Book Review: William E. Bartelt and Joshua A. Claybourn, Abe’s Youth; J. Edward Murr, Abraham Lincoln’s Wilderness Years
by Andrew F. LangWilliam E. Bartelt & Joshua A. Claybourn: Abe’s Youth: Shaping the Future President J. Edward Murr, edited by Joshua Claybourn: Abraham Lincoln’s Wilderness Years: Collected Works of J. Edward Murr Review Essay by Andrew F. Lang The “Lincoln legend” goes something like this. Born in 1809 to impoverished Kentucky parents whose earthly possessions consisted of […]
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Book Review: Edward Achorn, The Lincoln Miracle
by Phelps GayEdward Achorn, The Lincoln Miracle: Inside the Republican Convention that Changed History Book Review by Phelps Gay Sixty-three years ago, the Lincoln Sesquicentennial Commission published a three-volume work called Lincoln Day by Day, A Chronology, 1809-1865, edited by Earl Schenck Miers. An invaluable reference work, it tells us in short factual entries what Lincoln was […]
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Book Review: Jon Meacham, And There Was Light
by Phelps GayJon Meacham, And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle Book Review by Phelps Gay Not just another cradle-to-grave biography setting forth well-known facts of Lincoln’s life, And There Was Light offers us a fresh look at his intellectual, moral, and spiritual development culminating in his decision to resist the voices of […]
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Book Review: Caroline E. Janney, Ends of War
by Burrus M. CarnahanCaroline E. Janney, Ends of War: The Unfinished Fight of Lee’s Army after Appomattox Reviewed by Burrus M. Carnahan How can a democracy turn from a state of civil war to a state of peace? After April 9, 1865, US military officers, government officials, and ordinary citizens wrestled with this problem in the months following Lee’s […]
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Book Review: Diana Schaub, His Greatest Speeches: How Lincoln Moved the Nation
by Burrus M. CarnahanDiana Schaub, His Greatest Speeches: How Lincoln Moved the Nation Reviewed by Burrus Carnahan Diana Schaub has written a thought-provoking book that may be the first of a new genre of Lincoln studies – reflections on his ideas in the context of the mob violence that struck major cities in 2020 and the riot at the […]
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Book Review: Lucas Morel, Lincoln and the American Founding
by Burrus M. CarnahanLucas Morel, Lincoln and the American Founding Reviewed by Burrus M. Carnahan In the fall of 2020, Professor Lucas Morel of Washington and Lee University spoke at the University of Colorado on “The 1619 Project as Missed Opportunity.” His point was that Nicole Hannah-Jones depicted American history as a racial zero-sum game – that any […]
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Book Review: The Calculus of Violence by Aaron Sheehan-Dean
by Burrus M. CarnahanSheehan-Dean, The Calculus of Violence: How Americans Fought the Civil War For decades, historians have debated whether the American Civil War was the first modern, total war, foreshadowing the World Wars of the 20th Century, or whether it was more akin to the limited wars of the 18th Century. In his thorough study, The […]
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Book Review: Lincoln in Private by Ron White
by E. Phelps GayLincoln in Private: What His Most Personal Reflections Tell Us About Our Greatest President By Ronald C. White, 2021 Book Reviewed by: E. Phelps Gay In this short, highly readable volume, Ronald C. White examines “fragments” left behind by our 16th President, who made a lifelong habit of writing notes to himself. These thoughts and […]
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Every Drop of Blood—The Momentous Second Inauguration of Abraham Lincoln
by E. Phelps GayEvery Drop of Blood—The Momentous Second Inauguration of Abraham Lincoln By Edward Achorn (Atlantic Monthly Press, 2020) Book review by E. Phelps Gay Do we need another book about Lincoln’s Second Inaugural? After all, didn’t Ronald C. White, Jr. cover this ground in his excellent 2002 book, Lincolns Greatest Speech? Having read Edward Achorn’s […]
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