her or her husband.

Tedious is what this one turned out to be (for me anyway). What sounded like a fascinating account read like a research report. I do appreciate all the information and background/research the author included (as well as prison letters).

If you enjoy in-depth accounts with some political and cultural side notes, you may really enjoy this one. I do enjoy true cases and trials, but I was just the wrong reader this time.

Very well written and great research on a situation I knew little about. Such a sad tragedy is told through the pages of this book. Definitely worth reading.
So thankful for an advanced copy from netgalley and the publisher.

A fan of history this is a story that’s always fascinated me. I found it well researched, documented and covered in this book. It definitely kept me engrossed.

A few weeks before my birth in 1951, Americans Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were convicted and sentenced to death for espionage given to the Soviet Union. Their aid to the Communists was major, information about the United States nuclear weapons. Both husband and wife refused to acknowledge any other participants in the scheme and claimed their rights allowed by the Fifth Amendment to avoid incriminating themselves. They were members of the Communist Party and were found guilty for espionage after Ethel’s brother gave testimony against them. However, the author, Anne Sebba, believes that Ethel was innocent, so devoted to her husband that she was willing to die. This biography, with a purpose to vindicate Ethel’s blame in the ordeal, is convincing. After a jolting beginning, the writing becomes more scholarly.

Well written account of the unfortunate execution of Ethel Rosenberg and her husband, Julius, for suspicion of espionage. I'm a historical fiction lover and with this book decided to cross over to non-fiction and I thoroughly enjoyed this amazing true story of secrets, jealousy amongst siblings, and the heart-wrenching destruction of families.
Due to the reading of this book I'm interested in reading more on the subject of espionage and especially of Ethel's story.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Full review on Goodreads.
Ethel’s story is a tragedy, whether you find her completely guilty or not. A fairly young mother put to death with her husband, leaving her sons orphans for a crime that didn’t involve murder? It just seems so bizarre to me, interesting and sad.

I was fascinated by the story of Ethel Rosenberg, which I wasn't familiar with before reading. Ethel and her husband Julius were convicted on suspicion of spying for the Soviet Union in 1953. Anne Sebba expertly weaves her research into the telling of Ethel's story. Tragically, Ethel and her husband were put to death by the US government due to the espionage suspicions, despite much evidence that raised considerable doubt about their involvement. This book shares all about the woman Ethel was, including her aspirations and family life. What a difference her presence could have made in the world!
I cannot believe Ethel's story has not been told this completely before. I found reading her prison letters to her husband, therapist, & lawyer helped me further grasp what she was going through. She did not deserve to die at the hands of the US government, and her story is a heartbreaking one for many reasons. Her two sons were orphaned, her dreams were lost, and all because she was falsely believed to have been involved in spying for the Soviets. Although this was a tough book to read due to the nature of the subject, I am glad I had the chance to learn more about this historic woman and her life!

i found this to be well researched and full of facts. At times, it was overwhelming the amount of information presented. I did not know much about Ethel before getting an ARC to review. The story is very compelling and it made me wonder if they would have received the same treatment today??

This is a fascinating book focused specifically on Ethel Rosenberg. It provides so much information about her childhood and how her life was shaped into the woman she became. This was meticulously researched and the references were extensive. I have often wondered about the details of the Rosenbergs and this does an excellent job of filling in the pieces. I was provided an ARC of this book through NetGalley and St.Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.

This book is quiet basically a “what did she know and when did she know it?” I only knew the rudimentary story of the Rosenbergs and have never felt an overwhelming desire to learn more. But there was something about the blurb for this book that drew me in and made me want to read it. I’m glad I did. I still am not sure of her guilt or innocence, but I now better know Ethel Rosenberg as a mother, neighbor, sister, wife, and citizen. This book offers an easy to read, easy to understand look into some of the politics and some of the society of the period. The author did a lot of research that she passed on to us without preaching at us and trying to convince us either of Ethel’s guilt or innocence.

I recommend Ethel Rosenberg by Anna Sebba for it is well worth an afternoon spent reading and learning.

I received an ARC Kindle edition of this book from NetGalley.

A special note for Kindle users: This book has both notes in the back (numbers with no links within the text) as well as footnotes (numbers with links within the text) throughout the book. If you find using the links and/or searching the back for the notes troublesome, you may find that a paper copy of this book would be better. I usually prefer the paper copy in these cases as it is easier to flip back and forth between notes, footnotes, and where I am in the book. This had no bearing on my rating; it is simply a personal preference.

The start of the this book was somewhat confusing in how the background was presented. The first couple of chapters and the last chapter are all over the place with the time lines and stories presented. While facts are presented throughout the book, there is just as much speculation; the phrases "may have," "likely," and "probably" appear frequently.

While there were some interesting facts in this book, it was presented slow paced. Overall the book was insightful, just not a page turner.

This is a fascinating study and story of Ethel Rosenberg's life and her participation, or not, in the passing of information to the enemy of the US. Nowhere that I have found has there been such a beautiful rendition of who Ethel was and how much she was involved.
After so much time has passed, it does make everything that happened very questionable, shows the amount of fear that existed at the time, and one wonders how these arrests and then death verdicts could have been handled.

I recommend this book to those who enjoy biographies.

This was a very interesting read, and I thoroughly enjoyed not only the discussions of her guilt or innocence but also of her life both before and after Julius Rosenberg entered it... Sebba has done a fine job painting a picture of Ethel's life that is straightforward, engaging, and easy to envision.

The writing style is a mix of narrative and detail that made for slightly uneven pacing. I would click along for dozens of pages, captivated by the imagery of Ethel's daily life, only to then find myself soon thereafter slogging through another dozen pages filled with detail about who said what to whom and when... It made for a slightly uneven read - not in a bad way, just in a way that meant it took longer to read then I anticipated when I started it.

There was a lot of intriguing evidence that all is not as it has been presented though, and it certainly paints a different picture then popular history has. I applaud Sebba for her diligence in that.

Very well researched, but knowing the authors opinion right up front was a little surprising. (As an "end note" I don't think it would have been as much). I couldn't help but wonder how that info may or may not have affected my ability to decide one way or another for myself by the end of the book.

Like many Gen X-ers I know, my high school American history class didn't give me a strong understanding of the early to mid 20th c. Fast forward several decades and I started this book with only a vague idea of who Ethel and Julius Rosenberg were, beyond that they'd been executed for something having to do with Russia.

Anna Sebba's biography of Ethel Rosenberg more than adequately filled in my many gaps. I appreciated her insistent, sympathetic centering of Ethel, in particular, and the care she took in telling the immigration stories of the Greenglass and Rosenberg families. Ethel's love of music and her intentionality in parenting came through and helped me see her as a well-rounded person. I would have liked more about both of those areas of her life, in fact.

At times, especially once the narrative of the trial began, I lost track of characters and would have appreciated photographs or diagrams showing the relationships involved. Without that visual help, I caught myself skimming clunky paragraphs of details and slightly-familiar names.

All in all, though, I am grateful for this readable, enjoyable biography. Many thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an ARC for review.

This book details the story of Ethel Rosenberg. If you asked me before I read this I would have had a vague idea that they were executed and were spies. Of course there is far more to the story. The author details Ethels life growing up in NYC area and finishing school at 15. She eventually marries Julius and has two sons with him. Their trial and conviction are part of the Red scare. The FBI really wants them to name others involved in espionage. But they steadily refuse. In recent years people similarly charged have faced a few years in prison. That is a big contrast to being the only woman executed by the Federal government during peacetime for a crime other than murder.

Sebba goes into great detail showing ineffective counsel, prosecutor misconduct, fear of communism, media manipulation and perjury results in convictions. The trial judge oddly rules that because Ethel invokes the 5th Amendment during grand jury questioning she can no long claim innocence during her trial. Of course a lot of this is easier to see in hindsight especially after her own brother decades later admits to perjury to keep his wife form prison. The book is well written and scholarly with lots of annotations. Although it is informative it was at times tedious to read. I felt it would have been helpful to have some photos of key people to help keep characters straight in my mind. (They may be included in the final published book.) Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for an ARC ebook in exchange for an honest review. (3.5 stars)

The author upfront tells the readers she believes Ethel Rosenberg is innocent of the crimes she is accused, and ultimately convicted, of. Bold move to go into a historical narrative with your motives up front. But the author goes into detail, describing Ethel's childhood, marriage, and political views. Ethel was in no way not a Communist; she praised its ideals and actively supported Communism. The author doesn't hide this. However, in discussing her life and family, the author points out that Ethel's husband, brother, and [to a lesser extent] sister-in-law were those involved in espionage. Ethel, by this point, was only focusing on being a better mother. Her Communist ideals had fallen away, for the most part. Ethel was never included in the discussions or acts. It's also important to note that uncovered investigatory documents noted that the FBI and the Justice Department essentially only charged Ethel as a way to get to Julius. The thought was that Julius knew Ethel was completely innocent and wouldn't be able to emotionally handle his wife being charged for something he was responsible for. But it didn't work. And the only woman to have been executed for a crime other than murder...likely didn't even commit the crime.

I like this book. It's well researched and very well written, but knowing the author's motives from the beginning leaves me a bit skeptical. I want to know more. Am I only reading the information the author chose to include (I mean, true of any nonfiction book), but I wonder if there is any information out there that does concretely connect Ethel to the crime (even if she still is innocent)?

Nonetheless, I greatly recommend this book. I love American history, and the Rosenbergs have always been a tidbit of a time that is generally glossed over in history classes. Any reference to the couple is always in passing, but never giving any information. This book helps take the subtle reference to a couple convicted of espionage and makes their story (especially Ethel's) readily accessible.