An American Marriage

[Rob Wick]

Gene,

Saying someone has "an ax to grind" is a pejorative and not very helpful in a review. It speaks more of Burlingame's frame of mind and motive, which as smart as you are I don't think even you are a mind reader . To say that Burlingame is far too critical of Mary and goes beyond the source material is more in line with questioning scholarship. Burlingame clearly believes historians have been too lenient where Mary is concerned and isn't shy about making that point. What one needs to do is to go through the 150 pages of source notes and then evaluate those sources piece by piece. Using Herndon as a source is pretty much a requirement, given that no one person ever collected as much material as he did. Randall and Angle tried their darndest to push Herndon aside as a source but never succeeded.

If you read Burlingame's article on why a new biography of Herndon is needed, Burlingame talks about how much respect and admiration he had for David Donald, but how at one point they became estranged. While he doesn't explain this separation, I've often wondered if he was too critical of Donald (and Randall and Angle) and Donald wouldn't have any of it. From what I've been told by others who knew Donald, he could be a very prickly person, especially when he was challenged.

As for this book, unless he provides any new information other than what he first discussed in The Inner World of Abraham Lincoln, it probably isn't worth my time. But I would hesitate to put it aside simply because I don't agree with the author or his conclusions.

Best
Rob