Land of Lincoln: Adventures in Abe's America [Paperback]

Andrew Ferguson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 11, 2008

Abraham Lincoln was our greatest president and perhaps the most influential American who ever lived. But what is his place in our country today? InLand of Lincoln, Andrew Ferguson packs his bags and embarks on a journey to the heart of contemporary Lincoln Nation, where he encounters a world as funny as it is poignant, and a population as devoted as it is colorful. In small-town Indiana, Ferguson drops in on the national conference of Lincoln presenters, 175 grown men who make their living (sort of) by impersonating their hero. He meets the premier collectors of Lincoln memorabilia, prized items of which include Lincoln’s chamber pot, locks of his hair, and pages from a boyhood schoolbook. He takes his wife and children on a trip across the long-defunct Lincoln Heritage Trail, a driving tour of landmarks from Lincoln’s life. This book is an entertaining, unexpected, and big-hearted celebration of Lincoln’s enduring influence on our country--and the people who help keep his spirit alive.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The question that animates this original, insightful, disarmingly funny book is: how do Americans commemorate Lincoln, and what do our memories of him reveal about our visions of the good life? To discover the answer, Ferguson, an editor at the Weekly Standard and a Lincoln buff, made a long field trip, poking into many of the places where Americans have chosen to remember—or to forget—Honest Abe. He eavesdrops on the Lincoln Reconsidered conference, where a group of "Abephobes" aim to retrieve Lincoln's memory from the distortions of "liberal historians." He considers the "Disney aesthetic" of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Ill., and attends a convention of Lincoln "presenters" (otherwise known as impersonators). Ferguson is occasionally and unnecessarily snide, and a deeper examination of the changing place of Lincoln in mainstream historical scholarship would have added a great deal to the book. Still, Ferguson's conclusions are stirring. He finds Lincoln's meaning best articulated by Robert Moton, an educator whose parents were slaves. With great simplicity, Moton explained Lincoln's greatness: "...in a time of doubt and distrust... he spoke the word that gave freedom to a race and vindicated the honor of a Nation conceived in liberty...." (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Bookmarks Magazine

Abraham Lincoln has been the subject, by one count, of nearly 14,000 books. Chances are that none is funnier than Andrew Ferguson's Land of Lincoln. Ferguson is at his best when writing the sort of good-natured, insightful observation that drives Sarah Vowell's Assassination Vacation, Tony Horwitz's Confederates in the Attic, or any of Bill Bryson's books. At times, the humor devolves into cynicism and the argument loses focus; those passages work less well. In his attempt at separating the truth of Lincoln's legacy from the fiction (or the history from the kitsch), though, Ferguson discovers a great deal about how-and how well-we honor our heroes.
Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Grove Press (April 11, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 080214361X
• ISBN-13: 978-0802143617
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,052,719 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Andrew Ferguson, a senior editor at the Weekly Standard, is the author of Fools' Names, Fools' Faces, a collection of essays, and Land of Lincoln, named by the Wall Street Journal and the Chicago Tribune as a Favorite Book of the Year. Formerly a senior writer for the Washingtonian magazine, he has been a contributing editor to Time magazine, as well as a columnist for Fortune, TV Guide, Forbes FYI, National Review, Bloomberg News, and Commentary. He has also written for the New Yorker, New York magazine, the New Republic, the American Spectator, the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and many other publications. In 1992, he was a White House speechwriter for President George H.W. Bush. He lives in suburban Washington, D.C., with his wife and two children.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Entertaining Meditation on the Meaning of History, May 6, 2007

By 

Ray McConnell (Saginaw, MI United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Land of Lincoln: Adventures in Abe's America (Hardcover)

The above title could have come from a the mind of a "meatball" at one of those corporate workshops Andrew Ferguson so abhors! I recently read his first book, "Fools Names, Fools Faces," and, whereas the essays in that book could be very cutting, "Land of Lincoln," is just as funny, but much more reflective. Ferguson runs into a wide array of characters on his cross-country Lincoln quest, but he never takes a cheap shot at them for comedic effect. His humor is more nuanced, and, therefore, much more genuine. I especially enjoyed the parts where he described his interaction with his teen-aged children as he attempted to persuade them to spend part of their summer vacation traversing the "Lincoln Heritage Trail." This part, of course, was hilarious, but it pointed to a more serious concern shared by all parents who love history: will our children marinating in this media-saturated entertainment culture ever appreciate history like we do? I have been looking forward to purchasing this book for two years, ever since I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Ferguson at a gathering in Washington DC. He was very cordial to me, and, when he found out I lived in Saginaw, Michigan, he retrieved an article from his office for me about Dr. Mudd of the Lincoln Assassination conspiracy. You see, Dr. Mudd's grandson lived in Saginaw and he spent most of his long life trying to gain a pardon for Dr. Mudd. I must also mention that the quality of Mr. Ferguson's writing is always excellent. In summary, I would recommend this fine book to all who love history from a unique perspective, presented in a well-written, most entertaining fashion!

41 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lincoln, and so much more..., May 17, 2007

By 

James Hiller (Beaverton, OR) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Land of Lincoln: Adventures in Abe's America (Hardcover)

I'm probably one of the biggest Abe Lincoln fans this side of the Mississippi, the west side, that is. Ever since I got bitten by the Abe bug in fifth grade (that horrendous Gettysburg paper diorama still comes to mind), the sixteenth president has haunted me and stayed with me through thick and thin. My interest, more than a mere dabbling, is proven by a range of Lincoln books that grace the downstairs bookshelf, one of the newest being Goodwin's marvelous yarn Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln.

Suffice it to say, that most of my Lincoln books offer a favorable look at the grisly old man, savior of our nation, and that's what I prefer. When another book pops up on the surface, needless-to-say, I consider buying it to add to the library. So it was with great flourish, and immediacy, that I just found Andrew Ferguson's new Lincoln book Land of Lincoln: Adventures in Abe's America and within minutes, was standing in line purchasing it. Two hours later, and I've read it. And what a joy this book is!

Andrew Ferguson's take on Abe is a quest for the truth of Lincoln, not a mythologized superhero, sent by the Heavens to wash the scourge of slavery from the continent, but a real life man, flaws and all. Ferguson goes to the "Lincoln" places in America, to investigate how he has or is being portrayed by the various locations: both positive and negative.

Ferguson starts off his book dealing with a controversy I had barely heard about, but seem to remember: the placement of a Lincoln statue in Richmond, VA. Ferguson doesn't shy away from the controversy, but goes to live in it and what's more, understand it. He talks with the men who, with thinly veiled, inferred racist beliefs, wish to paint Lincoln as a warmongering industrialist, whose only goal was to ride roughshod over the defenseless, agrarian South. Attending both a pro and anti-Lincoln conference, Ferguson decries both as unreal, and charts the goal for the rest of his book: to unearth, uncover the real Lincoln.

Ferguson's writing style is both information and brisk. He is honest in his love for Lincoln, and how he lost it, and began to recover it through this book. Sometimes, in reading books like this, the story becomes more about the author and less about the subject matter. No worries. Ferguson steps out of the way at times and let's the story shine through.

And what a story he tells. This is a wonderful book for any weekend historian, Lincoln enthusiast, or someone itching to get into our country's history a little bit more. If you liked Assassination Vacation or Confederates in the Attic: Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War, you'll adore this book. Does Ferguson achieve his goal: yes, in his own way. The Lincoln he unearths is real, bawdy, human, and alive. He also drives home a new point: the Lincoln each of us loves is the Lincoln we all see in ourselves.

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well Done -- Highly Recommended, May 10, 2007

By 

SCDay "SCD" (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Land of Lincoln: Adventures in Abe's America (Hardcover)

Andrew Ferguson is a great writer with a subtle sense of humor. In Land of Lincoln, Ferguson, a self-described "buff" of Abraham Lincoln, checks in on how Lincoln is faring in modern America with asides on how he has fared in the past. The book is alternatively funny and sad: "Lincoln" is certainly firmly rooted in American history and culture, but who exactly is this "Lincoln" is indeterminate -- often a product of the needs of people rather than a free standing figure.

The first part of the book is Ferguson traveling to various Lincoln sites solo -- e.g., Richmond, Chicago, and Springfield Illinois. The second part is a forced family journey to sites involving Lincoln in Illinois, Kentucky and Indiana as Ferguson tries to recreate the family journey he took as a child.

The book is very well done with funny moments (the anti-Lincoln convention and the Lincoln reenactors convention are great examples) and sad and melancholy discussions (the new disneyfied Lincoln experience in Springfield and the transformation of Lincoln in the Chicago Historical Society). Through it all Ferguson is a a shrewd and understated observed who allows his interviewees to state their cases with little or no comment by Ferguson.

Ferguson is clearly a well-educated on the topic of Lincoln and Lincoln Historiography and the book cleary is a labor of love.

I'd recommend the book for "serious" and casual Lincoln buffs as well as non-buffs looking for an entertaining, funny, and insightful read.