What are you reading now?

[brtmchl]

I'm finally starting Backstage at the Lincoln assassination. I'm really excited. It has been hard for me to wait. I think I rushed through the last few chapters of my last book, just to get to it.

[LincolnMan]

Thank god she brought a friend with her when she visited Surratt House. The friend was interested in learning about life in Southern Maryland and the Surratts. All Sarah was interested in was seeing the guns and saying that she had been somewhere where Booth had been. I guess that's what sells books...

I wonder if the friend she brought is the same one talks about in the book? The author said that the friend used to go along with her to rock concerts when she was a rock music critic- but when she switched her endeavors to assassination-related things- the friend wasn't so thrilled.

[Wesley Harris]

Backstage at the Lincoln Assassination. When you think there's no new perspectives to be revealed on the assassination, a book like this comes along. Amazing, Tom Bogar!

[JMadonna]

My son just gave me The Class of 1846 - Read the first 10 pages & I'm hooked.

[LincolnMan]

West Point class of 1846?

[RJNorton]

My son just gave me The Class of 1846 - Read the first 10 pages & I'm hooked.

John C. Waugh is the same author who wrote Reelecting Lincoln: The Battle For The 1864 Presidency. I remember when that book came out it was discussed on the old Abraham Lincoln Online Friends of Lincoln Mailbag and got very good reviews.

West Point class of 1846?

There is a small chart here.

[BettyO]

My son just gave me The Class of 1846 - Read the first 10 pages & I'm hooked.

Excellent book, Jerry. I have that title in my library as well!

Been so busy lately that I haven't time to breath - but I'm STILL going through Tom Bogar's book - excellent!

[Hess1865]

I'm reading 'The Kid', which is about baseball great Ted Williams
800 pages long-everything you wanted to know about the Splendid Splinter and then some!!!
Excellent book-and I'm a Yankees fan!!

[Rob Wick]

I'm about 300 pages into Doris Kearns Goodwin's "The Bully Pulpit." I'm enjoying it, but the thought that I have almost 600 pages or so to go is overwhelming. So far Goodwin hasn't written anything wrong on Tarbell, but up to this point she has been a minor character as opposed to TR and Taft.

Best
Rob

[Rogerm]

I am in the process of reading aloud paragraphs out of BLOOD ON THE MOON by Ed Steers to a French friend of mine on Skype. She finds the history of Lincoln's assassination compelling. And, it makes for a very interesting exercise in translation.

[RJNorton]

Roger, that is wonderful!

[Eva Elisabeth]

I agree, it's cool idea and project, Roger!

I, too, am reading "Backstage at...", and my "problem" (not a serious one!!!) is that it needs a lot of color. I usually highlight important or interesting facts or those which are new to me, or trivia I like (the latter in flo pink), and there's a lot to highlight...

Recently I purchased "The Global Lincoln": http://www.amazon.com/The-Global-Lincoln...019537911X
I haven't read it yet, but I'm looking forward to - from paging through it looks very interesting!

[RJNorton]

Recently I purchased "The Global Lincoln": http://www.amazon.com/The-Global-Lincoln...019537911X
I haven't read it yet, but I'm looking forward to - from paging through it looks very interesting!

Eva, an ex-student of mine, Tom Schwartz, attended the 2009 Oxford conference on "The Global Lincoln." At the time he wrote and told me that some very interesting papers were presented at the conference. He said that most of them evoked Lincoln as unifier and statesman rather than Lincoln as emancipator. He also mentioned that a book would be published that presented these papers, and I think this is the book. (I noticed Jörg Nagler, whom you just mentioned in another thread, was also present at the conference.)

There is a very basic outline of that conference here.

[Eva Elisabeth]

That's interesting, Roger! Jörg Nagler is the leading CW and Lincoln expert in Germany. (He exactly looks like John Hay, BTW.)

For Germany it's sure true that Abraham Lincoln was and is primarily a symbol and role model as a unifyer, and especially the "house-divided" theme and the Gettysburg address has frequently been quoted by several politicians in different eras.

[JMadonna]

My son just gave me The Class of 1846 - Read the first 10 pages & I'm hooked.

John C. Waugh is the same author who wrote Reelecting Lincoln: The Battle For The 1864 Presidency. I remember when that book came out it was discussed on the old Abraham Lincoln Online Friends of Lincoln Mailbag and got very good reviews.

That book doesn't compare to this one. He really puts flesh and bones on these people and their lives at West Point, The Mexican War, The Indian wars and of course, the Civil War.