Looking for Lincoln: The Making of an American Icon

(Paperback)

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An extensively researched, lavishly illustrated consideration of the myths, memories, and questions that gathered around our most beloved-and most enigmatic-president in the years between his assassination and the dedication of the Lincoln Memorial in 1922. Availing themselves of a vast collection of both published and never-before-seen materials, the authors-the fourth and fifth generations of a family of Lincoln scholars-bring into focus the posthumous portrait of Lincoln that took hold in the American imagination. Told through the voices of those who knew the man-Northerners and Southerners, blacks and whites, neighbors and family members, adversaries and colleagues-Looking for Lincoln charts the dramatic epilogue to Lincoln's extraordinary life. During these years, as Americans struggled to understand their loss and rebuild their country, Lincoln's legacy was still hotly debated. The authors take us through the immediate aftermath of the assassination; the private memories of those closest to the slain president; the difficult period between 1876 and 1908, when a tired nation turned its back on the former slaves and betrayed Lincoln's teachings; and the early years of the twentieth century when Lincoln's popularity soared as African Americans fought to reclaim the ideals he espoused. Looking for Lincoln will deeply enhance our understanding of the statesman and his legacy, at a moment when the timeless example of his leadership is more crucial than ever.

Reviews

"Enough to ignite a lifelong interest in the era that reveals the most about our history."
William Safire, New York Times Book Review

Powerfully illustrated . . . To leaf through its pages is to walk through the life of the nation after that night in Fords Theater in 1865, watching as a man became a legend . . . To remember Lincoln, the Kunhardts demonstrate, is to remember ourselves.
Jon Meacham, The Los Angeles Times

The Kunhardt trio offers up yet another impeccably designed and meticulously researched package, full of never-seen-before photographs and personal anecdotes that impart a fascinating and unbiased portrait of the heroic statesman. A timely read!
Alexis Burling, The Washington Post

Fascinating . . . Describes how Americans became obsessed by Lincoln from his death in 1865 to the dedication of the Lincoln Memorial in 1922 . . . The Kunhardt family not only recount this story, but inhabit it.
Ted Widmer, The New York Observer

Exceptional . . . A fitting tribute to our 16th president . . . This is a work that is certain to enhance our understanding of the man and his legacy.
Larry Cox, Tucson Citizen

If you want one book to read on Lincoln during his Bicentennial, this should be your top choice.Greg Lennes, Las Cruces Sun-News

By thumbing through this lavishly illustrated and well-organized book, we . . . bear witness to the generations that shaped Lincolns legacy . . . The photo gallery of all known Lincoln portraits is not to be missed.
Alfredo Sosa, Christian Science Monitor

An amazing exploration of one of our most photographed and beloved presidents.
New Orleans Times-Picayune

A museum within covers.
Asheville Citizen-Times

If Abraham Lincoln is one of our most fascinating presidents, the Kunhardt family is among our foremost Lincoln historians.
Uptown Magazine

An essential volume . . . Every page here has images and words worth thinking about . . . An important and fascinating examination of Lincolns legacy as accepted and as forgotten.
Rob Hardy, The Commercial Dispatch

A visual and literary feast . . . Beautifully illustrated . . . Loaded with rarities: never before seen letters . . . and first-hand reminiscences from numerous Lincoln intimates, all of them rich with telling detail about the man.
Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Lavishly illustrated with haunting, amusing and powerful images, this is the ultimate hardcover keepsake for Lincolns bicentennial.
Terry Golway, Newark Star-Ledger

Fascinating . . . An engrossing invitation to scrutinize its every page and image, the Kunhardts work is sure to be one of the most popular books in the bicentennial effusion of Lincoln volumes.
--Booklist

Will surprise even the most knowledgeable Lincoln fans . . . [a] treasure trove.--Guy Powers, Detroit Free Press

You can really lose yourself in the pictures.Joe Mysak, Bloomberg

The Kunhardt family has done it again with their latest tour de force--Looking for Lincoln. For five generations, the Kunhardts have been immersed in the study, writing, and collecting of Lincoln and Civil War era photographs and prints. While this book is chock full of iconography, it is not just a picture book--but a superlative narrative in text and illustrations that gives us a first-rate study of Abraham Lincoln in his bicentennial year.
--Frank J. Williams, Founding Chair of The Lincoln Forum and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Rhode Island

Author Bio

Philip B. Kunhardt III is Distinguished Scholar in Residence in the Humanities at New York University. Peter W. Kunhardt is Executive Producer of KunhardtMcGee Productions. Peter W. Kunhardt, Jr., is Director of the Meserve-Kunhardt Foundation. Along with their father, the late Philip B. Kunhardt, Jr., Philip and Peter are coauthors of Lincoln- An Illustrated Biography. Looking for Lincoln is the companion volume to the two-hour PBS special of the same name, which aired in 2009. The Kunhardts are based in Westchester County, New York.