Lincoln Books

While conventional wisdom might say that we have been in a golden age of conspiracy theories ever since the assassination of John F. Kennedy, Michael Pfau contends that conspiracy rhetoric has been prevalent in American politics from the time of the revolution. If we want to point to a time in American history where conspiracy rhetoric proved manifestly successful, then Pfau makes the case for that period being the eve of the American Civil War. In "The Political Style of Conspiracy: Chase, Sumner, and Lincoln," Pfau provides a trio of case studies focusing on three of the major figures who defined the ascendancy of the Republican Party. Richard Hofstadter's essay on "The American Style in American Politics" provides the foundation for contemporary conspiracy scholarship and Pfau's starting point in terms of rhetoric and social theory.

In Chapter One, "Problems of Interpretation: Approaching Conspiracy in Text and Discourse," Pfau establishes his theoretical groundwork, but also focuses on the example of William Lloyd Garrison, to show how the paranoid style and conspiracy discourse was on the fringe of American politics, setting up how his three figures will move the slave power conspiracy of the radical abolitionists into the mainstream of American political rhetoric. Pfau focuses on how aristocrats and demagogues were established as traditional conspiratorial enemies, the creation of powerful slave narratives at the center of this rhetoric, and the shared ideology of civic republicanism that Chase, Sumner, and Lincoln grew up on. As the Republic Party emerged in the 1850s, Pfau establishes their goal as being to seek the center of the mainstream and then looks at the chronology of the Republican narrative of the slave power conspiracy in terms of the rhetoric of its most prominent mainstream politicians.

Chapter Two, "The Slave Power According to Salmon P. Chase: Entering the Mainstream of Partisan Rhetoric, 1845-1854," examines a pair of texts by Chase. The first is his 1845 "Address of the Southern and Western Liberty Convention," a major landmark in the political antislavery movement (as well as of slave power conspiracy rhetoric), and the second is his 1854 "Appeal to the Independent Democrats," which drove the anti-Nebraska movement that would coalesce into the Republican Party. Pfau underscores Chase's achievements as a party builder and see his texts as being pivotal examples of party mobilization. Towards that end Chase employs partisan rhetoric, civil republican ideology, and conspiracy narratives, which looking at the audiences Chase has targeted.

Chapter Three, "Charles Sumner's 'Crime against Kansas': Conspiracy Rhetoric in the Oratorical Mold," reminds us that there was a reason why Sumner was attacked and nearly beaten to death on the floor of the U.S. Senate by Preston Brooks in 1856. That was the year that Sumner delivered his philippic, "Crime Against Kansas," which is what Pfau examines. After looking at Sumner's political evolution from Whig to Free-Soil Senator, the essay looks at the text of the speech that was largely forgotten once Sumner was brutally assaulted. The speech is largely imitative of oratorical tradition of conspiracy going back to ancient times, but Pfau is again able to show how such elements combine again with civic republicanism. Pfau is also attuned to the fact the speech digresses at points, engaging more in personal attacks and insults than logical argument, but the emphasis is on how Sumner not only details "The Crime Against Kansas," but also attack the "apologizes" for the crime as additional evidence. Although Sumner speaks of a "true remedy," his final part of the speech covers a lot of possible remedies on the Kansas question.

Chapter Four, "Lincoln, Contemporary Rhetoric, and the 'House Divided': Assessing the Judgment of History," presents an analysis of the best-known text in this volume. Despite the viewpoint of Southerners to the contrary, Lincoln was not a radical within the Republican Party. Pfau looks at this famous speech as one of the best-known slave power conspiracy texts, which implicated Stephen Douglas as part of the well-coordinated conspiracy to nationalize slavery, and which has been condemned by scholars and critics in the last century. What Pfau reveals, to no one's surprise, is that Lincoln's speech is constructed on a move logical framework than either Chase or Sumner as Lincoln stands in the present and evaluates the past. There is a key section in the essay on Pluralist Preunderstandings and the Reception of the "House Divided" speech that deals with Douglas as a protopluralist and also with pluralist revisonism by later scholars and critics who argued popular sovereignty might have been a better policy than what Lincoln advocated. In the end, Pfau is able to make a case for Lincoln as the last in a long line of hortatory civic republican rhetors who succeeded in part because of their practice of conspiracy rhetoric.

Chapter Five, "Lessons of the Slave Power Conspiracy: Conspiracy Rhetoric at the Center and Fringe," explores the broader ramifications of Pfau's findings and suggests future avenues of research. In mapping the slave power conspiracy formation Pfau is able to talk about both sacred and secular ideologies. After talking about the two traditions of conspiracy discourse, namely those on the fringe and those in the center, Pfau is able to move on to contemporary conspiracy discourse and look at those two traditions today. The final lesson of this volume is that the marginalization of conspiracy discourse that has presumed such rhetoric to be both logically flawed and ethically problematic is undercut by the fact this political style is now indigenous to the mainstream of American political discourse. By the time Pfau finishes his book, such a conclusion seems patently obvious.

Pfau uses Richard Hofstadter's seminal essay "The Paranoid Style in American Politics" are a matrix for his own study; except where Hofstadter sees the "paranoid style" as mostly at the fringes of political activity and rhetoric, Pfau sees it as central to this in the years leading up to the Civil War. Starting most notably with Salmon P. Chase, a politician from Ohio, the Southern slaveholders were inferred to be a group working to take over the Federal government to insure the perpetuation of slavery throughout the country, not just the South and some western states as the U.S. expanded. This repeated rhetoric strengthened the Abolitionist movement, and also effectively spread antislavery sentiment and prompted political alertness and activism to work against this alleged design of the slaveholders. Charles Sumner of Massachusetts picked up on this perspective spawned by Chase. In coming to Abraham Lincoln, Pfau paints him not to be the compromise, moderate choice of the Republican Party he is usually seen as, but another in the line of like-minded politicians fostering a picture of the slaveholders as a monolithic group bent on taking over the government. Lincoln was more subtle and artful in extending this paranoid style viewing the opposition as a threat to democratic, majority-rule government. Lincoln's "house divided" speech which is generally agreed among historians to have sealed his nomination is closely analyzed for its characterization of the slaveholders and cultivation of a "paranoid style" to thwart their aims. An assistant professor of Communication Studies at the U. of Minnesota-Duluth, Pfau casts much of American politics and history in a new light.

When 13-year-old Jason finds out that his grandmother has died, he is not overcome with sadness as he has never even met her. Instead, he is overcome with annoyance. Now he has to leave his home in Boston at the beginning of the summer holiday and travel south to Florida to help his father clean out her house. To make matters worse, he fears that his parents are splitting up, and this one time with his dad will provide a great opportunity to talk. That is, if his dad doesn't drink too much alcohol.

Jason's first impression of Florida is HOT --- hot and flat, and filled with old people. He longs to go home, but that's not an option. His father picks him up at the airport and delivers him to a musty house filled with lots of stuff needing to be sorted through and thrown out in the dumpster. Plus, there's the funeral to attend, repairs to be made on the house in order to sell it, and dealing with his very emotional dad. This is definitely not the start to an awesome summer vacation. However, Jason buckles down and helps his dad, not knowing that things are going to start getting interesting.

First comes a weird phone call --- a stranger asking how smart Jason is and announcing that a person can learn a lot at a desk --- which he cannot get out of his head. He ends up searching his grandmother's desk for something and discovers an old postcard, which is the first clue. Then his father drinks too many beers, falls off the ladder and lands in the hospital for a few days. Jason wrangles an invite to stay with his grandmother's friend and next-door neighbor, not wanting his mom to find out that his dad had drunk too much. He returns to the cluttered house to continue working on the mess, and the mystery.

Jason joins forces with the spunky neighborhood lawn-mowing gal Dia, as they dodge the mysterious characters lurking around, explore historical buildings, gather clues and dive deeper into a family mystery almost as old as his grandmother. What starts out to be a boring, painful chore in a harsh environment turns into an adventure of a lifetime in a beautiful state rich with history and love.

Tony Abbott has written over 60 books for young people, and THE POSTCARD is another winner. He has created a multilayered, action-packed mystery filled with unusual and memorable characters (especially admirable is the feisty Dia; maybe he would consider writing another mystery about her). He handles point of view and voice with a shine --- each character and storyline separate, distinct and highlighted, yet weaving together perfectly. Abbott's mystery will pull the reader through the pages with excitement, enthusiasm and a wallop of humor.

--- Reviewed by Chris Shanley-Dillman, author of FINDING MY LIGHT and THE BLACK POND

Jason's grandmother has died. They weren't close, in fact, he never met her. He'd heard his parents talk about her dementia, believing she could fly and being pursued by alligators, but their concern had never brought him into close proximity to his father's sometime mother. The trip to Florida to be with his father and help clean out her house is going to mess up his summer vacation. If he survives it.

A strange call from someone unknown sends Jason searching through his grandmother's things where he finds an old post card and a magazine. This is the start of an intriguing scavenger hunt for pages of a story that help him know his grandmother, and learn more than even his father knows about his grandfather. Jason and his friend, Dia, aren't the only ones looking for the clues. There were some eccentric-looking funeral attendees, and they seem to be showing up wherever the clues lead. How do they know about these old stories? Are they really part of the circus thugs introduced in the story? Are the stories fact or fiction? Can Jason and Dia run fast enough to find out?

The Postcard is a page-turning mystery with a humorous twist. The main characters are human, likeable, and smart. You understand the teenager's confusion about family. Besides never knowing his grandmother, Jason learns his father never knew his own father, his great grandfather may have been a sociopath, and he isn't sure his parents will continue living together when this trip is finished. Add some circus clowns and you have a story both entertaining and well plotted.

Tony Abbott, Connecticut writes humor, fantasy, adventure books that get kids to read, and love to write. His best-known series, The Secrets of Droon, has nearly five million copies in print since the first books were published in 1999, and it is one of the best-selling series for its age group-ages 7 to adult.

Armchair Interviews says: Middle readers especially will enjoy this adventurous mystery.

A good addition to introduce young children to what the holiday is all about on their own terms, and reading level.

Rookie Readers are great at allowing ESOL students to develop reading skills along with Social Studies and Scientific concepts. I can't get enough of them and use them with all age groups.

This was a very intersting book! It contains letters that invidivuals have written about Abraham Lincoln that met or knew him personally. If only someone would build a time machine!

One of the satisfactions of being so involved in reading and reviewing books is that I get to meet some fascinating people with some truly wonderful books. Sure, there is some dross, too. However, because of what I like to read and review I avoid most of the stuff I would hate. This is a very special book that we came amazingly close to never having at all.

By a very unlikely set of circumstances I happened to meet one of the editors of this book. We fell into a conversation about reading history and he told me about this book. It turns out that his brother was an avid collector of historical memorabilia, some of it amazingly valuable. As he was caring for his brother's estate there was a flood in the basement where this manuscript was stored. They were busy throwing away a lot of stuff that was ruined and material that seemed to have no value. Something told him to take a closer look at the books that were the manuscript of this book. He soon realized what a treasure it is.

The manuscript was put together in the first couple of decades of the Twentieth Century when some of those who had seen Lincoln were still alive. John E. Boos was an avid autograph collector, a devotee of Abraham Lincoln and the soldiers who fought in the Civil War. His text for the book does not give a complete transcript of each item he collected, but does talk about the items and provides some context for the items. Some get more extensive treatment than others. The Boos manuscript is NOT a finished or even polished text, but that isn't at all important. What is important is that the editors have not only included the Boos text, but PHOTOCOPIES of the original documents. We can see the handwritten documents and glean all kinds of interesting information from them.

For example, there are many accounts of the Lincoln-Douglass debates from people who attended one or the other of them. I learned that Lincoln was dressed more casually than Douglass. Lincoln wore Kentucky jeans and could have used a haircut in at least one of the debates. Another recounts Lincoln wearing a long duster coat. Douglass is remembered by one has having worn a blue swallowtail coat with a shirtfront stained with tobacco juice. He noted that Douglass liked to drink and looked like he had come to the debate looking as if it were the morning after the night before. Another fascinating detail was how Lincoln would bend his knees and the quickly rise to his full height to emphasize a point.

There are also many accounts of soldiers and officers who served in the Civil War. Getting information on the battles in which they fought, their wounds, and their lives after the war is all quite interesting. It seems to me that the material in this book would be of interest to historians and history buffs interested in Lincoln and the Civil War. If there is any new nugget of information provided in this manuscript it could be quite valuable to our understanding in reconstructing various events. Given the attention any new scrap of information about Lincoln gets, the accounts presented in this book would seem to me to deserve careful examination.

Granted these folks were all aged when they gave these accounts. Everything they say should be checked for plausibility, but it sure reads as if it were true. One person admits being unsure if one of their memories is something he experienced or something he read about or from a photograph he had seen. This is always the problem with accounts taken decades after the events. I do think that going through these accounts is more like looking at a site of possible gemstones rather than panning for gold. John Boos has done all the collection. Some might be quartz, others might be glass, but there just might be a diamond or two that can really help our understanding of events. In any case, they are all interesting. Even just looking at the handwriting from a century ago is fascinating. Some historian should not only look this over in book form, but contact the editors and make sure that these manuscripts and original documents are properly preserved for future generations.

Of course, I am strongly recommending this book.

This important reference book evaluates the dependability of quotations attributed to Lincoln. They are listed alphabetically by name of the person who claimed to hear Lincoln. A copious index to this nearly 600-page book gives further assistance in locating alleged quotations. The book was compiled by two Lincoln experts and is authoritative as any Lincoln book can be.

I can not imagine how many hours of checking and rechecking it took for the Fehrenbachers to compile this book. They offer not only the words of Lincoln as recalled by others, but also their opinions on the probable accuracy of the person who recalled the words. I found quotes I had never heard and I noted that some quite famous "quotes" were debunked. This is as close to the "real words" of Lincoln we are able to get outside his writings and newspaper reports of his speeches. Of course, written words, carefully crafted speeches and spontaneous spoken words are all different. Thanks to the editors for massive amounts of careful work.

"The Union is Dissolved!" This was the Charleston Mercury headline for the evening of December 20, 1860. South Carolina had seceded from the Union. The United States were no longer united and would never be truly united again.

South Carolina and the 10 other Southern states who followed her in seceding from the Union were not traitors. Each state belonging to the Confederacy had left the old Union the same way it had joined - by majority vote of elected representatives. According to our founding fathers and authors Walter D. Kennedy and Al Benson, Jr., Red Republicans and Lincoln's Marxists, Southerners were simply exercising their Constitutional right to form a new government.

By the late 1850s, the heavily populated, mostly industrial Northern states were trying to expand the powers of the federal government in order to benefit their industrial benefactors. This they did at the expense of the less populated, mostly agricultural Southern states. After the 1860 election of a big government radical who promised numerous unconstitutional changes, 11 Southern states decided it was time to form a new nation, one whose federal government did not exceed the powers granted it by their constitution - which, by the way - was nearly identical to the old one.

There was one difference, as Kennedy and Benson point out. Northern banks and businesses profiting in slavery had refused to allow an end to their profitable African slave trade. The Confederacy put an end it. Those who claim Southerners left the Union because they feared Mr. Lincoln might end slavery argue a lie that has been propagated for 145 years. The so-called Civil War was never about slavery, and Mr. Lincoln's all-powerful federal government didn't free the slaves. It bought them.

Kennedy and Benson's research reveals some remarkable facts about Abe Lincoln, his political party and his genocidal army. Lincoln and his party, ironically called Republican, didn't interpret the Constitution the same way our founding fathers did and were willing to do whatever was necessary to put an end to "states' rights," even if it meant killing every Southern man, woman and child, white or black, free or slave.
A republic is a nation ruled by law, but the new Republican Party and its leaders would prove to be contemptuous of both state and federal law, especially the U.S. Constitution. And as Kennedy and Benson discovered, those who formed the basis of the Republican Party had a lot to do with its big government ideology.

In 1848 there were 18 socialist/communist uprisings throughout Europe, uprisings that had the sympathy of a young lawyer in Illinois. These revolutions all failed, so their leaders fled Europe for the refuge of the United States, settling primarily in the northeast and Midwest, taking occupations in journalism, education and politics - the same professions still dominated by leftwing radicals today. Google the names Friedrich Anneke, Carl Schurz, Franz Sigel or Joseph Weydemeyer, and see what information you get.

These socialists/communists had no love for the U.S. Constitution and only venomous loathing for the Holy Bible, but they made this country their home and the new Republican Party their party. Many of these "Forty-Eighters" were protégés of Fredrick Engels and Karl Marx himself, who wrote at least two letters to Comrade Lincoln and even wrote a eulogy for him upon his assassination.

I've read where three of every five Southern men who survived the war at all were missing an arm, leg, eye or some other body part. Many returned home to no home at all, finding it either burned or confiscated by carpetbaggers or scallywags. To add to this insult, what families could be re-united found their children being herded off to public schools where they could be re-educated, "cured" of the thought crimes of believing in states' rights or any other strict interpretation of the U.S. Constitution and especially the Holy Bible.

For all our losses though, Northerners actually lost more. That's right. I'm not talking about the fact that they suffered more battle casualties. The people in the supposedly victorious North to this day think they won something, when in fact they lost everything. Their precious Union died that December evening in 1860 and despite the best efforts of their bloody bayonets, there is still no unity! Oh, and they didn't free the slaves either. They joined them.

Did these socialists/communists really have an influence on the U.S. government? Consider these four major objectives of the communist party and think about where we are today:
1. An indivisible, all-powerful federal government. States' rights?
2. A heavy, progressive income tax. "From each according to his ability to each according to his need."
3. Abolition of property in land and application of all rents of land to public purposes. What happens when you don't pay your property tax? To whom then does "your" property really belong?
4. Free and compulsory public education. Google Legally STUPiD.

See what I mean! Buy a copy of Red Republicans and learn the truth you'll never read in a newspaper, hear on network news or learn about in public schools. I can't say enough to commend all the scholarship behind this book, and I encourage every freedom-loving American to read it.

RC Murray
author of Legally STUPiD: Why Johnny doesn't have to read

Bigger government. More social programs. Look to the government for help, aid, comfort, and direction. This is no doubt where we are in America today. No matter if the leadership is Republican or Democrats or independents, all want bigger government. In 2000 President Bush was elected President promoting smaller government but by his departure in 2009, the United States government is larger than ever before. Where does the idea of big government come from? Why do diseasters such as Hurricane Catrina and the city of New Orleans reveal that people are more dependent on government than ever before and with no hope of getting out from under its grasp?

In this eye-opening book, Walter Kennedy shows how red republicans influenced Abraham Lincoln and the American political system during the Civil War to bring about their hope for larger government based on the principles of Marxism with the State taking control of all property rights and restributing wealth. This was the rally cry for the North during the Civil War to liberate slaves and to bring about one republic without state's rights to interfere. For Southerners, the Civil War was an act of aggression against independent States with their own rights. The North rallied to fight this idea.

Kennedy does a good job of showing the history of the red republicans, their ideals, and how their influence is still felt today. He shows how Lincoln, whether he realised it or not, was heavily influenced by the red republicans. This effect is ongoing in both political parties today. Overall this is a great book and an enjoyment to read.

This is the book I turn to for relaxation, ideas and dreaming. Wonderful photographs but I love the drawings/illustrations just as much.
It is written by Graham Rose, the gardening correspondent of The London Sunday Times.
It gives very practical advice as well as inspiration for garden structures (pergolas, arbors, walkways, etc).
If ever I could get some part of my garden to achieve the atmosphere of this book I would be very happy.
Mr. Thomas also has a new book coming out soon called "Low Maintenance Gardens".

awesome book. great pictures you can learn from...wonderful plant knowledge...good small space design...get it!

I wish I had had this guidebook when I visited Roswell before. On my next visit I will know what to do besides go to the UFO Museum. Who knew you could ride an antique carousel, attend a live cattle auction, or photograph the hanger where they stored the UFO Crash debris (including the alien bodies)? The section on Nightlife even destroys the myth that there is nothing to do in Roswell after 8 p.m.

The book is well organized, interesting, easy to read, and has a few touches of humor that make it more fun than the usual dry travel guide. I also like the clever alien drawings in the margins. Now I'm ready for my next trip to Roswell!

This is a very useful guidebook for touring Roswell or for learning more about the town where the Roswell Incident took place. It is accurate and up to date. Its website also provides useful travel updates.

The book is arranged by sections of town, making it easy to use as a guide for walking or driving around. Its many maps are helpful but some include too many locations to be read easily.

The whole chapter "On the Trail of the Roswell UFO Crash" has interesting information about the events and locations around town associated with the UFO Crash, as well as information about the UFO Museum, UFO Festival, UFO souvenirs, and even the lyrics to a witty song, "UFO Breakdown." The author doesn't take a position on UFOs but gives a good sample of different stories that have been told about the incident so that a tourist can see how the locations the book describes fit into the overall picture.

Beyond UFOs, the book points out lots of other attractions and activities available to the tourist. It seems to make an effort to identify locations representing Roswell's multicultural roots: Anglo, Hispanic, African-American, Asian, Native American, Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish.

It also points out locations of interesting, if minor, historical events related to Charles Lindbergh, General John Pershing, Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, William Jennings Bryant, Will Rogers, Conrad Hilton, and, of course, Elvis.

The nine page index makes locations easy to find. The appendix lists books and DVDs about Roswell--both UFO-related and on topics ranging from Billy the Kid to Marilyn Monroe.

Charming line drawings of aliens are scattered throughout. Don't miss my favorite one that spoofs the town's alien-face lampposts. It's easily overlooked at the very end of the book.

This book works well as a detailed guide for visitors to find their way to major and minor attractions around Roswell. It also creates a sense of the place for armchair travelers who are interested in visualizing the setting of the 1947 events surrounding the UFO crash. I recommend it for both types of visitors.

A true joy to derail from the well-trotten road from Britain to France ending in Italy. At last we are presented with the more unknown gardens of Russia. It's a beautiful book, well written by an authority and with great photos. I especially liked the pavillion disguised as heap of firing-wood, must be one-of-a-kind in this world.

Since the climate is not conducive to gardening, many may be surprised to learn that Russia has some of the most beautiful gardens and parks in the world. What better way to visit them but from the comfort of an easy chair with garden historian Peter Hayden as your guide?

A former chairman of the Garden History Society and an honorary member of the Swedish Society for Dendrology and Park Culture, Hayden knows his subject well. He's the ideal person to compile "Russian Parks and Gardens," which is the first comprehensive history of Russian landscape to be printed in English. Many of the photos included in this volume were taken by Hayden himself and had not been published outside of Russia. There's a wealth to enjoy in 256 pages highlighted by 165 color photographs and 100 archive illustrations.

Hayden's history covers more than 800 years beginning with the initial gardens in the 12th century. We learn that it was Peter the Great who first introduced formal gardens to his homeland by bringing designers and plants from Holland, France, Germany, and Italy. Today St. Petersburg's Summer Garden, which covers 27 acres, is the most popular open space in all of Russia.

What is known as the English style of landscaping was brought to Russia by Catherine the Great who hired British gardeners to design parks for the privileged. In addition, many parks and gardens were created by wealthy families who had the wherewithal to do so, as well as access to thousands of serfs to do the work.

Naturally, the Revolution took its toll on quite a number of Russia's parks and gardens but many have been restored so that they are even more glorious today.

"Russian Parks and Gardens" is an amazing contribution to the annals of landscape history, and a joy to behold.

- Gail Cooke

An improbable but true story that will appeal to anyone who enjoys biographies or mysteries.

Trebitsch Lincoln was a proselytizer for two Christian denominations, a social researcher,an escaped convict, a winning candidate for Parliament, a German spy, a participant in the Kapp putsch of 1920, and a Buddhist monk.
You literally can't make this stuff up.
I read the book with disbelief, but the facts are there. It was a lot easier to forge new identities in the years before social security and national i.d. cards. Lincoln's travels took him all over the world and he seems to have conned people of all nations and political persuasions.
Mr. Wasserstein's book is beautifully written. I think it should be back in print.