1864

Letters, telegrams, and military maneuvers are the focus of this Civil War history, which recounts Lincoln's presidential administration day by day in the year 1864. Mel Foster narrates in a flat tone, barely differentiating between speakers and events. Describing some of the bloodiest action of the war, he keeps his voice steady and even, a style that does not engaging emotionally with the events. Foster's narration may disappoint listeners who prefer more drama, especially in a story of war. Listeners will learn about the politics and military strategies of the last year of the war, as well as all the matters great and small that held Lincoln's attention. Yet Foster's reading does not draw listeners into the emotional aspects of that year. M.B.K. 2010 Audies Finalist (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine

Starred review from February 2, 2009
Critically acclaimed historian Flood (Grant and Sherman: The Friendship that Won the Civil War) provides a brilliant, compelling account of Lincoln's dramatic final full year of life-a year in which the war finally turned in the Union's favor and Lincoln faced a tough battle for re-election. After Union defeats at the Battle of Cold Harbor and the siege of Petersburg, Confederate General Jubal Early came within five miles of Washington, D.C., before he was beaten back; General Sherman's September victory at Atlanta followed, with his bloody march to the sea. At the same time, Lincoln found himself running against his own secretary of the treasury, Salmon Chase, for the Republican nomination, and then against the Democrat (and general) George B. McClellan for the presidency. Lincoln won by a narrow popular majority, but a significant electoral majority. At the close of 1864, as Lincoln celebrated both his re-election and the coming end of the war, John Wilkes Booth laid down an ambitious plan for kidnapping that soon evolved into a map for murder. Combining a novelist's flair with the authority and deep knowledge of a scholar, Flood artfully integrates this complex web of storylines. 16 pages of b&w photos, maps.