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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... once before I fit his black suit to his slain body in the Executive Mansion's upstairs guest room . It was in the summer of 1862 , not too long after his son Willie had died . Mr. Lincoln was walking in a country stride down an alley ...
... once , with all the courage that he could muster , waiting until one darker - than - usual night when the old man didn't seem to be as liquored as normal , the boy asked his father for a horse , and his father said that men who rode ...
... once Sherman marched right on through . . . ' 22 " Sherman ? That useless soldier ? I had to practically hold his hand just to get him up to the battlefield . Little baby doll girl . " " Anyway , it seems that old Sherman took straight ...
... once fine hair was now matted in brains, blood, and dirt, while this whole goddamned town walked around like they were given immunity from it all; and Zack sat down, a curse on them all, wishing that the goddamned war would spill into ...
Contents
11 | |
25 | |
The Idiot Brother | 47 |
The Willie Grief | 67 |
His Stepmothers Sister | 89 |
A Letter to President Lincoln from a Good Girl | 97 |
The Ward | 107 |
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 |