Lincoln in American Memory

This fascinating volume considers how Lincoln has been viewed from the time of his death to the time this work came out. The account of the historical research related to Lincoln's genealogy and his early life is particularly intriguing. It discusses some of the Lincoln literature and indicates what is worth reading. For instance, he downgrades Otto Eisenschiml's sensational Why Was Lincoln Murdered?, which made such a splash when it came out in 1937, and recommends The Lincoln Murder Conspiracies, by William Hanchett as the best book on the assassination and its historiography. This was the best book I read in the year when I read it, a year in which I read 126 books.

Merrill D. Peterson, a renowned Jefferson scholar, enters the field of Lincoln studies with this book on how Lincoln has been remembered, memorialized and celebrated in the years since his death. Peterson examines an interesting variety of sources, including statues and prints made of Lincoln over the years in addition to the numerous biographies written. Among the images examined are the Emancipator, the martyr, and Savior of the Union. Peterson examines the origins of these images and how they have carried through the generations by historians and others.