It's Monday, What are You Reading? Lincoln’s Confederate “Little Sister”

It's Monday, What are You Reading?

Lincoln’s Confederate “Little Sister:”
Emilie Todd Helm
by Stuart W. Sanders

This post is the ninetieth entry for this meme suggested by Sheila@ One Persons Journey Through A World of Books. [Entries 22-25 in the series were posted at  the Dr. Bill Tells Ancestor Stories]

Got this Kindle Edition book copy after reading about it in the January 23 issue of Ozarks Civil War Sesquicentennial Weekly, edited by Len Eagleburger. Thanks for the referral!

http://www.amazon.com/Lincolns-Confederate-Little-Sister-Emilie-ebook/dp/B00S8SPGWS/

 

Book Description from Amazon:

In this longform essay, "Lincoln’s Confederate 'Little Sister:' Emilie Todd Helm" (16,000 words, 40 pages), Civil War historian Stuart W. Sanders examines the life of Emilie Todd Helm, the rebel sister-in-law of President Abraham Lincoln.

As the wife of a Confederate general and the half-sister of Mary Todd Lincoln, Emilie was torn between two worlds. Having lost several brothers in the Civil War, she suffered another blow when her husband was killed at the Battle of Chickamauga. In December 1863, she traveled to the White House and mourned with Mary Lincoln. Although politicians condemned the Union commander-in-chief for hosting this rebel widow, to President Lincoln she was simply “Little Sister,” a grieving family member who brought comfort to his wife. Sadly, a year later, Emilie ended contact with Mary after she blamed Lincoln for their family woes. Their relationship—fractured like their family—was another casualty of the war.

"Lincoln’s Confederate 'Little Sister:' Emilie Todd Helm" describes Emilie’s life, her controversial 1863 visit to the White House, and her unique role in postwar reconciliation, when she revered her husband’s Confederate legacy while commemorating Lincoln’s memory.

Stuart W. Sanders is the author of three Civil War books, including "Perryville Under Fire: The Aftermath of Kentucky’s Largest Civil War Battle," "The Battle of Mill Springs, Kentucky," and "Maney’s Confederate Brigade at the Battle of Perryville."




Happy Reading!

Dr. Bill  ;-)

It's Monday, What are You Reading? The American Revolution

It's Monday, What are You Reading?

The American Revolution: 

A Historical Guidebook
Frances H. Kennedy, Editor

 

 

This post is the eighty-ninth entry for this meme suggested by Sheila@ One Persons Journey Through A World of Books. [Entries 22-25 in the series were posted at  the Dr. Bill Tells Ancestor Stories]

Received this book, from my Wish List, as Christmas gift. It is really a Guidebook, a reference book, for my favorite time period - or, one of them, for sure!

http://www.amazon.com/American-Revolution-Historical-Guidebook-ebook/dp/B00KQK8ZOW/
 

 

Book Description from Amazon:

In 1996, Congress commissioned the National Park Service to compile a list of sites and landmarks connected with the American Revolution that it deemed vital to preserve for future generations. Some of these sites are well known--Bunker Hill, Valley Forge, Fort Ticonderoga--and in no danger of being lost; others less so-- Blackstock's Plantation in South Carolina or Bryan's Station in Kentucky--and more vulnerable. But all are central to the story of our nation's fight for independence. From battlefields to encampments, meeting houses to museums, these places offer us a chance to rediscover the remarkable men and women who founded this nation and to recognize the relevance of not just what they did, but where they did it.

Edited by Frances H. Kennedy, The American Revolution: A Historical Guidebook takes readers to nearly 150 of these sites, providing an overview of the Revolution through an exploration of the places where American independence was articulated, fought for, and eventually secured. Beginning with the Boston Common, first occupied by British troops in 1768, and closing with Fraunces Tavern in New York, where George Washington bid farewell to his officers on December 4, 1783, Kennedy takes readers on a tour of the most significant places of Revolutionary history. Accompanied by illuminating excerpts and essays from some of the foremost scholars in the field, including David McCullough, Barbara Tuchman, David Hackett Fischer, Eric Foner, and John Ferling, the entries move in a roughly chronological order from the pre-Revolutionary years up through 1787. Taken together, the combination of site, essay, and excerpt provides rich context and overview, giving a sense of the major figures and events as well as the course of the Revolution, and cover topics ranging from the Boston Tea Party to the frontier wars.

The guide is encyclopedic in scope and covers a wide geographical sweep. Accompanied by historical maps, as well as a number of illuminating primary documents including the Declaration of Independence and letters from John Adams and George Washington, it offers a comprehensive picture of how the Revolutionary War unfolded on American soil, and also points readers to the best writing on the subject in the last fifty years. The American Revolution: A Historical Guidebook is an essential companion for anyone interested in the story and history of our nation's founding.


Happy Reading!

Dr. Bill  ;-)