I was in the process of ordering Jeffrey McClurken’s new book on Amazon when I came across this hilarious book on Lincoln that is being published by Pelican Press. The book is titled, Lincoln Über Alles: Dictatorship Comes to America. Eat your heart out, DiLorenzo. The brief description is priceless: “Abraham Lincoln’s election was favorably influenced by the influx of German revolutionaries who fled Europe after the failed revolutions of 1848. Then, his agenda to establish a central government with unlimited political power caused the American Civil War. This fascinating book puts forth these arguments and also explores how, after the war, the legality of secession was viewed.”
On a different note, check out the thoughtful and hard-nosed critique of recently-published Lincoln studies by Sean Wilentz in The New Republic. One of the books reviewed is by our friend, John Stauffer, who clearly has trouble handling critiques of his scholarship.
Some of the comments posted online at TNR are interesting.. The usual “Lincoln was a Tyrant!” partisans show up….
German was the language spoken by the officers in the army in which my great great grandfather served during the Civil War. The colonel commanding his regiment, Konrad Krez, spoke very little English and wrote exceptional poetry in German. Krez was under the command of Adolph Engelmann, another 48er. Engelmann answered to Charles Salomon, who was under the command of his older brother, Frederick Salomon, who were both brothers of Edward Salomon, the acting governor of Wisconsin during most of the Civil War. The Salomon brothers were highly trained Prussian army officers before they came to America. My great great grandfather’s unit spent more than half of its war in Little Rock, Arkansas, where not speaking English was a distinct advantage.
Pelican will also be publishing a pictorial history of the Civil War called “Mr. Lincoln and His War” by John Chandler Griffin. According to the publisher, “notable scholar John Chandler Griffin presents Lincoln’s rise from a household plagued by poverty and illiteracy to the presidency, where he would ultimately disregard the United States Constitution and put an end to states’ rights.” Move over Michael Burlingame! Perhaps this erudite title will provide readers with never-before-seen pictures of black Confederates?
Wasn’t it Wilentz who wrote a slashing review of Burstein’s _The Passions of Andrew Jackson_? The world needs more hard but fair book reviews.
http://www.amazon.com/Red-Republicans-Lincolns-Marxists-Marxism/dp/0595446981
I am sure you have seen this one, but just thought I would pass it along since it is in the same category as the one you mentioned.
Corey
Isn’t Pelican Press the outfit that published “The South Was Right”?
Yep…another one of their classic titles.