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Title details for Lincoln on the Verge by Ted Widmer - Available

Lincoln on the Verge

Thirteen Days to Washington

by Ted Widmer
Fred Sanders
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available
WINNER OF THE LINCOLN FORUM BOOK PRIZE

"A Lincoln classic...superb." ­—The Washington Post

"A book for our time."—Doris Kearns Goodwin

Lincoln on the Verge tells the dramatic story of America's greatest president discovering his own strength to save the Republic.
As a divided nation plunges into the deepest crisis in its history, Abraham Lincoln boards a train for Washington and his inauguration—an inauguration Southerners have vowed to prevent. Lincoln on the Verge charts these pivotal thirteen days of travel, as Lincoln discovers his power, speaks directly to the public, and sees his country up close. Drawing on new research, this riveting account reveals the president-elect as a work in progress, showing him on the verge of greatness, as he foils an assassination attempt, forges an unbreakable bond with the American people, and overcomes formidable obstacles in order to take his oath of office.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    April 7, 2020

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781797104294
      • File size: 486645 KB
      • Duration: 16:53:50

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Using a thoughtful and measured cadence, narrator Fred Sanders invites the listener to climb aboard the Presidential Special--the train that in February 1861 carried President-Elect Abraham Lincoln and his family from Springfield, Illinois, across eight states and countless whistle-stops to Washington, DC, for his first inauguration. Drawing from the author's 10 years of painstaking research, the audiobook covers the good and the bad about Lincoln's psyche, closest friends, and most vicious foes, as well as a fast-growing country that could no longer ignore its most horrific failure--slavery. The author himself delivers the last chapter and notes that after making 101 extemporaneous speeches and avoiding an assassination attempt, by the time Lincoln arrived in the nation's capital, there was no question he was right where he belonged. B.P. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      February 10, 2020
      Historian Widmer debuts with a kaleidoscopic account of president-elect Abraham Lincoln’s 13-day journey from Springfield, Ill., to Washington, D.C., for his 1861 inauguration. Positioning the trip as an “odyssey to save democracy,” Widmer meticulously details each stop along the way, describing large crowds teetering between festive and threatening, and highlights the increasing danger Lincoln faced from would-be assassins on the way to the capital. Interspersed are sketches of historical figures, including John D. Rockefeller, then 20, and Grace Bedell, the 12-year-old girl who advised Lincoln to grow his beard, and vivid recreations of emerging industrial powerhouses such as Cincinnati and Pittsburgh. Widmer accentuates Lincoln’s tenuous political situation by drawing parallels to Jefferson Davis’s concurrent journey from Mississippi to Alabama to accept the presidency of the Confederacy. Widmer’s exploration of this historical footnote delivers real depth, though allusions to the Iliad and the Odyssey, including multiple comparisons of the railroad to the Trojan horse, feel forced and overly grandiose. Nevertheless, history buffs will be entertained and enlightened by this unique view of Lincoln and the country on the cusp of war. (Apr.)Correction: An earlier version of this review misstated the city in which Lincoln's trip originated.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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