By John Avlon
A groundbreaking,
revelatory history of Abraham Lincoln’s plan to secure a just and lasting peace
after the Civil War—a vision that inspired future presidents as well as the
world’s most famous peacemakers, including Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, and
Martin Luther King, Jr. It is a story of war and peace, race and
reconciliation.
As the tide of the
Civil War turned in the spring of 1865, Abraham Lincoln took a dangerous
two-week trip to visit the troops on the front lines accompanied by his young
son, seeing combat up close, meeting liberated slaves in the ruins of Richmond,
and comforting wounded Union and Confederate soldiers.
Lincoln and the
Fight for Peace reveals how Lincoln’s character informed his commitment to
unconditional surrender followed by a magnanimous peace. Even during the Civil
War, surrounded by reactionaries and radicals, he refused to back down from his
belief that there is more that unites us than divides us. But he also
understood that peace needs to be waged with as much intensity as war.
Lincoln’s plan to win the peace is his unfinished symphony, but in its existing
notes, we can find an anthem that can begin to bridge our divisions today.
About the Author
John Avlon is
a senior political analyst and anchor at CNN. He is an award-winning columnist
and the author of Independent Nation, Wingnuts, and Washington’s
Farewell. Previously, he was the editor-in-chief and managing director of The
Daily Beast and served as chief speechwriter for the Mayor of New York during
the attacks of 9/11. He lives with his wife Margaret Hoover and their two
children in New York.