Lincoln on the Verge: Thirteen Days to Washington by Ted Widmer

 

Title:  Lincoln on the Verge:  Thirteen Days to Washington

Author:  Ted Widmer

Narrated by:  Fred Sanders, Ted Widmer

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Length: Approximately 16 hours and 53 minutes

Source: Thank you @simon.audio for the audiobook version and #LincolnOnTheVerge #HistoryBuffsBookClub @History_In_Five for the physical book review copy.

What is your favorite, book, movie, or show that features Abraham Lincoln? I loved the movie Lincoln starring Daniel Day Lewis.

The United States was at a crossroads when Abraham Lincoln won the presidential election in 1860.  Southerners had vowed that his inauguration would never take place.  Lincoln boards a train to Washington DC and over the next thirteen days, he wows crowds, while also trying to foil assassination attempts.  How did he make it safely to Washington DC?

My thoughts on this book:

·       This was a truly fascinating book.  I really liked how the reader received a full snapshot of what life was like at this moment in history and through these perilous times.

·       At this point in time, democracy was on the verge of ending as it had ended in so many places before like Greece and Rome.

·       This book provided good overview of history and everything happening at that time.  I also loved the history of the cities as he traveled through them such as Cincinnati, Cleveland, etc.

·       Railroad and telegraph were transforming the nation and how information was disseminated at the time.

·       Dorothea Dix had traveled through the south and had details of a conspiracy to kill Lincoln as he traveled to DC for his inauguration.  The South would rather declare their own nation.

·       Kate Warne was a female spy who played an unsung role (like Doreathea Dix) on protecting Lincoln on the way to his inauguration.

·       Civil engineers were discussed such as who designed the bridges and tunnels for the railroad.

·       There was a sad discussion included of a real-life enslaved woman who killed her own child rather than have the child be captured and enslaved just like what happened in the fictional Uncle Tom’s Cabin.

·       The end of the book also goes through Lincoln’s train journey back to Springfield after his assassination.

·       The audiobook that had good narrator and it was very interesting to listen to. 

·       This new paperback version had a great preface by Liz Cheney on the importance of this book and of Abraham Lincoln.

·       There is a great notes section at the end of the physical book.

·       The physical book also has interesting pictures inserted throughout the text.

Overall, Lincoln on the Verge by Ted Widmer is a great history nonfiction book that tells not only the story of the perilous journey Abraham Lincoln took through America to his inauguration, but also the story of America at that time and the fight to keep our democracy.