Author Louis Masur will share the little-known story of Lincoln’s backstage drama in a free public lecture Thursday, September 27, at Washington College.
Masur will share the little-known story of Lincoln’s backstage drama in a free public lecture Thursday, September 27, at Washington College. The talk will take place at 5:30 p.m. in Hynson Lounge on the main campus, 300 Washington Avenue, Chestertown, and will be followed by a book signing. It is sponsored by the College’s C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience.This month marks the 150th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s announcing the Emancipation Proclamation. In a much-anticipated new book, historian Louis Masur chronicles the little-known political forces and behind-the-scenes intrigues that shaped – and nearly derailed – the most momentous decision that an American president has ever made.
Lincoln’s Hundred Days: The Emancipation Proclamation and the War for the Union has just been published by Harvard University Press. The book reveals the political, moral and personal concerns that plagued Abraham Lincoln in the 100 days between September 22, 1862, when he first presented a formal draft of the Emancipation Proclamation to his cabinet, and New Year’s Day 1863, when he signed a much-altered final version of the executive order.
“Masur takes a pivotal moment in time and opens it up like a master watchmaker, revealing the intricate, hidden mechanisms, the tensions and balances, concealed within that turning point of American history,” said Adam Goodheart, the Starr Center’s Hodson Trust-Griswold director. “Lincoln’s Hundred Days is a finely wrought and important book.”
Masur, who is Professor of American Studies and History at Rutgers University, was previously the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor in American Institutions and Values at Trinity College. His earlier books have covered topics as diverse as capital punishment, baseball’s first World Series and Bruce Springsteen’s “Born to Run” album. Masur’s essays and reviews have appeared in the New York Times, Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, and Los Angeles Times.
FREE
Thursday, September 27, 2012
5:30 pm
Hynson Lounge
Washington College
300 Washington Ave”
Chestertown, MD 21620
Write a Letter to the Editor on this Article
We encourage readers to offer their point of view on this article by submitting the following form. Editing is sometimes necessary and is done at the discretion of the editorial staff.