Abraham Lincoln: The Enigmatic President

The Demon of Unrest  A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War by Erik Larson I generally enjoy single-issue Civil War books but started this one prepared to dislike it. I feared the subtitle disguised a dry dissertation with hyperbolic “H” words. Then in the foreword, Larson equates January 6 to the Civil War. That was a bit overwrought. I settled into the book looking forward to writing an oh-so-clever, nasty review. Not to be. The book was a good example of single-issue books on the Civil War. The Demon of Unrest is about the start of the war. There are so many Civil War-era books that to write something fresh, it is almost necessary to focus on some isolated feature. There have been Civil War books on a particular speech, an issue, technology, a battle, or a single event. Biographies and general history books must omit much detail and interesting tidbits. It was a big war with lots of players. Going deep into a subject is the bailiwick of these sin...

While a work of deftly crafted fiction, Maelstrom is based on historical events and personalities and brings the reader into the center of the what would become the American Civil War. As a novelist, James Best has an extraordinary and genuine flair for the kind of character and narrative driven storytelling style that is ideal for an historical novel. A riveting read from start to finish, Maelstrom is unreservedly recommended for the personal reading lists of readers with an interest in the Civil War era and the roles played by Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis, as well as community library Historical Fiction collections. Jim Cox Midwest Book Review

The South Was Right by James Ronald Kennedy and Walther Donald Kennedy I am not an advocate of Lost Cause, but in writing Maelstrom , I needed to understand it. One of the books I read was The South Was Right. The authors claim the Civil War was not about slavery, and the Southern states had a right to secede from the oppressive North. The three points in the preceding sentence encapsulate the Lost Cause and this book. Anyone who has read 1860 campaign platforms, pre-war congressional speeches, or the proceedings at the state secession conventions doubts that the conflict was about slavery. The Confederate Constitution also makes it clear. If more evidence is needed, read Confederate political and newspaper reactions to the Emancipation Proclamation. Jefferson Davis, before the Confederate Congress, protested the Emancipation Proclamation: “Our own detestation of those who have attempted the most execrable measure recorded in the history of guilty man.” Freeing slaves was the worst ac...

The Historical Novel Society judged Maelstrom as "polished, authoritative historical fiction with clear thematic ambition and solid craft." Complete Comments This is a confident and historically grounded opening that immediately signals seriousness of intent. Beginning with the photographic sitting at Abraham Lincoln’s appointment with Mathew Brady is a smart choice: it frames image-making, reputation, and political self-fashioning as thematic pillars before moving into the Cooper Union speech. The recreation of the address is strong, and the rhythm of the quoted passages carries authentic moral weight. The historical detail—gaslight counts, architectural layout, political context—feels well researched without becoming pedantic. Characterisation of Lincoln is respectful yet human. His physical awkwardness contrasted with intellectual command works well, and the moment where he anticipates shifting from legal to moral argument adds welcome internal tension. Where the chapter c...

  Nonfiction history books have a clear and disciplined structure. Historical fiction is a recognized genre with its own well-established norms. This book calls itself a biographical novel. I suppose it is a historical novel about one person’s life, but I found the book neither fish nor fowl. The narrative sometimes seemed like a history book without endnotes, and at other times like a novel absent the art of storytelling.  The dialogue is unnatural, the pacing is sometimes slow, and the narrative is emotionless. Skimin has the facts right, and the book gives a good perspective on Grant’s life. Unfortunately, I cannot recommend this book.  

In Lincoln's time, photography was a new science and so popular that in 1860, there were an estimated 3,000 photographers in the United States. Abraham Lincoln did not consider himself handsome, but he was not camera-shy. He had his photograph taken around 130 times, reputedly making him the most photographed American of the 19th century.  The following photograph had long been considered the last picture of the 16th president. It was not. This photo was taken by Alexander Gardner on February 5, 1865, before Lincoln's inauguration on March 4th and assassination on April 14th. It was mistakenly tagged as having been taken on April 10, 1865, but Matthew Wilson accompanied Lincoln to the Gardner shoot, and his diary says it was taken on February 5. Historian Harold Holzer has verified the February 5th date. So, what is the last photograph? John Hay and John Nicolay, in their Complete Works of Abraham Lincoln , wrote that the last photographs were taken a month later, on ...

  When writing a historical novel, I read lots of books, even for my westerns. Almost all are nonfiction, and some are contemporaneous with my novel's period. It takes time to read twenty or thirty books, and my memory of late is not as good as it used to be, so to access this material months later, my notes must be consolidated, annotated, and made searchable on a computer. Therefore, I read research books as eBooks on a Kindle. Why? First, this compact little device lets me carry an entire library with me wherever I go. In fact, I prefer the smaller, original Kindle because I can easily slip it into my back or front pocket. Any time I need to wait becomes productive time. I can whip out my Kindle and read instead of getting frustrated. I even read while on hold for some unempowered Help Line operator checking with a higher-up. I'm on my seventh Kindle and feel lost if it's not within arm's reach. The second reason I prefer a Kindle book to the printed variety is the H...