Abraham Lincoln: The Enigmatic President

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...

  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...

Abraham Lincoln for Kids: His Life and Times with 21 Activities Janis Herbert This heavily illustrated book is aimed at middle schoolers and is an excellent summation of Abraham Lincoln. The book does not avoid slavery and presents the institution honestly. The writing is clear but requires a reasonable level of reading skill. More importantly, the book is interesting and fast-moving. In an earlier review I wrote, " When I write a historical novel, I find books aimed at younger readers invaluable. They provide three benefits. First, books for youths tell history as a story, just as a historical novel does. Second, they focus on highlights, which can provide an outline for a more extensive narrative. Third, they present the popular view and mythology of historic events. This is valuable because a historical novelist must know when he or she is diverting away from common perceptions. Without proper setup, running counter to the general belief can jar the reader out of the story, and...

  “It can be lost, and it will be, if the time ever comes when these documents are regarded… merely as curiosities in glass cases.” So spoke Harry Truman about the Declaration of Independence. He also called it a “supreme expression of our profound belief.” How did this world-shattering document come about?  Read all about it at the American Thinker American Exceptionalism

  The story of the greatest rivalry in American History. Buy at Amazon

  At the time of the Constitutional Convention, slaveholding states were far stronger than their northern counterparts. After sixty years, the free states’ explosive growth had left the South far behind. It was as if the South was in a footrace wearing concrete boots. Hinton Helper, a mid-19th-century southerner, identifies that concrete as slavery.  The political implications are interesting. During this massive economic transition and with slavery under moral attack, slaveholders managed to retain dominating political power. How did they accomplish this feat? Slaves were treasured assets in the antebellum South. Slaves defined social status. Slaves made plantation owners wealthy. Slaves made life easy. Slavery made everyone who was not a slave feel freer and privileged. Slavery wasn’t just property; it was a way of life and the linchpin of an aristocratic society. How do you protect an asset that can walk away? How do you counter altruists who want to banish that asset? Huma...

Bruce Chadwick's Two American Presidents should have been a perfect reference book for Maelstrom . Maelstrom  chapters alternate between the two presidents to show how each dealt with the same issues, countered the other’s moves, led their respective governments, and used their political powers to sway the outcome. Unfortunately, Chardwick's book was infested with so many errors that I discarded it less than halfway through. Two American Presidents is haphazardly  written  and poorly edited. It is hard to follow the chronology and is occasionally outright wrong in the sequence of events. There are too many good books out there to recommend this one. 

  The photo on the left could be considered the kick-off image for Lincoln's presidential campaign. The photo on the right was taken about two months before his assassination. The presidency ages people, but a war ravages the soul. The photo on the left was taken by Mathew Brady in his New York studio on February 27, 1860, before Lincoln publicly acknowledged that he was a candidate for the presidency. Lincoln was in New York to deliver an address at Cooper Union. Tradition has it that the Cooper Union Address and the Brady photograph taken on the same day propelled Lincoln into the White House. The photo on the right was taken by Alexander Gardner   on February 5, 1865, which was after Lincoln's reelection but before his inauguration. By this time, Gardner had left Brady to run his own studio. (Lincoln was inaugurated on March 4, 1865; Lee surrendered on April 9, 1865; and Lincoln was assassinated on April 14, 1865.) The contrast between the two photographs is dramatic a...

  Jefferson Davis, American William J. Cooper Jr.   Jefferson Davis, American (2000) was published four years after William C. Davis’s Jefferson Davis: The Man and His Hour (1996). In this reviewer’s opinion, American is a superior biography compared to The Man and His Hour . (More provocatively titled as well.) I judge biographies by if I feel I know the person afterward. After reading The Man and His Hour , I knew what Jefferson did, but after American , I felt I understood this complicated man. Cooper is sympathetic toward Davis and sometimes comes across as an apologist. However, it’s this very sympathy that lifts the book from a dry biography, offering a glimpse of the man in his time. Davis is a difficult subject for a biography. When the Confederacy fled Richmond, most of the records were burned. Consequently, there are far fewer primary sources available to a biographer of a Confederate figure than there are for a Unionist biographer. Thus, Confederate historians re...

  Book 2 in the American Exceptionalism Series Maelstrom, A Civil War Novel , is now available for Kindle preorder. Release Date June 1, 2026 (Hardcover and paperback will also be available on June 1, 2026) “I enjoyed this.”  Harold Holzer, Lincoln Prize winner and Chair of The Lincoln Forum “See Lincoln as you've never seen him before as he navigates the maelstrom of the Civil War.”  Larry Schweikart, NYTimes #1 bestselling author Maelstrom tells the story of the greatest rivalry in American history. Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis led their nations in a must-win fight, and Maelstrom shows how each dealt with the same issues, countered the other’s moves, led their respective governments, and used their political powers to sway the outcome. Read the first chapter free HERE .