My twin passions are the fictional stories of Sherlock Holmes, and American history as told on the battlefields of the Civil War—and I have long thought that we make history boring, focusing on battles and dates, and not on the individuals who made it happen (Lincoln above all). So why not shake it up? In One Must Tell the Bees, the rational but very fictional Sherlock Holmes brings to life the accomplishments of the shrewd, incisive but very real Abraham Lincoln in a way that I hope adds to our understanding of Lincoln’s accomplishments, even as our country struggles to reassess the meaning of that portion of our history.
I wrote...
One Must Tell the Bees: Abraham Lincoln and the Final Education of Sherlock Holmes
One Must Tell the Bees is the untold story of Sherlock Holmes’s journey from the streets of London to the White House of Abraham Lincoln—and his role in the breathtaking pursuit and capture of John Wilkes Booth in the company of a freed slave named Abraham. It is the very first case of the man who would become known to the world as Sherlock Holmes, and as readers will discover, it would haunt him until his very last.
At a time when Western history is being reexamined and retold, and even the legacy of Abraham Lincoln, “the Great Emancipator,” is questioned, One Must Tell the Bees is a timely reminder that our history deserves to be understood before it is entirely undone.
From a heartrending photograph of “Slave Shackles Intended for a Child” to Abraham Lincoln’s signature on a congressional resolution for the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery—and 48 other objects in between...
This book provides a fascinating, wide-ranging portrait of the Civil War that reminds readers how Lincoln managed to abolish slavery while also preserving the Union, something not many American politicians thought possible when he was first elected President.
The American companion to A History of the World in 100 Objects, a fresh, visual perspective on the Civil War
From a soldier's diary with the pencil still attached to John Brown's pike, the Emancipation Proclamation, and the leaves from Abraham Lincoln's bier, here is a unique and surprisingly intimate look at the Civil War.
Lincoln scholar Harold Holzer sheds new light on the war by examining fifty objects from the New-York Historical Society's acclaimed collection. A daguerreotype of an elderly, dignified ex-slave; a soldier's footlocker still packed with its contents; Grant's handwritten terms of surrender at Appomattox-the stories these…
In the 1930’s some very forward-thinking person at the Work Projects Administration got the idea to interview former slaves and record their stories before it was too late, and their stories had been lost.
The result was some 2,300 interviews with men and women who had been enslaved across many states (not just the South). The interviews are generally brief but always unvarnished and compelling.
The resulting record of their lives and experiences will leave a mark on anyone who reads them. And you should read them.
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it.
This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.
Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been…
Douglass was, as the author says, “the most important African American of the nineteenth century and one of the most significant writers and orators in American history.”
His biography happens to parallel the American experience of a tumultuous time, from his birth as a slave in 1818 to his death as “The Sage of Anacostia” on his country estate in 1895.
To understand Frederick Douglass is to understand all that Americans went through during the American Civil War.
"Extraordinary...a great American biography" (The New Yorker) of the most important African-American of the nineteenth century: Frederick Douglass, the escaped slave who became the greatest orator of his day and one of the leading abolitionists and writers of the era.
As a young man Frederick Douglass (1818-1895) escaped from slavery in Baltimore, Maryland. He was fortunate to have been taught to read by his slave owner mistress, and he would go on to become one of the major literary figures of his time. His very existence gave the lie to slave owners: with…
Wills’ book is about a speech only 272 words long…but it turns out to be about way more than that.
The Gettysburg Address changed America’s foundational principle for all time, from the Constitution’s bland, vague goal of forming “a more perfect Union” to the Declaration of Independence’s bold statement that “all men are created equal.”
How Lincoln pulled it off, and just as importantly, why he did and what it meant, is a great story, one that Wills tells with zeal and purpose.
You’ll never think about “The Gettysburg Address” the same way after reading this book.
The power of words has rarely been given a more compelling demonstration than in the Gettysburg Address. Lincoln was asked to memorialize the gruesome battle. Instead, he gave the whole nation "a new birth of freedom" in the space of a mere 272 words. His entire life and previous training, and his deep political experience went into this, his revolutionary masterpiece.
By examining both the address and Lincoln in their historical moment and cultural frame, Wills breathes new life into words we thought we knew, and reveals much about a president so mythologized but often misunderstood. Wills shows how Lincoln…
Get your mind around this: John Wilkes Booth shot and killed President Lincoln in the presidential box at Ford’s Theater, then leapt onstage in front of 1,500 people who had heard the shot, had seen the smoke billow out from Lincoln’s box, had heard Clara Harris scream “He has shot the President!” then ran out the back of the theater, jumped on a one-eyed horse and vanished…for 12 days.
How Booth could have disappeared so completely after such a public act says a lot about relations between North and South as the Civil War was winding down (he was aided by a few unscrupulous Confederate sympathizers along the way).
Swanson’s edge-of-your-seat depiction of the manhunt makes it compelling reading, and a fitting end to a study of the Civil War that does not involve getting bogged down in every battlefield engagement and which general won which battle.
An enthralling hour-by-hour account of the twelve days in 1865 between President Abraham Lincoln's assassination and the capture and death of his murderer, John Wilkes Booth. From 14th to 26th of April 1865, the hunt for Booth and his accomplices transfixed, thrilled and horrified a nation of mourners as Booth led the army on a wild chase through the swamps of Maryland and into the forests of Virginia. At the centre of the story is the ultimate anti-hero: John Wilkes Booth. A handsome stage actor, Booth was as famous in his day as any big Hollywood star today, but threw…
I’m an avid reader of queer literary fiction not only because I write it but because I’m looking to see my life experience captured on the page. As a gay man, a father of two young boys, and one-half of an interracial married couple, I know the complexity of modern queer living firsthand. In recent years, I’ve been astounded by the breadth of great LGBTQ+ books that examine queerness fully and empathetically. I seek out these books, I read them feverishly, and I become a champion for the best ones. In an era of intense book banning, it’s so important to me to elevate these books and their authors.
The Birthright of Sons is a collection of stories centered around the experiences of marginalized people, namely Black and LGBTQ+ men. Although the stories borrow elements from various genres (horror, suspense, romance, magical realism, etc.), they are linked by an exploration of identity and the ways personhood is shaped through interactions with the people, places, and belief systems around us.
In each of these stories, the protagonists grapple with their understanding of who they are, who and how they love, and what is ultimately most important to them. In almost every case, however, the quest to know or protect oneself is challenged by an external force, resulting in violence, crisis, or confusion, among other outcomes.
The Birthright of Sons is a collection of stories centered around the experiences of marginalized people, namely Black and LGBTQ+ men. Though the stories borrow elements from various genres (horror, suspense, romance, magical realism, etc.), they're linked by an exploration of identity and the ways personhood is shaped through interactions with the people, places, and belief systems around us.
Underpinning the project is a core belief - self-definition is fluid, but conflict arises because society often fails to keep pace with personal evolution. In each of these stories, the protagonists grapple with their understanding of who they are, who and…
