by Andrew Ferguson

Atlantic Monthly Press, Grove/Atlantic
American History/Popular Culture
Hardcover, $24.00
ISBN-13 978-0-87113-967-2; ISBN-10 0-87113-967-7

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About the Book

“What a look into the world of Lincoln Andrew Ferguson offers his readers! He visits Lincoln’s detractors as well as his champions, those who dress up in an effort to be the man, those who collect everything from Lincoln’s hair to his teetotalling likeness on a whiskey shot glass. It’s so darned much fun to travel along with Ferguson as he parts the curtains and leads us to the LAND OF LINCOLN.”
- Vicki Erwin, Main Street Books, St. Charles, MO

“Land of Lincoln is, as its title suggests, LOL, which is to say, laugh-out-loud funny. It’s also a wonderful and serious book about the enduring impact of out greatest president, by one of our best and wittiest writers.”
- Christopher Buckley

A hilarious yet poignant look at Abraham Lincoln’s place in America today—and the surprising ways in which his personality, philosophy, and mythology continue to pervade our culture—as well as a celebration of the people who help keep his spirit alive.

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.

Andrew Ferguson is a senior editor at The Weekly Standard and has written for The New Yorker, The New Republic, The Washington Post, and many other national publications.