Lincoln: The Fire of Genius will be officially released on September 1st. You can pre-order it on the websites of Rowman & Littlefield, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, your favorite independent bookstore, and everywhere else books are sold. And now you can also win a free hardcover copy on Goodreads!
Goodreads is a social cataloging website that allows people to track their reading, search its vast database of books, and, you guessed it, win free books. Now you can win one of ten free hardcover copies of my newest book.
Click here for a chance to win a copy of Lincoln: The Fire of Genius!
Just click on the “Enter Giveaway” button and follow instructions. The giveaway runs from July 4th through July 31st.
You can also click on the Goodreads Book Giveaway on the top right of this page!
Here’s a quick overview of the book:
Many politicians have turned away from science in recent years, despite the world being plunged into a global pandemic and the critical need to act on climate change. It wasn’t always so. Several early presidents supported scientific research, and Abraham Lincoln was fascinated by science and technology, which was undergoing a period of rapid growth during his lifetime. Unlike Thomas Jefferson and other educated eastern elites, Lincoln saw the benefit of science and technology to the common man, a mechanism that could aid the goal of “bettering one’s condition.”
Lincoln: The Fire of Genius offers the first holistic look at Lincoln’s fascination with science and technology. That fascination can be seen threading through his remarkable life, his commitment to self-study and self-improvement, his careers as a lawyer and politician, and finally, to his presidency.
Always a Whig, Lincoln would tell his best friend, Lincoln embraced “the Whig Way” of internal improvements. Many of these were brought on by technological advances like steam engines, railroads, and telegraphs. Lincoln encouraged development even in the face of opposition. When he didn’t understand something, he “did the work” of finding books and experts from which he could learn. He strived to improve himself through lifetime study of mathematics, astronomy, and hydrology, while developing expertise in mechanics and other technological advances. Lincoln always had an eye on the future and how progress could be extended to all Americans.
Lincoln saw the need for institutionalizing scientific and technological advancement. He understood that technology wasn’t always good for the masses, something that we continue to find today. Invention of the cotton gin made production of cotton more efficient, for example, and thus more profitable. Rather than reducing the need for enslaved labor, it increased it by making the cultivation of ever-growing cotton acreage more and more profitable. Lincoln dealt with “scientific racism,” the spurious idea that superiority was ingrained in the color of our skin. When the issue of slavery led to conflict, the Civil War became an incubator for new inventions. Lincoln understood both the value of technology to winning the war and the need to direct improvements to enhance the value to individuals and society. Lincoln would bring the Whig way national and set the stage for the modernization of America.
All of this is documented in the same breezy, story-telling style that enthralled readers in his previous best-selling books on Lincoln, Tesla, and Edison.
You can read more about the book on Goodreads and on the various bookseller websites.
Click here for a chance to win a copy of Lincoln: The Fire of Genius!
David J. Kent is President of the Lincoln Group of DC and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.
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As the countdown begins for the September 1st release of 
As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I had the privilege of being the 
One chapter of my new book, Lincoln: The Fire of Genius, is called Institutionalizing Science. Much of the focus is on the Smithsonian Institution’s first Secretary, Joseph Henry, and his relationship with Abraham Lincoln. I am very happy that Marc Rothenberg, the former Editor of The Papers of Joseph Henry, as well as past Historian at the National Academy of Sciences, has provided the following praise for the book:
The Lincoln Memorial reaches its centennial this month and this past week was the culmination of a year’s worth of work to celebrate the iconic structure’s 100th birthday. Around this time last year, the Lincoln Group of DC, of which I am the current president, decided that we must have a magnificent event on the Memorial steps. We had done something similar in 2015 for the sesquicentennial of Abraham Lincoln’s second inaugural speech so we followed the basic format. There were differences of course. We couldn’t really have a Lincoln reenactor for a memorial to his life and death, especially since it wasn’t dedicated until 57 years after his assassination. We also couldn’t just recapture the Civil War theme, nor did we want to exactly recapture the segregationist Jim Crow-era time of 1922. Plus, we would be working with the National Park Service, which would prefer not to be overly controversial. Still, there were issues from that 1922 dedication we wanted to address and there has been 100 years of history we wanted to show.
Part of the process of putting together a book is asking prominent experts to read an advance copy and provide back cover “blurbs.” A few weeks ago, I reported that 
May 10, 1862 was a busy day for President Abraham Lincoln. He had arrived at Fortress Monroe days before and today, along with Secretaries Chase and Stanton, accompanied General Wool to a landing place where troops were preparing to march on Norfolk. Lincoln served as his own commanding general in Hampton Roads, directing and pushing for the taking of Norfolk and the Gosport Navy Yard in nearby Portsmouth. He even guided a landing party on Confederate-held soil in search of a spot for the Union Army to make their trek into the city as it was being abandoned by the Confederates. Following this excursion, Lincoln returned to Fortress Monroe and remained there the rest of the day.
At noon on Thursday, May 2, 1861, President Abraham Lincoln raised the flag over the Patent Office at 7th and F streets, NW, Washington, DC. 
One part of the process of putting together a book is asking prominent experts in the field to read an advance copy and provide back cover “blurbs.” I am very happy to report that one of the most highly respected and prolific leaders on Abraham Lincoln – Harold Holzer – has offered the following praise for 
