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 Harold Holzer, one of the most highly respected and prolific writers on Abraham Lincoln, had offered praise for Lincoln: The Fire of Genius. Today I can report that yet another icon of Lincoln scholarship, Michael Burlingame, has also offered his applause for the book. He writes:
The man known as the Great Emancipator and Savior of the Union was also, as David Kent’s illuminating study shows, a science geek, amateur astronomy buff, patent holder, science lecturer, and Modernizer in Chief. Brimful of information about Abraham Lincoln’s interest in (and enthusiasm for) science, mathematics, and technology, this book offers fresh insights into his law practice as well as his science-friendly presidency. Kent’s book ably supplements such important classic works as Robert V. Bruce’s Lincoln and the Tools of War and Allen Guelzo’s Abraham Lincoln as a Man of Ideas.
Burlingame won the 2010 Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize for his book, Abraham Lincoln: A Life (Johns Hopkins University Press). This two-volume treatise published in 2008 (affectionately referred to as “The Green Monster” for the green covers on the hardcover boxed edition, as well as an homage to the famed left field wall at Fenway Park) quickly became the Bible of Abraham Lincoln studies. He is also the author or editor of at least a dozen of the most-reference books in Lincoln scholarship. His most recent book, The Black Man’s President: Abraham Lincoln, African Americans, and the Pursuit of Racial Equality (Pegasus Books) won the Abraham Lincoln Institute’s prestigious book award in 2022.
In addition to his books, Burlingame is the current president of the Abraham Lincoln Association and a board member of the Abraham Lincoln Institute. He was a professor of history for over three decades at Connecticut College before becoming the Chancellor Naomi B. Lynn Distinguished Chair in Lincoln Studies at the University of Illinois at Springfield in 2009. He was inducted as a Bicentennial Laureate of The Lincoln Academy of Illinois and awarded the Order of Lincoln (the state’s highest honor) by the Governor of Illinois.
Needless to say, I am delighted to have such a prominent Lincoln scholar compliment my book. Indeed, I had spoken to Burlingame early in the development process and he encouraged me to write it, noting that my combined scientific background and Lincoln studies uniquely positioned me to write this book.
That isn’t the end of the endorsements. I have also received several other items of praise for Lincoln: The Fire of Genius from other prominent Lincoln scholars, which I’ll continue to highlight over the next few weeks. I was fortunate to have journalist Sidney Blumenthal – himself the author of three award-winning volumes on the political life of Abraham Lincoln – write the foreword for the book. Read more about that here.
The book is available for pre-order on the Rowman & Littlefield website (Lyons Press is a trade imprint of Rowman). You can also pre-order it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble (click on the respective links to pre-order). Release date is scheduled for September 1, 2022.
The book is also listed on Goodreads, the database where I keep track of my reading. Click on the “Want to Read” button to put it on your reading list. That will also ensure you get informed of the release date AND will let you try for one of ten free hardcover copies of the book that I’ll be giving away this summer. I’ll also be giving away as many as a hundred e-books. [The book will also be put out on audio]
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I’ll have much more about the book over the next few months, so join my mailing list here to keep informed.
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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Elizabeth Varon, Professor of History at the University of Virginia, then provided some insights on the election from the South in her talk “Catastrophe or Setback? The Election of 1864 in Confederate Eyes.”
“The Summer of ’64” was a critical time period that significantly impacted the election, said University of Kansas Professor Jennifer Weber, author of Copperheads. Grant’s overland campaign had even die-hard Unionists war weary; Weber explored many reasons how military disasters turned into Union – and Lincoln’s – victories.
Speaking of the military, the soldier vote was crucial to Lincoln’s electoral victory in November. Christopher Newport University Professor and historian Jonathan W. White examined voting dynamics that possibly changed the outcome of the election in “Emancipation and the Soldier Vote of 1864.”
Following these great talks was our keynote speaker, noted historian Michael Burlingame, author and editor of numerous books on Abraham Lincoln. In a wide-ranging talk, Burlingame brought us into the opposition Lincoln faced in reelection, including many in his own party. His “Radicals, Abolitionists, and Lincoln’s Reelection” explored the fickleness not just of the public, but of the lawmakers and generals who worked for and against Lincoln.
