Lincoln in New England

Many fine Lincoln-related guide books cover sites in the Midwest and the Upper South, but New England has been sadly neglected. No longer! David J. Kent, author of Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln's Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America, has filled the gap with this engaging combination of travelogue, autobiography, and history that illuminates Lincoln’s little-known 1848 campaign tour in Massachusetts and his highly significant 1860 lecture/campaign trip starting in New York and followed by a multi-stop swing through Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Connecticut. No Lincolnians can claim to have comprehensively visited the Lincoln sites without touring New England, something they will especially enjoy doing with this book in hand to provide insight and entertainment along the way. 

Abraham Lincoln is customarily associated with Kentucky, Illinois, or the Midwest in general. In Lincoln in New England, however, Massachusetts native David J. Kent retraces Lincoln’s 1848 and 1860 forays into the region to offer illuminating reflections on Lincoln’s life and career, the meaning of the Civil War, and related aspects of U.S. history. Joined along the way by fellow Lincoln experts and local guides, Kent also explores places that Lincoln never visited—such as Hildene in Vermont—but that have further enriched the Lincoln story. Combining history, travelogue, and memoir, Kent’s engagingly written account is sure to find a receptive audience among Lincoln scholars and enthusiasts alike.

David J. Kent covers new ground with his detailed account of Abraham Lincoln’s most consequential campaign tours.  He provides a fresh perspective on Lincoln’s character, will and judgement just one year prior to his becoming President of a nation at war with itself.

David J. Kent has written a lively, interesting book that will fit well on any Lincoln shelf. Abundantly illustrated and presented in the style of a modern-day travelogue, Kent details Lincoln's two trips to New England, first during his 1848 visit to Massachusetts stumping for Zachary Taylor, and then a dozen years later, just months in advance of the 1860 presidential campaign. The book provides rich detail and context to the political issues that would ultimately tear the nation apart, and it also illuminates part of Lincoln's personal journey from raw stump speaker to a more thoughtful man on the eve of his own presidential nomination. 

What happened at Cooper Union did not stay at Cooper Union—not where Abraham Lincoln was concerned. So David J. Kent shows in this absorbing, definitive account of that quintessential Westerner’s transformative visits to the East. Lincoln made himself a viable presidential candidate by repeating his antislavery Cooper Union message in New England—twelve years after making his debut in the region campaigning for another rustic nominee, Zachary Taylor. Kent not only brings these long-ignored tours vividly back to life, he adds nuanced layers of observation by animating his own experiences retracing Lincoln’s steps. The result is a multi-layered exploration of a leader on the threshold of greatness—even out of his comfort zone.

Following Lincoln around New England may seem like an esoteric journey, but David J. Kent’s Lincoln in New England is so full of fascinating characters, events, Lincoln iconography, and cultural insight that I was hooked. From the strenuous political campaigning of the 1840s to the simple—at first—visit to his son at a New Hampshire preparatory school in 1860, Kent, a top-notch tour guide, brings Lincoln and his times alive, shows us that history is not only interesting but relevant to today, and proves that the Lincoln statues, memorials, murals, and paintings that dot the country are more than just artistic or cultural sentimentality—they are a guidebook to remembering Lincoln’s journey to greatness, one stop at a time. This is a unique addition to Lincoln literature and an inspiring travelogue that made me want to throw some Lincoln books in my backpack and hit the road for the East Coast.