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Lincoln's Sanctuary: Abraham Lincoln and the Soldiers' Home
After the heartbreaking death of his son Willie, Abraham Lincoln and his family fled the gloom that hung over the White House, moving into a small cottage in Washington, D.C., on the grounds of the Soldiers' Home, a residence for disabled military veterans. In Lincoln's Sanctuary , historian Matthew Pinsker offers a fascinating portrait of Lincoln's stay in this cottage and tells the story of the president's remarkable growth as a national leader and a private man.
Lincoln lived at the Soldiers' Home for a quarter of his presidency, and for nearly half of the critical year of 1862, but most Americans (including many scholars) have not heard of the place. Indeed, this is the first volume to specifically connect this early "summer White House" to key wartime developments, including the Emancipation Proclamation, the firing of McClellan, the evolution of Lincoln's "Father Abraham" image, the election of 1864, and the assassination conspiracy. Through a series of striking vignettes, the reader discovers a more accessible Lincoln, demonstrating what one visitor to the Soldiers' Home described as his remarkable "elasticity of spirits." At his secluded cottage, the president complained to his closest aides, recited poetry to his friends, reconnected with his wife and family, conducted secret meetings with his political enemies, and narrowly avoided assassination attempts. Perhaps most important, he forged key friendships that helped renew his
flagging spirits. The cottage became a refuge from the pressures of the White House, a place of tranquility where Lincoln could refresh his mind.
Based on research in rarely tapped sources, especially the letters and memoirs of people who lived or worked at the Soldiers' Home, Lincoln's Sanctuary offers the unexpected--a completely fresh view of Abraham Lincoln--through the window of a place that helped shape his presidency.
Lincoln lived at the Soldiers' Home for a quarter of his presidency, and for nearly half of the critical year of 1862, but most Americans (including many scholars) have not heard of the place. Indeed, this is the first volume to specifically connect this early "summer White House" to key wartime developments, including the Emancipation Proclamation, the firing of McClellan, the evolution of Lincoln's "Father Abraham" image, the election of 1864, and the assassination conspiracy. Through a series of striking vignettes, the reader discovers a more accessible Lincoln, demonstrating what one visitor to the Soldiers' Home described as his remarkable "elasticity of spirits." At his secluded cottage, the president complained to his closest aides, recited poetry to his friends, reconnected with his wife and family, conducted secret meetings with his political enemies, and narrowly avoided assassination attempts. Perhaps most important, he forged key friendships that helped renew his
flagging spirits. The cottage became a refuge from the pressures of the White House, a place of tranquility where Lincoln could refresh his mind.
Based on research in rarely tapped sources, especially the letters and memoirs of people who lived or worked at the Soldiers' Home, Lincoln's Sanctuary offers the unexpected--a completely fresh view of Abraham Lincoln--through the window of a place that helped shape his presidency.
272 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
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152 people want to read
About the author
Matthew Pinsker
9 books13 followersMatthew Pinsker holds the Pohanka Chair in American Civil War History and is director of the House Divided Project at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
March 31, 2022
Considering how hard presidents have to work just to get into the White House, it seems surprising how eager they are to get out as soon as they arrive. Modern-day presidents flee over the weekends to a second home, a golf course or Camp David. Earlier presidents spent entire seasons living somewhere other than the White House. President Lincoln, Pinsker writes in this book, spent more than a quarter of his presidency residing at the Soldiers’ Home on the outskirts of the capital.
Yet the Lincolns’ summer home is only briefly mentioned, when necessary, in most Lincoln biographies. And it wasn’t well-known or well-studied at the time this book was written back in 2003. The book has an interesting history of its own, in that it was commissioned by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which was working at the time to restore what is now known as President Lincoln’s Cottage, and wanted to engage the services of a historian to research the site and help them publicize and interpret it upon its eventual opening to the public.
So what might have been turned into a brochure or a series of museum labels, instead became a book that still stands on its own all these years later.
Pinsker acknowledges the difficulty of his task in his introduction. The Lincolns spent three summers living on the grounds of the retirement facility for wounded soldiers, but "there are no official records of their new residency - no documentation for which cottage they inhabited, no inventory of the White House belongings they carried along with them,” Pinsker writes. So “everything about their experience at the Soldiers’ Home must be pieced together from fragments principally found in diaries, letters, recollections, and newspaper accounts.” And even then, “most of the guests recorded only fleeting observations about the interior design of the cottage, the layout of the parlor or the style of the furniture."
So there’s still a lot we don’t know about the Lincolns’ time spent at the home, which explains why it doesn’t figure prominently in most Lincoln books. But Pinsker succeeds in pulling together as much evidence as possible to flesh out the picture, quoting from dozens of sources and questioning the reliability of some accounts when necessary, while supplementing his story with the story of Lincoln’s entire presidency and the challenges he grappled with during his time at the Soldiers’ Home.
In the hands of a different author, this additional context might come across as superfluous padding; as rote descriptions of well-known events that just happened to have occurred during the months Lincoln was at the Soldiers’ Home. A Lincoln novice might find the larger story of Lincoln’s presidency in a book about his summer home to be too much, while a Lincoln expert might find the larger story of his presidency to be too familiar. But I found the balance between the big picture and the narrower view of life at the Soldiers’ Home to be just right - Pinsker knows his Lincoln history, so he isn’t just reciting a bland synopsis of events in Lincoln’s presidency, and every time he takes the wider view of what was happening at the time, he always circles back to the Soldiers’ Home, after laying the groundwork with details and background about the issues Lincoln had to deal with while he was staying there.
Pinsker uncovered unique anecdotes about Lincoln's interactions with soldiers at the home, the dangers he faced from nearby battles, and the daily commute he made to the White House through what could sometimes be some rough neighborhoods. He provides a detailed account of Mary Lincoln's serious carriage accident that took place near the home - right in the middle of the Battle of Gettysburg - and describes the strain that it put on Lincoln. He even demonstrates how Lincoln grew closer to his Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, in part because Stanton and his family also kept a cottage at the Soldiers’ Home.
Pinsker concludes that "the place was not just a backdrop to great events but also a participant in them." Lincoln’s successes as president were "due at least in part to the sustenance Lincoln discovered both inside his newfound sanctuary and through the rhythm and unanticipated interactions of his daily commute."
While his mandate in writing the book was to emphasize the home’s historical significance, Pinsker manages to avoid overstating or exaggerating its importance. By using the story of Lincoln’s summer home to frame the larger story about the Lincoln presidency, he doesn’t radically reshape our view of Lincoln, but provides a fresh view of Lincoln at work and at rest. "It is easy to overlook the importance of daily life in shaping larger political experiences,” he writes. “Rare is the narrative that can command both the mundane and the sublime in the same story." And by combining the story of Lincoln’s presidency with Lincoln’s sanctuary, Pinsker succeeded in crafting a narrative that does just that.
Yet the Lincolns’ summer home is only briefly mentioned, when necessary, in most Lincoln biographies. And it wasn’t well-known or well-studied at the time this book was written back in 2003. The book has an interesting history of its own, in that it was commissioned by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which was working at the time to restore what is now known as President Lincoln’s Cottage, and wanted to engage the services of a historian to research the site and help them publicize and interpret it upon its eventual opening to the public.
So what might have been turned into a brochure or a series of museum labels, instead became a book that still stands on its own all these years later.
Pinsker acknowledges the difficulty of his task in his introduction. The Lincolns spent three summers living on the grounds of the retirement facility for wounded soldiers, but "there are no official records of their new residency - no documentation for which cottage they inhabited, no inventory of the White House belongings they carried along with them,” Pinsker writes. So “everything about their experience at the Soldiers’ Home must be pieced together from fragments principally found in diaries, letters, recollections, and newspaper accounts.” And even then, “most of the guests recorded only fleeting observations about the interior design of the cottage, the layout of the parlor or the style of the furniture."
So there’s still a lot we don’t know about the Lincolns’ time spent at the home, which explains why it doesn’t figure prominently in most Lincoln books. But Pinsker succeeds in pulling together as much evidence as possible to flesh out the picture, quoting from dozens of sources and questioning the reliability of some accounts when necessary, while supplementing his story with the story of Lincoln’s entire presidency and the challenges he grappled with during his time at the Soldiers’ Home.
In the hands of a different author, this additional context might come across as superfluous padding; as rote descriptions of well-known events that just happened to have occurred during the months Lincoln was at the Soldiers’ Home. A Lincoln novice might find the larger story of Lincoln’s presidency in a book about his summer home to be too much, while a Lincoln expert might find the larger story of his presidency to be too familiar. But I found the balance between the big picture and the narrower view of life at the Soldiers’ Home to be just right - Pinsker knows his Lincoln history, so he isn’t just reciting a bland synopsis of events in Lincoln’s presidency, and every time he takes the wider view of what was happening at the time, he always circles back to the Soldiers’ Home, after laying the groundwork with details and background about the issues Lincoln had to deal with while he was staying there.
Pinsker uncovered unique anecdotes about Lincoln's interactions with soldiers at the home, the dangers he faced from nearby battles, and the daily commute he made to the White House through what could sometimes be some rough neighborhoods. He provides a detailed account of Mary Lincoln's serious carriage accident that took place near the home - right in the middle of the Battle of Gettysburg - and describes the strain that it put on Lincoln. He even demonstrates how Lincoln grew closer to his Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, in part because Stanton and his family also kept a cottage at the Soldiers’ Home.
Pinsker concludes that "the place was not just a backdrop to great events but also a participant in them." Lincoln’s successes as president were "due at least in part to the sustenance Lincoln discovered both inside his newfound sanctuary and through the rhythm and unanticipated interactions of his daily commute."
While his mandate in writing the book was to emphasize the home’s historical significance, Pinsker manages to avoid overstating or exaggerating its importance. By using the story of Lincoln’s summer home to frame the larger story about the Lincoln presidency, he doesn’t radically reshape our view of Lincoln, but provides a fresh view of Lincoln at work and at rest. "It is easy to overlook the importance of daily life in shaping larger political experiences,” he writes. “Rare is the narrative that can command both the mundane and the sublime in the same story." And by combining the story of Lincoln’s presidency with Lincoln’s sanctuary, Pinsker succeeded in crafting a narrative that does just that.
October 1, 2016
I have read many books on Lincoln, considering him one of the most fascinating of all humans. This book seemed to promise a new perspective, and to some degree it did; but very much of the material was a re-hash of other books that chronicle the days of his presidency. I found the parts of the book that speak specifically of the time spent at the Soldier's Home, and how those times influenced both his personal and family life, well worth reading. But too many of the paths this book led me down were old and familiar.
December 19, 2024
An intimate look at the president's residence during 13 months of his term in office, this book gives us an unprecedented view of the inner workings of the Lincoln administration. We learn more especially about the dangers Lincoln seemingly brushed aside as trivial occurrences. The narrative is brisk and lively but it also holds the reader's attention. Overall, a very good effort.
December 19, 2014
I picked this book up at the Lincoln Museum in Springfield not expecting much. It turned out to be very well researched and written . It gives great insight into Lincoln as a person as opposed to the usual history of his political career. He and his family spent three summers living at a country cottage on the acreage of the Soldiers Home. Mary was reeling from the death of their beloved son Willy and wanted somewhere quiet to recover.They wanted to escape the heat and busyness of the White House . Lincoln rode back and forth to the cottage daily sometimes alone and later, usually guarded. They entertained friends there and people came to petition for causes, such as amnesty for deserters. Son Todd loved to ride his pony and hang out with the soldiers. Lincoln often was seen in the middle of the night walking the grounds unable to sleep. On his better days, he loved to recite poetry and read Shakespeare to his guests.
Before long the worries of the war and re-election catch up with him and his sanctuary becomes his place to create policy, strategies and influence both enemies and friends. Here is where he first penned the Emancipation Proclamation and tried it out on his cabinet. Here is where he finally decided to fire his slow moving Generals and put Grant and Sherman is charge. Here is where he refused to give in to those wanting peace by offering to let slavery exist in the South. He refused to give in. His policy was a restoration of the union and freeing of all the slaves. The war was going badly at this time and several attempts were made on his life.
One sees his strength and humanity as he struggles against his foes. Soon the fortunes of war turn and Lincoln is re elected. It seem he will finally have the success and status of a great leader. Very shortly, he is assassinated at Ford theatre.
Before long the worries of the war and re-election catch up with him and his sanctuary becomes his place to create policy, strategies and influence both enemies and friends. Here is where he first penned the Emancipation Proclamation and tried it out on his cabinet. Here is where he finally decided to fire his slow moving Generals and put Grant and Sherman is charge. Here is where he refused to give in to those wanting peace by offering to let slavery exist in the South. He refused to give in. His policy was a restoration of the union and freeing of all the slaves. The war was going badly at this time and several attempts were made on his life.
One sees his strength and humanity as he struggles against his foes. Soon the fortunes of war turn and Lincoln is re elected. It seem he will finally have the success and status of a great leader. Very shortly, he is assassinated at Ford theatre.
January 13, 2018
Felt like a really long college thesis. Felt forced in places and Soilders' home was mentioned several times in what felt like an afterthought - "Lincoln did this, this, and this...oh and he was in the home while he did it". Okie dokie. Too much speculations of "Perhaps", "maybe", etc. On the plus, it was fairly short and I have pretty severe insomnia but something about this book always put me to sleep within a page or two of reading this one.
June 27, 2022
During the warm Washington months of his presidency Abraham Lincoln resided with his family at a pleasant cottage on the grounds of the federal Soldiers’ Home on the heights a few miles north of the White House. The Lincoln residence exists today and is certainly worthy of a book or pamphlet focused on the historic house and how it enabled Lincoln to freely mingle with the troops assigned to guard him and to encounter the public on his daily rides downtown. While the book touches cursorily on these topics its main focus by cherry picking through memoirs and diaries referencing the cottage is to relate events during the Civil War to the fact Lincoln was residing at the Soldiers’ Home. Not only is this a dry academic and fairly meaningless exercise that makes for soporific reading, but it presents a skewed view of Lincoln. Lincoln, who is usually remembered as warm, affable, eloquent, and witty, in the author’s telling seems frequently testy and calculating, which struck me as a false light that a fairer evaluation of the evidence would have dispelled. In any event “you have to know when to hold ‘em, and know when to fold ‘em” so I got through only about two thirds of the book. I recommend don’t start at all.
February 26, 2022
In the summer of 2021, I visited the location that this book is primarily about, the Soldiers' Home and Lincoln's Cottage. After receiving a tour of the location, I was intrigued to learn more about Lincoln and the relatively quiet history of his relationship with this place, so I picked up this book. I expected a more in-depth look into Lincoln's experience or at least more than what I learned on the tour, and it most definitely did. I started reading instantly when I got back home. It first provided facts and stories about the Soldiers' Home to set the scene in which Lincoln would be spending a lot of his time away from the White House. Pinsker described Lincoln's experience as essentially a vacation. It was a place where he and his family could escape from the various stresses that come with being the President. This was especially important for him as he was president for arguably the tensest period in American history, the Civil War. He would take part in different recreational activities and spend time with the soldiers. This was an important theme to me. The necessity to take care of one's self by dedicating time away from work or school is crucial. We were able to see Lincoln do it in the book, and it helps with mental health greatly. Throughout the book, Pinsker was able to give the reader a look into Lincoln's personal life and things not taught in history classes. Thus I would recommend this book to anyone who finds Lincoln to be a fascinating human being and president. Anyone who enjoys historical nonfiction would enjoy this book as well. Although I often find historical nonfiction hard to keep my attention, this book kept me wanting to know more and more about Lincoln and his cottage at the Soldiers' Home.
December 7, 2019
A Must read for the Lincoln Geek. Lincoln's Sanctuary is well reseached and has information that may not be available in most books about Lincoln. For example, the author, Mr. Pinsker has quotes from the famous poet Walt Whitman, " I SEE the President almost every day, as I happen to live where he passes to or from his lodgings out of town." Lincoln's Sanctuary was a summer home for the President allowing him to get out of the City of Washington and into a country setting allowing some rest for he and his Wife Mary Todd and son Tad. It is noted that he was here while writing the Emancipation Proclamation. Lincoln's Sanctuary was a residence in the original Riggs estate. The Lincoln Cottage was recovered and made a national monument in 2000. The Lincon's would ride up to the cottage in the evening and the next morning Lincoln would come back to the White House to attend to the business of the nation. The question of presidential security had never existed before the Civil War. With the outbreak of the Civil War a small group of Soldiers would camp at the Soldiers home and bring an Military escort with the President every evening and return back to Washington every morning. Lincon's Cottage is available for tours at this time.
July 31, 2022
This is a serious book. Many times a history dealing with Lincoln will show the light side of the great man along with his very private and darker side. This author presents a more focused person. Lincoln is dealing with his generals and his cabinet, as typical, but now he is commuting to the Soldier's Home when his routine workday is finished at the White House. The Soldier's Home is a pleasant cottage, only three miles (by horseback) to enjoy the cool summer months in D.C. This setting may be relaxing but there are soldiers living in the area and people walking through the woods in the evenings. Mary Lincoln and young son Tad are there sometimes. Plus there are cabinet members coming around for special meetings. Plus there are civilians stopping by late at night and Abe has to get out of bed and answer the door. How does he get things done? You will begin to wonder how this will work out. You have to read the book.
March 18, 2025
I think most of us who are interested in history are thrilled to learn about little-known but important people, places and events. "Lincoln's Sanctuary" by Matthew Pinsker fits that description perfectly. My family and I have been to many places associated with Lincoln, including his birthplace in Kentucky, his home and tomb in Springfield, the White House, and Ford's Theatre. However, we never visited the Soldiers' Home north of Washington, D.C., primarily because we didn't realize how significant it is. Lincoln spent about one quarter of his presidency there, and it's where he monitored key battles, and had what was likely the most serious threat on his life before his assassination. (Confederate troops' gunfire could be heard from the home.) The Soldiers' Home was also Mary Lincoln's destination when she had a near-fatal carriage accident that many said changed her forever.
The book has inspired me to visit the Soldiers' Home, and to do it soon. It's truly a historic location.
The book has inspired me to visit the Soldiers' Home, and to do it soon. It's truly a historic location.
April 22, 2025
Lincoln’s Sanctuary looks at Lincoln from a new vantage point. With thousands upon thousands of Lincoln books, this seems like quite a feat but Pinsker pulls it off. Lincoln’s Sanctuary explores Abraham Lincoln’s time at the Soldiers’ Home, a cottage in the heights of Washington that served much like Camp David does today.
From 1862 to 1864, Lincoln and his family spent summers at the cottage to escape the heat and in-city pressures. Pinsker, a historian, uses primary sources to paint a vivid picture of Lincoln’s personal and political life during this period. The book connects the cottage to key wartime events, including the Emancipation Proclamation, the firing of General McClellan, and Lincoln’s evolving public image.
Lincoln buffs looking for a peek into Lincoln’s private life will find this book interesting.
From 1862 to 1864, Lincoln and his family spent summers at the cottage to escape the heat and in-city pressures. Pinsker, a historian, uses primary sources to paint a vivid picture of Lincoln’s personal and political life during this period. The book connects the cottage to key wartime events, including the Emancipation Proclamation, the firing of General McClellan, and Lincoln’s evolving public image.
Lincoln buffs looking for a peek into Lincoln’s private life will find this book interesting.
September 1, 2021
Excellent, it helps that anything Lincoln is a favorite, but this book addresses an area that is seldom addressed in any of the other books. Lincoln wasn't just about the war, but saving the Union was his mission during his presidency and being at the cottage provided him not only sanctuary from the business and gloom of the White House, after Willie's death, it placed him near the the communications the telegraph office provided. Insightful read that I couldn't put down, one to re-read.
October 16, 2025
Far more interesting than its title, the author could easily have called it closer to the stories of a nation at war. Very detailed and great plotting, the author clearly loves the subject of Lincoln and finds a wonderful objectivity at the same time.
July 20, 2018
Very Interesting book !
I learned a lot from this book, not only about Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War, but the Soldiers Home too.
I learned a lot from this book, not only about Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War, but the Soldiers Home too.
April 25, 2019
4/25/2019
January 23, 2021
Had this around the house for a while reading bits
Mostly Lincoln info that could be sourced elsewhere
The actual cottage is a hidden gem of DC
Mostly Lincoln info that could be sourced elsewhere
The actual cottage is a hidden gem of DC
December 2, 2023
This book was written as background for the restoration of Lincoln's Cottage in Washington, DC. I recommend reading it along with a visit to that location, and possibly reading Tried by War: Abraham Lincoln as Commander in Chief, which covers this time period in Lincoln's life.
June 30, 2013
The importance of place and surroundings is Pinsker's overarching theme as he traces the months that Lincoln and his family lived at a cottage on the Soldiers' Home grounds from 1862-1864, totaling a significant portion of his time in office.
As a "commuter" during those months, Lincoln could form ideas and formulate plans unlike someone who just moves from one room to another in a big house. He was face to face with the effects of war, with the military cemetery right outside his door. He also put himself at great personal risk, especially as the war ground on, with kidnapping/murder plots increasing, and rather sparse security details surrounding him.
We all know Lincoln is a remarkable, unique figure in our history, one of the greats. Pinsker gives us yet another side of him, taken from documents not normally examined. We also capture glimpses of Mary Todd Lincoln, Tad, and Robert. Robert was, in my opinion, a sad and troubled person, and it pained me to read just how distant he was from his father, which kind of echoed Lincoln's own relationship with his father. Very interesting family dynamics here.
Pinsker also recounts a lot about the war's progress, the political rivalries, negotiations, and gamesmanship. Which of course is always fascinating.
I purchased this book after a tour of the Lincoln Cottage in Washington, D.C. and I am not sorry I did. The site is out of the way of normal tourist destinations in the city, but well worth the effort to get there.
As a "commuter" during those months, Lincoln could form ideas and formulate plans unlike someone who just moves from one room to another in a big house. He was face to face with the effects of war, with the military cemetery right outside his door. He also put himself at great personal risk, especially as the war ground on, with kidnapping/murder plots increasing, and rather sparse security details surrounding him.
We all know Lincoln is a remarkable, unique figure in our history, one of the greats. Pinsker gives us yet another side of him, taken from documents not normally examined. We also capture glimpses of Mary Todd Lincoln, Tad, and Robert. Robert was, in my opinion, a sad and troubled person, and it pained me to read just how distant he was from his father, which kind of echoed Lincoln's own relationship with his father. Very interesting family dynamics here.
Pinsker also recounts a lot about the war's progress, the political rivalries, negotiations, and gamesmanship. Which of course is always fascinating.
I purchased this book after a tour of the Lincoln Cottage in Washington, D.C. and I am not sorry I did. The site is out of the way of normal tourist destinations in the city, but well worth the effort to get there.
January 27, 2014
This was a very interesting read. Professor Pinsker uses a detective's skill to unearth many nuggets of information about Lincoln's life at his "vacation White House," the cottage at the Soldier's Home.
He is able to pull information from books, letters, memoirs from many different people, from private soldiers to Vice President Hannibal Hamlin to portray what Lincoln and his family thought and did there for three summers.
If there is a flaw in the book, it is the fact that the author is one of the "new" historians who attempted to rehabilitate Mary Lincoln. This was made necessary, at least in part, because she wrote about life at the Soldier's Home and evidently Lincoln did not. However, such attempts are doomed to failure. She was actually far from the partner and helper that Steven Spielberg and Sally Field attempted to portray.
Mary Todd Lincoln was a neurotic, psychotic, bi-polar, hysterical, selfish, jealous, spendthrift and scold. She was a hypochondriac and, after the death of her son Willie, a believer in the occult, including spiritualism and hypnosis. She was a constant millstone around Lincoln's neck, who made his life hell.
He is able to pull information from books, letters, memoirs from many different people, from private soldiers to Vice President Hannibal Hamlin to portray what Lincoln and his family thought and did there for three summers.
If there is a flaw in the book, it is the fact that the author is one of the "new" historians who attempted to rehabilitate Mary Lincoln. This was made necessary, at least in part, because she wrote about life at the Soldier's Home and evidently Lincoln did not. However, such attempts are doomed to failure. She was actually far from the partner and helper that Steven Spielberg and Sally Field attempted to portray.
Mary Todd Lincoln was a neurotic, psychotic, bi-polar, hysterical, selfish, jealous, spendthrift and scold. She was a hypochondriac and, after the death of her son Willie, a believer in the occult, including spiritualism and hypnosis. She was a constant millstone around Lincoln's neck, who made his life hell.
March 31, 2014
There are so many Lincoln biographies it is hard to keep track of them all... who is the real Lincoln? Pinsker offered a more intimate and unique look into Lincoln's life and his family's compared to previous biographies I have read. He used the historical monument of Lincoln's Cottage and Soldiers' Home to reveal a different side of Lincoln and his family during the summers of 1862-1864 than previously seen in biographies. I was assigned this book as a reading prior to our grad class' visit to Soldiers' Home this week. It was a perfect way to set the tone and take a different approach to the Civil War and understanding of the president. I am looking forward to visiting this little known landmark that, according to Pinsker, had an impact on Lincoln and some of his actions during his presidency. I am most looking forward to seeing how they interpret the home and its role in history today...
July 18, 2017
Fantastic book on the history of Abraham Lincoln visiting the Soldiers' Home. You can visit his house today in fact: www.lincolncottage.org.
November 25, 2013
Shortly after reading Lincoln's Sanctuary, I had an opportunity to visit and spend a day at the Soldier's Home. If you have a love of American/Civil War era history, I highly recommend.
After the heartbreaking death of his son Willie, Abraham Lincoln and his family fled the gloom that hung over the White House, moving into a small cottage in Washington, D.C., on the grounds of the Soldiers' Home, a residence for disabled military veterans. In Lincoln's Sanctuary, historian Matthew Pinsker offers a fascinating portrait of Lincoln's stay in this cottage and tells the story of the president's remarkable growth as a national leader and a private man.
After the heartbreaking death of his son Willie, Abraham Lincoln and his family fled the gloom that hung over the White House, moving into a small cottage in Washington, D.C., on the grounds of the Soldiers' Home, a residence for disabled military veterans. In Lincoln's Sanctuary, historian Matthew Pinsker offers a fascinating portrait of Lincoln's stay in this cottage and tells the story of the president's remarkable growth as a national leader and a private man.
October 12, 2007
I'm writing a short biography on the life of my grandmother, Geraldine Rossell, right now. So, I'm reading some biographies to get some ideas of how to go about this task.
In Lincoln's Sanctuary, Matthew Pinsker aimed to prove that the atmosphere of Abe Lincoln's summer home had a great effect on the presidency and therefore, the war.
I think it was more of a cool insight into Lincoln as he wore his slippers and invited friends over for relaxation and entertainment. Did you know he used to read Shakespeare aloud to his buddies?
I liked it.
In Lincoln's Sanctuary, Matthew Pinsker aimed to prove that the atmosphere of Abe Lincoln's summer home had a great effect on the presidency and therefore, the war.
I think it was more of a cool insight into Lincoln as he wore his slippers and invited friends over for relaxation and entertainment. Did you know he used to read Shakespeare aloud to his buddies?
I liked it.
July 12, 2016
Lincoln and his family spent summers at a house on the grounds of a wounded soldier's retirement home. It was a lovely wooded location, but an easy 30 minute commute to the White House. His time there allowed him to relax a little, though he still met many visitors and read and wrote important speeches and documents while there. This short book focused on his personal life, his interactions with the soldiers who guarded him and the the people he interacted with during his commute and his evenings at the cottage.
September 15, 2015
For someone who has little to no desire to learn about the casual conversations Lincoln had while en route between the white house and the soldiers home, it was OK. I found the discipline used in relaying the an accurate representation of Lincoln's experiences at the soldiers home to be what I expect basically what I expect of a historian. Probably because I am not familiar with the historical inaccuracies that have been elaborated on in years past, I don't know how the author stands in contrast to previous historians.
November 25, 2015
Matthew Pinsker takes a look at Lincoln's life and the Civil War through the lens of the Summer months in a Summer home that the Lincoln family stayed in every summer during his presidency up until his death. It is quite an interesting angle, but because I don't love the Civil War, I didn't love the book, but I enjoyed it.
December 22, 2012
Instead of retyping here, I'm posting the link to the review on my blog. http://wineandhistory.wordpress.com/2...
May 10, 2013
Lincoln's "Camp David" is my next destination on a future visit to Washington. An interesting read.
June 21, 2013
Matt is a fantastic historian and writer. This book provides a unique perspective of Lincoln.
January 17, 2016
VERY NICE INTERMIXING OF EVENTS AS RELATED TO LINCOLN COTTAGE USE. CONNECTION IS NOT STRAINED. MORE FOCUS ON RELATIONSHIP WITH MARY LINCOLN THAN I HAVE READ BEFORE.
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