Tag: Harold Holzer

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Harold Holzer Offers Advanced Praise for Lincoln: The Fire of Genius

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Harold HolzerOne 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 Lincoln: The Fire of Genius:

Abraham Lincoln has seldom been known as a “technology president,” but as David J. Kent so ably demonstrates in this eye-opening volume, he should be. At first an inventor, geometry aficionado, fan of meteorology, and ultimately as a student of advanced weaponry, Lincoln grew into an ardent, indeed society-altering, advocate for both science and science education. David Kent has melded deep research, genuine expertise, and a fine way with an anecdote to produce a study that fills a long-missing niche in the Lincoln literature. 

Holzer is the 2015 winner of the Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize for his book, Lincoln and the Power of the Press: The War for Public Opinion (Simon & Schuster). The Lincoln Prize is the most prestigious award given to writings on Abraham Lincoln. He is the author, co-author, or editor of over 50 books on Abraham Lincoln, plus more than 600 articles and chapters in another 60 books. To say he is the leading Lincoln scholar in the nation is an understatement.

In addition to his writing, Harold Holzer is the current chairman of the Lincoln Forum, past chair of the Lincoln Bicentennial Foundation, and a prolific speaker. He was awarded the National Humanities Medal in 2008 by President George W. Bush, as well as so many other awards that it’s impossible to even begin to list them (check out his website for a selected list).

I’m happy to say that Holzer will also be one of the primary speakers at the Lincoln Memorial Centennial celebration on May 22, 2022 sponsored by the Lincoln Group of DC, of which I currently serve as president. More information on that event can be found on the Lincoln Group website.

I have also received several other items of praise for Lincoln: The Fire of Genius from other prominent Lincoln scholars, which I’ll highlight here 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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Lincoln and the Power of the Press: The War for Public Opinion by Harold Holzer

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Power of the Press - Harold HolzerHarold Holzer shows why he is considered the leading Abraham Lincoln expert as he adds to his tremendous legacy of scholarship. The focus of this latest book is Lincoln’s relationship with the press. It’s important to know that the newspapers of the day were highly partisan and often closely aligned with a particular party or candidate. They were also fiercely antagonistic to each other and to the opposing party. If a politician didn’t have a good relationship with the press, they had no compunction to viciously and directly attacking him, and in many cases, making things up.

The book is broken into two main parts. The first spends a lot of time tracking the three main editors of the influential New York press – Horace Greeley of the Tribune, Henry Raymond of the Times (both of whom supported Republicans), and the openly racist James Gordon Bennett of the Herald (who supported Democrats). While these three often are the main foils, Holzer has no shortage of other key papers and editors to add to the mix. In this first, pre-war, part, Lincoln usually is trying hard to get the big eastern papers to notice him, then mostly an unknown lawyer and one-term congressman in “the west” (i.e., Illinois).

The second part focuses on the direct interactions between Lincoln and the press, again focusing on the three main editors but amply filled in with myriads of other newspaper accounts across the now-split nation. Holzer’s adept story telling follows the action as each editor reports, and often makes, the news. Holzer brings to life key incidents in which Lincoln used the press to his advantage, for example, to prepare the nation for the Emancipation Proclamation in a famous letter to Horace Greeley, as well as many lesser known examples.

For a long book – 565 pages of text, with another 100 or more pages in extensive notes – it moves along crisply, at least for people with some degree of knowledge about Lincoln and the times. I suspect some readers may find it a bit too long, but that would short-change the wonderful value this book provides. Harold Holzer’s book is as powerful as the press were during the Civil War. It’s well worth the read.

David J. Kent is a lifelong Lincolnophile and is currently working on a book about Abraham Lincoln’s interest in science and technology. He is also the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and an ebook Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time. His next book is about Thomas Edison.

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Book Review – Lincoln at Cooper Union by Harold Holzer

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Harold Holzer Lincoln at Cooper UnionOne would think the book’s subtitle “The speech that made Abraham Lincoln President,” would set up an unattainable expectation of greatness.  After all, how could a book hold a candle to a great speech?  Or perhaps the speech wasn’t so great after all and the author merely wanted to sell more books.  And yet, I was wonderfully surprised to see that this really was an exceptional book about an exceptional speech.

Harold Holzer is a world renowned expert on Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War.  He has won several awards for the numerous books he has authored, co-authored, edited or co-edited on this the most widely studied President in our history.  Holzer takes us back to February 1860, a few months before the convention that would nominate Abraham Lincoln on the Republican ticket for President.  He examines the opportunity given to Lincoln to speak in New York City, where powerful men like Horace Greeley are looking to put forth an alternative to New York’s favorite son, William Seward.  Through the negotiations of when and where – and the ultimate surprise upon arrival to find the location had been moved from Brooklyn to Manhattan – Holzer shows a remarkable ability to build tension and anticipation leading to the actual speech itself.  He gives us a taste of a time, that in the days before movies and television and 24-hour internet, men were drawn to great speakers, especially of the political variety.

And a great speech it was.  With several chapters leading up to the speech, Holzer helps us see the intricate research and effort Lincoln exerted over several months to preparing what he felt, presciently so, was to be the most important speech in his life.  One chapter is assigned the duty of parsing the intricate language of this 90-minute magnum opus.  As Holzer so captivatingly relates, the speech consists of three main sections: the first a historical accounting of the founder’s beliefs regarding slavery.  Lincoln takes a line from a speech given by his long-time rival from Illinois, Senator Stephen Douglas, in which he says “Our fathers, when they framed the Government under which we live, understood this question just as well, and even better, than we do now.”  With these words repeated over and over in his speech at Cooper Union, Lincoln cleverly recounts the votes that in toto demonstrate convincingly that the founders of our country believed that the federal government did, in fact, have the right and the obligation to restrict the spread of slavery into the new territories.  In the second section, Lincoln addresses himself directly to “the Southern people,” whom he knows will not hear his speech, all while cleverly speaking to northern Republicans whose support he needs.  The third, and shortest section, asserts that Republicans cannot relinquish their principle that slavery is wrong just to placate the South, and ends with his now famous line: “Let us have faith that right makes might, and in that faith, let us, to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it.”

I read the full speech in the appendix before reading the rest of the book, then again – this time out loud, as if giving it myself – after finishing the chapter explaining its significance.  While the speech as read is superb in itself, it is when spoken out loud as an oration that it gains its ultimate power.  Holzer has captured this masterpiece with his own masterpiece.  This book is a must read for anyone interested in Abraham Lincoln, history, or simply the power of a well prepared speech.

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

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Happy Birthday, Harold Holzer, Abraham Lincoln Scholar

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haroldholzerHarold Holzer has a birthday.

The widely acknowledged preeminent Abraham Lincoln scholar, Harold Holzer, celebrates his own life on February 5th. Born in 1949 just seven days short of the 140th anniversary of Lincoln’s birth, Holzer has spent much of his life studying and writing about the man who freed the slaves and saved the Union.

So what is that he has done to warrant the title of preeminent scholar? You can start with the 43 books on Lincoln that Holzer has authored, co-authored, or edited. Add in the hundreds (or perhaps thousands) of lectures he has given over the years. And for good measure throw in his chairmanships of the Lincoln Bicentennial Foundation and the lead work he has done for other major Lincoln organizations and events. He has won too many Lincoln scholarship-related awards to count, but one notable recognition was the Lincoln Group of the District of Columbia‘s annual Award of Achievement in 2006.

In checking my list it seems I only own 11 of Holzer’s books, three of which are signed first editions. I’ve attended a lecture (or three), and witnessed his amazing recall – and understanding – of Lincoln’s words and intent. Perhaps he will write a foreword for my book when it comes out; he’s written dozens over the years in addition to his own volumes and articles.

Holzer is currently a Hertog Fellow at The New York Historical Society. As he enjoys the public reception to the Steven Spielberg film, Lincoln, on which he was a content consultant, it’s easy to imagine that Harold Holzer is having a very happy birthday. Lincoln fans are certainly happy that Harold Holzer has taught us so much about Abraham Lincoln.

More about Abraham Lincoln.

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