Mr. Lincoln's Wars: A Novel in Thirteen StoriesIn this highly ambitious collection, Adam Braver explores Abraham Lincoln's inner life and personal turmoils -- while also reflecting on the indelible impact Lincoln had on the nation during the last year of his presidency. Braver brings the president to life, not just as the strong and resilient leader of history books but also as a grief-stricken father, heartbroken over the loss of his young son. Across a rich canvas of truth and imagination, Mr. Lincoln's Wars reveals a president within the White House walls. We see Lincoln as he explores the meaning of loss through a chance encounter with the father of a slain soldier. And a good-hearted young Union soldier is quickly turned into a killer in the name of President Lincoln. Finally, there is the assassination and the autopsy, as seen through the eyes of John Wilkes Booth, Mary Lincoln, the assistant surgeon general, and one of Lincoln's closest friends. Brilliant in its depiction of the country during the waning days of the war, this book is an insightful and moving exploration of the myth of celebrity and the passions it arouses. More than anything, Mr. Lincoln's Wars introduces a talented new writer whose storytelling ability knows no bounds. |
From inside the book
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... feeling helpless.The bullets and the cannons would finally stop pounding,the war was ending. Lincoln's secretary of war,Edwin Stanton,was due to arrive in the president's office at any moment. He was going to stand there in officious ...
... feel.” Lincoln pulled his hands behind his back. “I suppose you got a war to go and fight,” she mumbled. Lincoln looked down. “It's over and gone.” “What,” she laughed,“the war?” “I told you last night.” She glanced past him. “I don't ...
... feels like he's lived his life before,and the doors slam and the valves are tightened and the pressure builds.And Mary exclaims that she will never enter the room that Willie slept in,and she wants to know, Abraham,what do you think of ...
... feels like a new life is beginning,like the fence has been whitewashed. The war is over,by God. It's a fresh start. President Lincoln walked down the hall. His legs felt like death. T he Undertaker's Assistant Perfect relief is not ...
... feel better. Is not this so? And yet it is a mistake.You are sure to be happy again.To know this, which is certainly true,will make you some less miserable now. I have had experience enough to know what I say. —December 12, 1862 ...
Contents
11 | |
25 | |
The Idiot Brother | 47 |
The Willie Grief | 67 |
His Stepmothers Sister | 91 |
A Letter to President Lincoln from a Good Girl | 97 |
The Ward | 109 |
On to the Next Field | 131 |
Crybaby Jacks Theory | 149 |
The Sad and Familiar Ballad of Captain | 181 |
The Necropsy | 195 |
A Rainy Night in Springfield Illinois1849 | 289 |
A Word on Researching Mr Lincolns Wars | 305 |