Product Description
Where exactly is the home in Springfield, Illinois, that Abraham Lincoln made up with Mary Todd following a spat before their marriage? Where was Lincoln when he jumped out of a window to avoid a quorum call in the Illinois General Assembly? From his law offices to the Oval Office, from where he shopped for clothes to where he first heard the news of Robert E. Lee's surrender, this unprecedented volume answers dozens of questions about the life of the sixteenth president and sifts for the truth in disputes that rage among Lincoln scholars and hobbyists. As a longtime member of notable Lincoln societies, Ralph Gary has scoured county courthouse records and pored over the writings of Lincoln's contemporaries, and thousands of other books written on Lincoln's life, to compile the most complete and up-to-date guide to Lincoln historical sites ever published. With detailed maps and even diagrams of the buildings he called home, this book allows Lincoln enthusiasts and Civil War buffs to walk in the long footsteps of the sixteenth president. Ralph Gary's unique volume concludes with fascinating appendices that illuminate surprising similarities between the lives of Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis; between Lincoln and John F. Kennedy; even between Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee.
From the Back Cover
"Ralph Gary's guide to all of the sites relating to Abraham Lincoln is by far the most comprehensive and useful guide for those who study Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War. I know this to be true as I have used it in preparing for a tour of Lincoln sites in Illinois. It is well-researched, beautifully written, and a much needed reference work in the field of Lincoln studies." --Rhode Island Supreme Court Justice Frank J. Williams, Chair, The Lincoln Forum
"Far more than a mere guidebook to historic sites, Ralph Gary's exhaustively researched volume is a captivating biography of Lincoln, taking him from Kentucky to Indiana to Illinois to Washington and vividly reminding readers of all the towns and cities he visited, even briefly, along the way. Engagingly written and well organized, the book belongs in the glove compartment or bookshelf of every Lincoln enthusiast who wants either a map of Lincoln's path through life, or a delightful review of the way he lived it." --Harold Holzer, Co-Chair, U. S. Lincoln Bicentennial Commision and auhtor of DEAR MR. LINCOLN