Lincoln's Sanctuary: Abraham Lincoln and the Soldiers' Home
Author: Matthew Pinsker
After the heartbreaking death of his son Willie, Abraham Lincoln and his family fled the gloom that hung over the White House, moving into a small cottage in Washington, D.C., on the grounds of the Soldiers' Home, a residence for disabled military veterans. In Lincoln's Sanctuary, historian Matthew Pinsker offers a fascinating portrait of Lincoln's stay in this place and tells the story of the president's remarkable growth as a national leader and a private man.
Lincoln lived at the Soldiers' Home for a quarter of his presidency, and for nearly half of the critical year of 1862, but most Americans (including many scholars) have not heard of the place. Indeed, this is the first volume to specifically connect this early "summer White House" to key wartime developments, including the Emancipation Proclamation, the firing of McClellan, the evolution of Lincoln's "Father Abraham" image, the election of 1864, and the assassination conspiracy. Through a series of striking vignettes, the reader discovers a more accessible Lincoln, demonstrating what one visitor to the Soldiers' Home described as his remarkable "elasticity of spirits." At his secluded retreat, the president complained to his closest aides, recited poetry to his friends, reconnected with his wife and family, conducted secret meetings with his political enemies, and narrowly avoided assassination attempts. Perhaps most important, he forged key friendships that helped renew his flagging spirits. The cottage became a refuge from the pressures of the White House, a place of tranquility where Lincoln could refresh his mind.
Based on research in rarely tapped sources, especially the letters and memoirs of people who lived orworked at the Soldiers' Home, Lincoln's Sanctuary offers the unexpected--a completely fresh view of Abraham Lincoln--through the window of a place that helped shape his presidency.
The Washington Post
… Lincoln's Sanctuary is a marvelous book, brimming with new information about the public and private lives of the Civil War president. The author tells a compelling story, based on thorough and impeccable research. Lincoln's Sanctuary makes a strong case that those who visit the Soldiers' Home, currently being restored by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, will gain a much deeper understanding of our greatest president. — Michael F. Bishop
Publishers Weekly
Lincoln spent more than one quarter of his presidency (all the fair weather months of 1862, '63 and '64) living not at the White House, but in a modest cottage on the grounds of the Soldiers' Home, a residence for disabled veterans just outside the capital in Maryland. Drawing on previously obscure manuscript resources-including the letters of soldiers assigned to guard Lincoln at his retreat-Dickinson College historian Pinsker does a first-rate job of illuminating this previously little-known slice of Lincoln's life. Here we have Lincoln with his guard down and his coat tossed over the back of a couch. He and his son Tad (Willie was dead by this time, and older son Robert visited only rarely) shared meals and stories with the soldiers bivouacked about the grounds. Company K Sgt. Charles Derickson recalled that Lincoln used to enjoy coming over to the soldiers' camp for a cup of "army coffee" and a "plate of beans." At one point, when the troops received defective socks, their complaints got the president's attention; a corrupt federal contractor wound up in prison. In addition to providing up-close-and-personal views of the soldiers' "friendly father Abraham," Pinsker also gives vivid accounts of the various moments in Lincoln's public life that occurred at or involved the Soldiers' Home, such as the writing of the Emancipation Proclamation and the firing of McClellan. All told, this account comprises that most rare of things: a book that actually adds to the Lincoln literature, telling us stories we haven't heard before. (Sept.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Library Journal
In an uncommonly original look at Lincoln during the war years, Pinsker (Dickinson Coll.) follows the War President to his "retreat" at the Soldiers' Home away from the daily noise, posturing, and politicking of the capital and finds there a serenity that allowed Lincoln to relax with his family, think through issues, conduct secret meetings with allies and enemies, and reinvigorate his resolve. Lincoln, the family man, and Mary Todd Lincoln appear in refreshing gaze in Pinsker's careful portraits of life at the cottage they occupied at the Soldiers' Home, a place akin to Camp David today. Also significant is Pinsker's discovery that the bond that developed between the publicly stern secretary of war Edwin Stanton and the seemingly more congenial president was formed as much by conversation and community at the Soldiers' Home as by common policy. But danger also lurked as Confederate forces threatened the sanctuary and an assassin narrowly missed Lincoln during his "commute" to the White House. Through Pinsker's probing inquiry into sources heretofore surprisingly underused, the ever elusive private Lincoln comes into new light. A book for our time and for all libraries.-Randall M. Miller, Saint Joseph's Univ., Philadelphia Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Table of Contents:
| Foreword | ||
| Introduction: "I see the President" | 1 | |
| Pt. 1 | 1862 | |
| Ch. 1 | "Gone to the country" | 21 |
| Ch. 2 | "Am I to have no rest?" | 37 |
| Ch. 3 | "Forever free" | 54 |
| Ch. 4 | "Capt. D and his company" | 72 |
| Pt. 2 | 1863 | |
| Ch. 5 | "Mother very slightly hurt" | 93 |
| Ch. 6 | "In fine whack" | 108 |
| Pt. 3 | 1864 | |
| Ch. 7 | "Present at Fort Stevens" | 127 |
| Ch. 8 | "Damned in Time & in Eternity" | 146 |
| Ch. 9 | "Whatever is, is right" | 163 |
| Conclusion: "There is something else there" | 183 | |
| Afterword | 189 | |
| Chronology: Lincoln at the Soldiers' Home | 193 | |
| Notes | 205 | |
| Bibliography | 229 | |
| Acknowledgments | 239 | |
| Index | 243 |
New interesting textbook: Making and Using Flavored Vinegars or Classic Scots Cookery
The Dark Valley: A Panorama of the 1930s
Author: Piers Brendon
The 1930s were perhaps the seminal decade in twentieth-century history, a dark time of global depression that displaced millions, paralyzed the liberal democracies, gave rise to totalitarian regimes, and, ultimately, led to the Second World War. In this sweeping history, Piers Brendon brings the tragic, dismal days of the 1930s to life.
From Stalinist pogroms to New Deal programs, Brendon re-creates the full scope of a slow international descent towards war. Offering perfect sketches of the players, riveting descriptions of major events and crises, and telling details from everyday life, he offers both a grand, rousing narrative and an intimate portrait of an era that make sense out of the fascinating, complicated, and profoundly influential years of the 1930s.
Publishers Weekly
Brendon's latest book is ambitious, covering the world's convulsive descent from the economic and political chaos of the 1930s into the global slaughter of the war-torn 1940s. Taking his title from Churchill's address to Stalin on May 8, 1945, Brendon (Hurrell Froude and the Oxford Movement; etc.) analyzes the decade from the start of the Depression to the eve of WWII, a period of economic collapse in the democracies and aggressive totalitarianism in the nations that would ultimately form the Axis. Brendon traces how each of seven nations (the U.S., Britain, France, Spain, Italy, Russia and Japan) responded to the era's economic upheavals. In Germany, Italy and Japan the answer to the Depression was massive rearmament, to which the democracies responded, as Brendon details, with temporizing and appeasement. Brendon is especially interested in mechanisms for distorting the truth, including propaganda and censorship. His writing is superlative, his vocabulary precise and extensive; he displays remarkable talent for the revealing phrase and the polished anecdote. Each of the decade's personalities, from Hoover to Orwell, from Haile Selassie to Harry Hopkins, is pinned down in a trenchant sketch, and the dominant characters, such as Roosevelt, Mussolini and Hitler, are examined carefully. Most important, Brendon demonstrates why one cannot understand the appalling violence of the Second World War without first mastering the tumultuous decade in which the seeds of the war were planted. 24 pages of photos not seen by PW. Agent, Andrew Best. 50,000 first printing. (Oct) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|
Library Journal
Relying on a wide variety of secondary sources, Brendon (Churchill Archives and Churchill Coll., Cambridge) surveys the domestic and international scenes in Britain, France, the United States, Japan, and the Soviet Union during the tumultuous 1930s. Although primarily a narrative, the book presents useful analytical insights into the causes and consequences of governmental policy in both dictatorships and democracies. Brendon advances no radical reworking of the historiography, but he offers useful perspectives into Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany. His chapters on the United States and Great Britain give readers insight into the rise of totalitarianism and the maintenance of democracy during crisis. One of the book's main strengths is in demonstrating the interdependence of international events throughout the decade. Although the author focuses primarily on political and economic issues, he gives some analysis of everyday life. This well-written book is recommended for most libraries.--Frederic Krome, Jacob Rader Marcus Ctr. of the American Jewish Archives, Cincinnati Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.
New York Times Book Review - Mark Mazower
Scattered throughout the book and enlivening its pages are numerous vivid vignettes of leading politicians...Brendon has read widely and synthesizes complex research in a readable and pleasing way.
New York Magazine - Logan Hill
[Brendon's] massive, donnish history of the Great Depression around the world is great for history geeks.
Kirkus Reviews
A majestic and highly readable history of the most distressing of decades.
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