Mr. Lincoln's High-tech War


Book Description

Shows the part technology played in the North winning the Civil War over the South and how Lincoln appreciated technology after awhile.




Mr. Lincoln's T-Mails


Book Description

This “intriguing” look at the sixteenth president’s telegraph usage during the Civil War “revisits a familiar hero, but does so from an utterly new perspective” (Ken Burns). The Civil War was the first “modern war.” Because of rapid changes in American society, Abraham Lincoln became president of a divided United States during a period of technological and social revolution. Among the many modern marvels that gave the North an advantage was the telegraph, which Lincoln used to stay connected to the forces in the field in almost real time. No leader in history had ever possessed such a powerful tool to gain control over a fractious situation. An eager student of technology, Lincoln (the only president to hold a patent) had to learn to use the power of electronic messages. Without precedent to guide him, Lincoln began by reading the telegraph traffic among his generals. Then he used the telegraph to supplement his preferred form of communication—meetings and letters. He did not replace those face-to-face interactions. Through this experience, Lincoln crafted the best way to guide, reprimand, praise, reward, and encourage his commanders in the field. Written by a former FCC chairman, Mr. Lincoln’s T-Mails tells a big story within a small compass—both an elegant work of history and a timeless lesson in leadership. By paying close attention to Lincoln’s “lightning messages,” we see a great leader adapt to a new medium. No reader of this work of history will be able to miss the contemporary parallels. Watching Lincoln carefully word his messages—and follow up on those words with the right actions—offers a striking example for those who spend their days tapping out notes on their various devices. “Mr. Lincoln’s T-Mails shines. . . . an accessible jaunt through this formative American event.” —USA Today “Wheeler shows a Lincoln groping for a best-use of new technology and learning the limitations of the ‘killer app.’”—Booklist “Altogether captivating.” —Harold Holzer, author of Brought Forth on This Continent: Abraham Lincoln and American Immigration




Abraham Lincoln


Book Description

This biography examines the life of Abraham Lincoln. The book includes biographies of other historical people and a family tree.




Lincoln's Last Days


Book Description

Describes the events surrounding the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and the hunt to track down John Wilkes Booth and his accomplices.




Southern Strategies


Book Description

Southern Strategies is the first-ever analysis of Confederate defeat using the lenses of classical strategic and leadership theory. The contributors bring over one hundred years of experience in the field at the junior and senior levels of military leadership and over forty years of teaching in professional military education. Well-aware that the nature of war is immutable and unchanging, they combine their firsthand experience of this truth with solid scholarship to offer new theoretical and historical perspectives about why the South failed in its bid for independence. The contributors identify and analyze the mistakes made by the Confederate political and strategic leadership that handicapped the prospects for independence and placed immense pressure on Confederate military commanders to compensate on the battlefield for what should have been achieved by other instruments of national power. These instruments are the diplomatic, informational (including intelligence and public morale), and economic aspects of a nation’s capability to exert its will internationally. When combined with military power, the acronym DIME emerges, a theoretical tool that offers historians and national security professionals alike a useful method to analyze how a state, such as the Union, the Confederacy, or the modern United States, wielded or currently wields its power at the strategic level. Each essay examines how well rebel strategic leaders employed and integrated these instruments, given that the seceded South possessed enough diplomatic, informational, military, and economic power to theoretically win its independence. The essayists also apply the ends-ways-means model of analysis to each topic to offer readers greater insight into the Confederate leadership’s challenges. Southern Strategies confirms the reality that the outcome of the American Civil War cannot be boiled down to one or two simple reasons. It offers fresh and theoretically novel interpretations at the strategic level that open new doors for future research and will increase public interest in the big questions surrounding Confederate defeat.




The Left Behinds: Abe Lincoln and the Selfie that Saved the Union


Book Description

Percy Jackson fans will embrace this humorous time-travel adventure that sends Mel and his friends right into the Civil War’s Battle of Gettysburg. Mel, Bev, and Brandon—the Left Behinds—are at it again. When the iTime app on their phones sends them to Washington, D.C., in 1863, they find themselves smack dab in the middle of the Civil War. They sit in on a séance with First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln and are shown every inch of the White House by Tad, the youngest Lincoln. But when they meet President Abe Lincoln himself, he is preoccupied with the fateful battle at Gettysburg, which is just under way. The kids receive their marching orders—they must somehow travel to Gettysburg, make sure what’s supposed to happen does happen, save the Union, and be home in time for dinner. No biggie. After all, it’s only the entire future of the country at stake. Includes an author’s note and information on Civil War reenactments and living history sites around the nation. Praise for the Left Behinds series: “The narrative is pure fun. . . . History made silly for readers who can’t get into it straight.” —Kirkus Reviews “This is Magic Tree House all grown up, and kids who once loved that time travel conceit will be delighted all over again.” —The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books “Readers will charge through these super-short chapters like a Revolutionary soldier on the run.” —BookPage




The Handy Civil War Answer Book


Book Description

From the biggest events and battles to the lesser-known warriors and women, a captivating, concise, and convenient guide to America’s defining conflict, its origins, key battles, people, events, and aftermath. The nation’s highest-casualty, bloodiest-war is still discussed, studied, acted out, and politically relevant. From the complex, turbulent and difficult events leading to the war, through the first shots fired at Fort Sumter, the military strategies, battles, and people, and from Lee’s surrender at Appomattox to the Southern reconstruction and modern aftermath, The Handy Civil War Answer Book answers more than 900 questions, from the most widely asked to the more obscure, such as ... How did the Mexican War influence Americans of the 1850s? What was Robert E. Lee’s connection to George Washington? What did people mean when they said Lincoln had the style of a buffoon and the “brain of a giant”? What is nullification? What is secession? How closely are they linked? What was so important about the Homestead Act? How did what happened at Harpers Ferry contribute to what would become the Civil War? What all-black regiment famously led the charge at Battery Wagner? Was there any precedent for the Siege of Vicksburg? Would North and South have been reconciled if Lincoln had not been assassinated? What became of Generals Grant and Lee after the war? How do Americans continue to commemorate the Civil War? Blending historical review with a little surprising trivia into an engaging question-and-answer format, The Handy Civil War Answer Book is perfect for browsing and is ideal for the serious military or history buff, students, teachers, and anyone interested in a better understanding of our nation's past—and present. Photos, battlefield maps, and a chronology of major events contribute to the understanding of the War between the States in this tome is richly illustrated. Its helpful bibliography and extensive index add to its usefulness.







Slavery, Civil War, and Reconstruction, Grades 6 - 12


Book Description

Bring history to life for students in grades 6–12 using Slavery, Civil War, and Reconstruction. This 128-page book is perfect for independent study or use as a tutorial aid. It explores history, geography, and social studies with activities that involve critical thinking, writing, and technology. The book includes topics such as slavery, the Civil War, the Reconstruction, the Fugitive Slave Law, Dred Scott, Lincoln's presidency, the Freedman's Bureau, and Jim Crow laws. It also includes vocabulary words, time lines, maps, and reading lists. The book supports NCSS standards and aligns with state, national, and Canadian provincial standards.




Decision Advantage


Book Description

A history of winning intelligence practices from the Spanish Armada to Cyberwar that offers timeless, practical lessons we ignore at our peril. According to conventional wisdom, strategic surprise and other intelligence failures are both inevitable and ultimately irrelevant because, at least in international politics and war, military muscle matters more than brains. In Decision Advantage, Jennifer E. Sims counters this argument by investigating the history of intelligence through centuries of international conflict, including the 16th Century's Spanish Armada, two US Civil War battles, the hunt for President Lincoln's assassin, and key diplomatic crises before the two World Wars. Sims dives deep into these events to show that the competitive pursuit of intelligence advantage has been a measurable, buildable, and consequential form of power that can help competitors win against otherwise stronger opponents. From these observations, the author develops a general guide to building intelligence readiness, whether for war, diplomacy, or international manhunts. Refuting arguments that intelligence is a sideshow because intentions are unknowable and predictions risky, she redefines success as gaining information advantages over an adversary, prescribes four practical pathways for gaining them, and confirms what seems to be simple common sense: smart competitors know how to learn, and the ones who learn best tend to win. Thinking of intelligence in this way, Sims argues, adds a moral character to an enterprise that is too often mired in excessive secrecy and tyrannical agendas. By "lifting the veil" on international politics, Decision Advantage shows how good intelligence can lessen the likelihood of wars of misperception and folly.