Preview: Trudeau, “Lincoln’s Greatest Journey

Making my way through this pile (which yesterday grew by two) we have what’s called an “unedited galley proof.” It’s one of those stages of publications I sometimes get, along with “uncorrected proofs,” “bound galleys” and “advanced reading copies (ARCs).” I’m not really sure what the differences are between all these, but they’re similarly difficult to preview because they usually don’t include indexes and sometimes have no maps or illustrations. Foot-or-endnotes often are citations only and don’t always include the more detailed notes you find in final editions. So, these previews tend to be even more brief than typical. But I made up for that by including this explanatory note.

An upcoming release (September 2016) from Savas Beatie is Lincoln’s Greatest Journey: Sixteen Days that Changed a Presidency, March 24 – April 8, 1865, by Noah Andre Trudeau. This is the story of the president’s longest absence from Washington during his terms of office, when he traveled to City Point, VA, in the days preceding the eventual surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Court House. According to the publisher, Lincoln’s Greatest Journey “rewrites much of the heretofore misunderstood story of what really happened to Lincoln during this time.”

The narrative will clock in at around 261 pages, with an additional “Sources Casebook,” a Marine Muster Roll of U.S.S. Malvern, notes, bibliography, ten maps, and a good sprinkling of illustrations.

Look for this some time in September.