Lincoln’s Lie: A True Civil War Caper Through Fake News, Wall Street, and the White House by Elizabeth Mitchell

Lincoln’s Lie: A True Civil War Caper Through Fake News, Wall Street, and the White House Reviews

• 
  Christopher Owens

  Subtitled: A True Civil War Caper Through Fake News, Wall Street, and the White House
  
  I received an advance reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
  
  This book revolves around a fake news story that was circulated in 1864 to several newspapers in New York concerning a new draft of 500,000 soldiers for the Union Army. The last time such a draft was proposed, there was rioting in the streets due to all of the lives that had already been lost in the war.
  
  The book summarizes several different types of interactions between Lincoln and the press. During the war, Lincoln seized all the telegraph companies, allowing for messages from and to potential Confederate spies to be intercepted. In Illinois, Lincoln even purchased a German-language newspaper in order to control its messaging. It was not uncommon for him to have writers friendly to his cause to write columns and/or letters to the editor that were favorable toward him and his policies.
  
  With regard to the faked news story, the author provides several possibilities as to the nature and purpose of the leak, including: a newspaper reporter wanting to make a killing on the gold market, the first lady Nancy Todd Lincoln trying to pay off the huge debt she had built up purchasing dresses and other items, and confederate or confederate friendly individuals wanting to deter the Union war effort and morale.
  
  I gave Lincoln's Lie four stars. It did not follow a consistent timeline, withholding the most likely solution to the mystery until the very end.
• 
  Counterpoint Press

  Lincoln’s Lie is a thrilling dive into the little-known, darker side of a revered president’s history: It untangles the threads behind a mysterious 1864 newspaper article to reveal how Lincoln manipulated the media during the Civil War. This book speaks powerfully to our current political crises: fake news, profiteering, Constitutional conflict, and a president at war with the press.
  
• 
  Mark Simon

  For a series of events that happened 150+ years ago, the storytelling is excellent. It's a strange story and there are some interesting parallels to 2020 America.
  
  Blunt honesty- the best parts of the book are the setup (first 80-100 pages) and the close (the last 50). I made the mistake of putting the book down for a week. You don't want to do that with this one because there are a bunch of things to keep track of.
  
  I learned a lot about Lincoln that I didn't know. A worthwhile read.
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  Barbaraa Davis

  Absolutely great! New perspective!
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  Stevie

  Thank you to NetGalley and Counterpoint Press for an Advanced Readers Copy in exchange for an honest review.
  
  This book gave a great retelling of Lincoln and his relationship with the press. It read like a novel, so it would be good for even a casual reader of history to pick up. This isn't a story that's often told, so history buffs would love it too. Even though these events happened 150 years ago, Mitchell's writing makes this seem timely and relevant. I would recommend it to anyone who asks.
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  Kelle Gaddis

  Lincoln's Lie pretends to be a well-researched look at Lincoln but is actually "progressive" propaganda, a manipulation of facts, that leads to preformed (and inaccurate) conclusions. Note: "Progressive" is in quotes because progressives are regressive, not progressive.
  Lincoln's Lie undermines Lincoln's legacy. I'm sure "progressives" love the book. To them, it justifies their constant lying and gaslighting of today's people while simultaneously destroying American heroes. The illogic of disparaging Lincoln while approving of his alleged use of propaganda is the sort of gibberish one expects from Marxists. "Marxist" is another name for "progressives." Globalists (yet another synonym for "progressive") push propaganda by rewriting history to serve their new religion of identity politics and its anti-white male agenda.
  I see it as a work of fiction claiming to be non-fiction. Dreadful book. I acknowledge speed reading it because I found the author disingenuous from page one. By the time I got to the end, I genuinely disliked her.
• 
  Jennie

  Lincoln's Lie is a story I had never heard of before and was a picture of Lincoln that had never been presented. In May 1864 a hoax was played on some newspapers in New York. Late a night after the last of the news stories had come in and the papers were going to print a proclamation from Lincoln arrived at several newsrooms. Once of the newsrooms printed it. Lincoln was requesting an extra 400K men or a draft would be called. The Battle of the Wilderness had just been fought and this proclamation would lead people to believe that the Union was losing.
  
  Mitchell's book tells the story of this proclamation, who sent it, how Lincoln reacted, etc. The story had parallels to now. The media can be manipulated and should be punished, certain liberties can be withheld, everything that one does not like is a hoax, leaks from the Lincoln administration. I tells a side of Lincoln that is not normally told and is a little said to read. Most of the story is told in chronological order except for the first 4 chapters and the last 2. The story starts with the dissemination of the proclamation and then jumps to the train trip from Illinois to DC after Lincoln was elected. The other off story parts are in regards to Mary Todd Lincoln. She was a very flawed woman and had some confidants that were not the most appropriate. Now I know that these non-related items needed to be told because they are related to the story Mitchell wanted to tell but it made the story disjointed and I just wanted to say give me just the days in 1864 when this hoax occurs.
  
  While I did not find the flow of the book great I will say that the story was won I have never even heard a little bit of so that made it interesting.
• 
  Rene

  I loved this book! Elizabeth Mitchell is a writer I admire--she has an exquisite sense of character and a flair for finding the detail that will complete transform a scene--and the story always gallops forward. In her careful research, Mitchell uncovers illuminating sources, which reveal Lincoln's humanity in surprising ways, in both his personal and political life. This is "a historical thriller," as one of the reviewers said, but it's also a serious, beautifully written book. I'm recommending it to everyone.
  
  
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  Natalie Standiford

  LINCOLN'S LIE is a fascinating slice of history and a great story. I learned so much I never knew about Lincoln, the politics of the Civil War era, and especially the workings of the press in the 19th century. Mitchell comes at Lincoln from a fresh angle, demonstrating how the more things change in this country, the more they stay the same (which is both reassuring and scary). Beautifully written and a page turner too. Really wonderful.
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  Carol lowkey.bookish

  An interesting piece of history told in an interesting and unique way.
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  Bob Reed

  Confirms that politics hasn't changed much over the years.
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  Dacia

  I learned a lot about Lincoln I did not know. A short but very well researched story.
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  Kate Love

  I read the first chapter and it just didn't catch my attention... I'm sorry I didn't finish it... I couldn't keep focus and it was really boring to me. I'm really not a nonfiction or history reader... Mostly a fiction, romance, mystery and young adult reader~ Might read some historical fiction but the book wasn't really for me... I gave it to my dad .-.