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    Land of Lincoln: Adventures in Abe's America
    Land of Lincoln: Adventures in Abe's America
    Land of Lincoln: Adventures in Abe's America
    Audiobook10 hours

    Land of Lincoln: Adventures in Abe's America

    Written by Andrew Ferguson

    Narrated by Patrick Lawlor

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    Before he grew up and became one of Washington's most respected reporters and editors, Andrew Ferguson was, of all things, a Lincoln buff. Like so many sons of Illinois before him, he hung photos of Abe on his bedroom wall, memorized the Gettysburg Address, and read himself to sleep at night with the Second Inaugural or the "Letter to Mrs. Bixby."

    Ferguson eventually outgrew his obsession. But decades later, his latent buffdom was reignited by a curious headline in a local newspaper: Lincoln Statue Stirs Outrage in Richmond. "Lincoln?" thought Ferguson. "Outrage? I felt the first stirrings of the fatal question, the question that, once raised, never lets go: Huh?"

    In Land of Lincoln, Ferguson embarks on a curiosity-fueled coast-to-coast journey through contemporary Lincoln Nation, encountering everything from hatred to adoration to opportunism and all manner of reaction in between. He attends a national conference of Lincoln impersonators in Indiana; seeks out the premier collectors of Lincoln memorabilia from California to Rhode Island; attends a Dale Carnegie-inspired leadership conference based on Lincoln's "management style"; drags his family across the three-state-long and now defunct Lincoln Heritage Trail; and even manages to hold one of five original copies of the Gettysburg Address. Along the way he weaves in enough history to hook readers of presidential biographies and popular histories while providing the engaging voice and style of the best narrative journalism.

    Ultimately, Land of Lincoln is an entertaining, unexpected, and big-hearted celebration of Lincoln and his enduring influence on the country he helped create.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateJun 24, 2007
    ISBN9781400174324
    Author

    Andrew Ferguson

    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.

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    Reviews for Land of Lincoln

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    • 4/5
      A friend recommend this book because she knew I enjoyed Tony Horwitz's Confederates in the Attic. Although I don't believe Andrew Ferguson is quite as good a writer as Horwitz, Land of Lincoln was a thoroughly enjoyable read. The author sets out to find Lincoln where he is still remembered, honored or loathed. (Not surprisingly, most of the haters are in the South, where some of the wackos call him a war criminal.)But the author is at his best when he's retracing his childhood tour of the Lincoln Heritage Trail with his reluctant children (and patient wife) in tow. Anyone who made a road trip in the '50s or '60s with their parents will get a stab of recognition. The Land of Lincoln is a series of personal essays that manages to convey the many contradictions in what's written and believed about Lincoln as president, man and icon. In the process, readers get a 360 view of our 16th president. After I finished reading the book, one question lingered, one that was expressed in the book by the author's young son. If it was OK for America to break from England, why wasn't it OK for the South to break away from the Union? Just think how things might have been different if Lincoln would have said to the South: "Good-bye and good riddance." 7/25/2010
    • 4/5
      Land of Lincoln: Adventures in Abe's America was a roller coaster ride of reading. Sluggish at times, but humorous throughout, the book follows Ferguson (and his reluctant family's) quest to "discover" how Abraham Lincoln is viewed in this country. While primarily dealing with Kentucky/Indiana/Illinois, the book includes individuals and events throughout the US, some more noteworthy than others. What I found most notable in his writing is a biting sarcasm, somewhat sardonic, which seemed to underscore almost every scenario he experienced - whether Pro or Anti Lincoln. There seemed an unnatural investigative reporter's bias, but the bias seemed to change direction, so it became questionable where his true beleifs lie. As the book progresses, his true feelings become more clear - and irrelevant - as the Lincoln "spirit" comes through. A worthwhile read.
    • 4/5
      This is a fun to book to read. Beyond that, it's hard to describe just what it is - part history, part travelogue, part research essay, part meditation. But it is this breezy back and forth that gives the book its strength. Ferguson's writing style is loose, anecdotal, engaging,and graceful. (His chapters on travelling with his teenage children will ring especially true to any history buff who has bribed their children to too many historical sights.) Think along the lines of Bill Bryson.
    • 3/5
      I gave up on the audiobook partway through; perhaps the print version might've held my interest better, but I found the section on "collectors" tedious, FF'ed to the section on Lincoln "imposters" and wasn't grabbed by that part either. Seems like Ferguson has good ideas for articles, but they didn't come together as a continuous book for me.