The Lincoln Enigma: The Changing Faces of an American Icon

by Gabor Boritt

Overview

In The Lincoln Enigma, Gabor Boritt invites renowned Lincoln scholars, and rising new voices, to take a look at much-debated aspects of Lincoln's life—including his possible gay relationships, his plan to send blacks back to Africa, and his high-handed treatment of the Constitution. Boritt explores Lincoln's proposals that looked to a lily-white America. Jean Baker marvels at Lincoln's loves and marriage. David Herbert Donald compares Lincoln and Jefferson Davis as Commanders-in-Chief. Douglas Wilson shows us the young Lincoln—not the strong leader of popular history, but a man who struggles to find his purpose. Gerald Prokopowicz searches for the military leader, William C. Harris for the peacemaker, and Robert Bruce meditates on Lincoln and death. In a final section Boritt and Harold Holzer offer a fascinating portfolio of Lincoln images in modern art. Acute and thought-provoking in their observations, this all-star cast of historians—including two Pulitzer and three Lincoln Prize winners—questions our assumptions of Lincoln, and provides a new vitality to our ongoing reflections on his life and legacy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195156263
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	11/28/2002
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	9.07(w) x 5.94(h) x 0.93(d)

About the Author

Gabor S. Boritt is Robert C. Fluhrer Professor of Civil War Studies and Director of the Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College. His books include Why the Civil War Came and The Gettysburg Nobody Knows.

Editorial Reviews

"The Lincoln Enigma turns out to be a provocative, thoughtful consideration of two aspects of this atonishingly interesting man: his capacity to be all things to all people and the deep mystery at the very core of him."—Jonathan Yardly, The Washington Post

"Grounded on new archival treasures and state-of-the-art research, edited by the great Lincoln historian Gabor Boritt, The Lincoln Enigma is a rich, absorbing and sometimes startling book, rendered by some of the most distinguished scholars in the Lincoln world." —Michael Beschloss, PBS and NBC commentator

"Enigma or not, Lincoln greatly benefits from this collection of essays—and so do we as readers. After Gabor Boritt's picturesque travelogue in search of Lincoln effigies all over the world, we are given, with ample documentation, views that overturn the conventional about Lincoln's early life, marriage, self-will, and military mind, all this topped off by a superb meditation on Lincoln and death. A visual bonus follows in the form of a gallery of portraits and caricatures mostly unfamiliar. Few books of this size contain so much." —Jacques Barzun, author of the bestseller From Dawn to Decadence

"Each essay is a tiny gem of originality and insight; taken together, they form a splendid whole which goes as far as any single book to illuminate the Lincoln enigma." —Doris Kearns Goodwin, PBS and NBC commentator, author of the Pulitzer Prize winning bestseller, No Ordinary Time, and of Wait Till Next Year

"The stimulating essays in this volume prove that despite the thousands of books about Lincoln, there are still new insights and fresh perspectives to engage the reader. At the same time, many aspects of Lincoln's life—his marriage for instance—remain an enigma." —James M. McPherson, Princeton University, author of the bestselling Pulitzer winning Battle Cry of Freedom

"The Licoln Enigma is a splendid collection of essays that explores the mind, the personality, and the social conscience of one of America's most important presidents. From the socialization of his youth, to his marriage, to his evolution as leader of the nation at its most critical hour, to his death and his place in the American memory, these writings tell of a remarkable man and president, who remains a mystery even to those who have spent a lifetime studying him. This is fascinating reading, a must for every student of American politics, social history and biography." —James Oliver Horton, Banneker Professor of American Studies and History, George Washington University, and co-author of In Hope of Liberty: Community, Culture and Protest Among Northern Free Blacks, 1700-1860

From the Publisher