“Tried by War: Abraham Lincoln as Commander in Chief” is the title to the latest book by James M. McPherson.
Some of the product description notes:
“Because Lincoln’s war took place within our borders, the relationship between the front lines and the home front was especially close—and volatile.
Here again, Lincoln faced enormous challenges in exemplary fashion. He was a masterly molder of public opinion, for instance, defining the war aims initially as preserving the Union and only later as ending slavery— when he sensed the public was at last ready to bear such a lofty burden.
As we approach the bicentennial of Lincoln’s birth in 2009, this book will be that rarest gift—a genuinely novel, even timely, view of the most-written-about figure in our history.
Tried by War offers a revelatory portrait of leadership during the greatest crisis our nation has ever endured. How Lincoln overcame feckless generals, fickle public opinion, and his own paralyzing fears is a story at once suspenseful and inspiring.”
According to USA Today:
“In Tried by War, McPherson looks at how Lincoln became a great military leader by spending his days haunting the war office scanning field reports and his nights reading books on military strategy. As Lincoln himself joked, his sole military experience was fighting mosquitoes as a militia captain during the 1832 Black Hawk War.”
Penguin is the publisher, and the full review can be found here .
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