"The Diary of a Public Man," published anonymously in several
installments in the North American Review in 1879, claimed to offer
verbatim accounts of secret conversations with Abraham Lincoln,
William H. Seward, and Stephen A. Douglas -- among others -- in the
desperate weeks just before the start of the Civil War. Despite
repeated attempts to decipher the Diary, historians never have been
able to pinpoint its author or determine its authenticity. In A
Secession Crisis Enigma, Daniel W. Crofts solves these longstanding
mysteries. He identifies the author, unravels the intriguing story
behind the Diary, and deftly establishes its contents as largely
genuine. According to Crofts, the Diary was not a diary at all but
a memoir, probably written shortly before it appeared in print. The
mastermind who created it, New York journalist William Henry
Hurlbert (1827--1895), successfully perpetrated one of the most
difficult feats of historical license -- he pretended to have been
a diarist who never existed. Crofts contends, however, that
Hurlbert's work was far from fictional. Time after time, the Diary
introduces material virtually impossible to fabricate along with
previously concealed information that was corroborated only after
its publication. The Diary bristles with precise details regarding
the struggle to shape Lincoln's cabinet and the composition of his
inaugural address.
Crofts's careful analysis, accompanied by the full text of the
Diary in an appendix, offers a bold new perspective on the frantic
scramble to reverse southern secession while avoiding the abyss of
war. Hurlbert, a long-forgotten eccentric genius, emerges vividly
here. Part detective story, part biography, and part a detailed
narrative of events in early 1861, A Secession Crisis Enigma
presents a compelling answer to an enduring mystery and brings "The
Diary of a Public Man" back into the historical lexicon.
General
Imprint: |
Louisiana State University Press
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Release date: |
April 2010 |
First published: |
April 2010 |
Authors: |
Daniel W. Crofts
|
Dimensions: |
229 x 152 x 25mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Hardcover - Cloth over boards / With dust jacket
|
Pages: |
304 |
ISBN-13: |
978-0-8071-3591-4 |
Categories: |
Books >
Humanities >
History >
General
Books >
History >
General
|
LSN: |
0-8071-3591-7 |
Barcode: |
9780807135914 |
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