Your best read in 2014

[LincolnToddFan]

My favorite Lincoln books for 2014 were "How A Nation Grieves", "The Last Lincolns" and Betty's first-rate biography of Lewis Powell. I have to admit that before I read Betty's work Lewis mostly creeped me out, I only felt revulsion for him. I am still chilled by what he did but I could never hate the man now, Betty did such a good job of humanizing him. In fact it was difficult to come to the end, because I found myself wanting the guy to be spared even though of course he was not. I now feel horribly sad for every one of the conspirators who were hung for having the misfortune and poor judgement of getting involved with JWB.

Other books I greatly enjoyed in 2014 were "Michael and Natasha: The Life and Love of Michael II, the Last of the Romanov Tsars" by Rose and Donald Crawford, "The Fall of the House of Dixie" by Prof. Bruce Levine, and an excellent biography of first lady Edith Kermit Roosevelt by Sylvia Jukes Morris.