The American Civil War & Reconstruction
Whistlestop Bookshop’s first store opened in Gettysburg in 1985. Eventually, over 19 years there, our Civil War section grew to be three large wall cases. A disproportionate percentage of it, naturally, was about the battle of Gettysburg and biographies of those who fought there. In addition to this book selling experience, my southern upbringing and Army family life created a lifelong interest in the War Between the States and all of its complexities. It is an understandable national obsession, considering how the first half of our nation’s history contributed to its ferocity, and the second half of our history has been the struggle to live with and understand the consequences.
Boss Lincoln: The Partisan Life of Abraham Lincoln
Boss Lincoln: The Partisan Life of Abraham Lincoln
An eye-opening portrait of Abraham Lincoln behind the scenes: here is the career-long party politician whose brilliant coalition-building during the Civil War set the political foundation for emancipation and Union victory
We know Abraham Lincoln as the eloquent, compassionate leader of a nation torn by civil war. But he had another, less visible side, central to his character and leadership: he was a master of party politics. His decades of experience as a party leader proved invaluable to him as president and commander in chief during the Civil War.
Matthew Pinsker’s groundbreaking history draws on Lincoln’s private correspondence to realize a flesh-and-blood character in Boss Lincoln. Behind closed doors he was shrewd and insistent, capable of deft manipulation, blunt intimidation or thoughtful argument as needed. As a decision-maker he was attentive to detail but kept his own counsel and trusted his own acumen.
With emancipation and the war’s outcome at stake, facing withering criticism from all sides, Lincoln won re-election by building a new political coalition through the Union party. Here was Boss Lincoln at his height, captured in absorbing detail in this indelible portrait.