In the blistering summer of 1861, President Lincoln began pressuring and ordering the physical shutdown of any Northern newspaper that voiced opposition to the war. These attacks were sometimes carried out by soldiers, sometimes by angry mobs under cover of darkness. Either way, the effect was a complete dismantling of the free press. In the midst stood publisher John Hodgson, an angry bigot so hated that a local newspaper gleefully reported his defeat in a bar fight. He was also firmly against Lincoln and the war--an opinion he expressed loudly through his newspaper. When his press was destroyed, first by a mob, then by U.S. Marshals "upon authority of the President of the United States," Hodgson decided to take on the entire United States. Thus began a trial in which one small-town publisher risked imprisonment or worse, and the future of free speech hung in the balance. Based on 10 years of original research, Lincoln's Wrath brings to life one of the most gripping, dramatic and unknown stories of U.S. history.

Chronicles the Civil War experiences of four brothers from New York’s Hudson Valley.

A unique work on the years of the Lincoln presidency that provides a look at White House life that is fascinating in detail and intimate in its viewpoint. William O. Stoddard was one of three private secretaries to Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War. His view back to his youth in the White House from decades later is full of humor, pathos, and abiding affection for the man who he observed closely through the war. Wrote Stoddard of Lincoln: "There is a world of natural majesty in this man's manner and presence." Stoddard was able to contrast Lincoln with McClellan on several occasions, including an evening at McClellan's home with Lincoln. Despite the general's superior education, Stoddard clearly sees Lincoln's wisdom...and his iron will when he has made a decision. The secretaries around Lincoln keenly felt the horrible tension of the war years and its impact on their boss. Stoddard felt the staff to be like a family and his affection for Lincoln is evident throughout his book. One night finds Stoddard still at his desk until 3:00 am, hearing Lincoln's slow, heavy footfalls across the hall as he paces and ponders a crushing decision. Like all Lincoln biographers, Stoddard emphasizes the importance of humor in keeping Lincoln sane and he shares wonderful stories not to be found in other works on Lincoln. Share a delightful scene of Lincoln crossing the hall to his secretaries' office to hear a joke by Nicolay and Hay. Stoddard gets a roar out of Lincoln by telling him a story of Seward and Stanton being ordered by a German-American sergeant to put out their cigars before entering the White House grounds. He describes an evening at Joe Hall's, the gambling house that sat among other gaming establishments, taverns, and bordellos between the White House and the Capitol. Judges, congressmen, soldiers, contractors, and lobbyists could all be found playing faro and other games of chance on any given night. A morning on the Capitol Mall finds Lincoln and his secretaries test-firing new weapons. While he watches his nation "bleeding terribly and spending oceans of money," Stoddard seems to miss no detail of life around him. He more than once notes that the White House is an oven in the summertime. For less than you'd spend on gas going to the library, this long out-of-print volume is available as an affordable, well-formatted book for e-readers and smartphones. Be sure to LOOK INSIDE by clicking the cover above or download a sample.

The Problem with Lincoln Abraham Lincoln was widely and deeply unpopular during his presidency. And for good reason. He overturned our original constitutional order, violated the rights of Americans both North and South, massively inflated the federal government, and plunged the nation into a wholly unnecessary war. Why? Not to free the slaves, as his hagiographers would have you believe, but out of personal ambition, greed for power, and, incidentally, to enrich the railroad interests that supported his political career. Court historians have turned King Lincoln into a secular saint, but what did Abraham Lincoln’s contemporaries know that has been forgotten or covered up? Bestselling author Thomas J. DiLorenzo debunks the pious myths to reveal the real Lincoln. In The Problem with Lincoln, you’ll learn: Why Lincoln was willing to accept a constitutional amendment guaranteeing slavery forever Why no American in 1861, Northerner or Southerner, believed that Lincoln had invaded the South to emancipate the slaves Why secession doesn’t fit the Constitution’s definition of treason—but Lincoln’s war on the South does Lincoln’s greatest failure: not ending slavery peacefully, as the rest of the world managed to do If you want the unvarnished truth about our sixteenth president, read The Problem with Lincoln.

What if you were told that the revered leader Abraham Lincoln was actually a political tyrant who stifled his opponents by suppressing their civil rights? What if you learned that the man so affectionately referred to as the “Great Emancipator” supported white supremacy and pledged not to interfere with slavery in the South? Would you suddenly start to question everything you thought you knew about Lincoln and his presidency? You should. Thomas J. DiLorenzo, who ignited a fierce debate about Lincoln’s legacy with his book The Real Lincoln, now presents a litany of stunning new revelations that explode the most enduring (and pernicious) myths about our sixteenth president. Marshaling an astonishing amount of new evidence, Lincoln Unmasked offers an alarming portrait of a political manipulator and opportunist who bears little resemblance to the heroic, stoic, and principled figure of mainstream history. Did you know that Lincoln . . . • did NOT save the union? In fact, Lincoln did more than any other individual to destroy the voluntary union the Founding Fathers recognized. • did NOT want to free the slaves? Lincoln, who did not believe in equality of the races, wanted the Constitution to make slavery “irrevocable.” • was NOT a champion of the Constitution? Contrary to his high-minded rhetoric, Lincoln repeatedly trampled on the Constitution—and even issued an arrest warrant for the chief justice of the United States! • was NOT a great statesman? Lincoln was actually a warmonger who manipulated his own people into a civil war. • did NOT utter many of his most admired quotations? DiLorenzo exposes a legion of statements that have been falsely attributed to Lincoln for generations—usually to enhance his image. In addition to detailing Lincoln’s offenses against the principles of freedom, equality, and states’ rights, Lincoln Unmasked exposes the vast network of academics, historians, politicians, and other “gatekeepers” who have sanitized his true beliefs and willfully distorted his legacy. DiLorenzo reveals how the deification of Lincoln reflects a not-so-hidden agenda to expand the size and scope of the American state far beyond what the Founding Fathers envisioned—an expansion that Lincoln himself began. The hagiographers have shaped Lincoln’s image to the point that it has become more fiction than fact. With Lincoln Unmasked, DiLorenzo shows us an Abraham Lincoln without the rhetoric, lies, and political bias that have clouded a disastrous president’s enduring damage to the nation.

The first full-length account of Abraham Lincoln as commander in chief shows how Lincoln created this role, and, in doing so, saved the Union, transformed the presidency, shaped a nation, and found himself.