The Lincoln Forum - Rediscovering Abraham Lincoln (Hardcover, 1st ed)

Each November, hundreds of Lincoln and Civil War enthusiasts mark the anniversary of the Gettysburg Address by gathering together in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania for the annual Lincoln Forum -- an acclaimed scholarly symposium featuring groundbreaking presentations by the nation's leading historians. The scholars and attendees alike make the pilgrimage for one reason: to re-interpret, re-examine, and re-discover the most intriguing, endlessly fascinating, figure of the American past, Abraham Lincoln.

Now the best of the most recent Lincoln Forum lectures -- some of which have been broadcast on C-SPAN'S "Book TV" network -- have been collected in one volume for the enjoyment and enlightenment of readers everywhere. The essays offer important re-examinations of Lincoln as military leader, communicator, family man, and icon. The scholarship is new, the voices are sure, and the results are likely to both break new ground and provoke new debate.

James M. McPherson, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Battle Cry of Freedom, contributes a timely essay on Lincoln's record as commander-in-chief. Craig L. Symonds, the distinguished naval historian, analyzes Lincoln and the technological revolution that transformed his Civil War navy. John F. Marszalek, acclaimed biographer of William T. Sherman, examines Lincoln's important relationship with that controversial but productive military hero. And Jean H. Baker, the leading authority on Mary Todd Lincoln, offers a definitive assessment of the frequently mis-portrayed Lincoln marriage, and a new analysis of the much-maligned First Lady.

In another important chapter, historian Hans L. Trefousse finds compelling new evidence of Lincoln's surprisingpopularity while he lived; military expert J. Tracy Power looks at the Confederacy's Army of Northern Virginia in the wake of the watershed presidential election of 1864, which returned Lincoln to power; award-winning author and historian John C.Waugh pens an appreciation of Lincoln's unique talents as writer and communicator; Gerald Prokopowicz, historian of the Lincoln Museum, takes a new look at Lincoln's high expectations for the Army of the Potomac after Gettysburg; and Frank J.Williams, chairman of the Lincoln Forum, explores the often under-appreciated influence of the women in Lincoln's life.