Another book by Thomas DiLorenzo? Yes indeed, but this one goes far more into depth than his first blockbuster on the subject. Recall that DiLorenzo single-handedly dragged serious Lincoln scholarship into the mainstream to show that he was not the great liberator but a classic despot in every way. This book explores the network of academics, gatekeepers, historicans, and politicians who invented the myth and keep it alive.
You just can’t believe what incredible fibs the hagiographers have told about Lincoln—all documented with extreme precision herein. Walter Berns, leading member of the Lincoln cult, said that though Lincoln micromanaged a war that killed hundreds of thousands of his fellow citizens, Lincoln himself “purged his heart and mind from hatred or even anger towards his fellow-countrymen of the South.”
If you think that’s nuts, wait until you see what DiLorenzo quotes from Harry Jaffa!
Further, the Lincoln apologists have consistently defended his totalitarian methods of wartime governance.
DiLorenzo discusses how the Lincoln cult came into being and came to dominate national politics—and how completely far from the truth they have strayed. They have buried the reality of who he was and what he did in the service of a mythical civic ethos that celebrates devotion to the central state above all else.
Warning: This book is super hot, written with the passion of a researcher who knows his subject better than all his critics, past, present, and future.
They say that Lincoln struck a blow for liberty but this book is what strikes the real blow for liberty and truth. DiLorenzo is a brave man who doesn’t shy away from busting every myth Americans have come to believe about the man on the penny—and he shows that the conventional story isn’t worth as much.
