The pandemic delayed lots of publishing projects and one was our book on the formation of the Gettysburg National Cemetery and its dedication. While the title suggests the book is all about Lincoln, it is not.

A large portion of the book deals with why the cemetery was formed, who paid for it, who designed it, and who planned it. It is a fascinating story of politics, pragmatism, patriotism, and just hard work.

About half the book is devoted to the actual dedication ceremony– its planning and implementation. There are so many conflicting stories and myths about Lincoln’s visit. It was both fun and frustrating trying to tease out truth from fiction. In the end, we mainly provided the varying viewpoints and let the reader decide for himself/herself. Aspects as basic as the appearance of the horse Lincoln rode, whether he read his speech or not, whether there was applause, whether Lincoln was sick and infected many people during his visit, and even the location of the speakers’ platform are all open to debate.

Chris Mackowski, editor of the Emerging Civil War Series was a joy to work with. What a wonderful professional!

The book runs 170 pages and is jam-packed with photos and graphics. We had fun working on it and hope you will have a chance to read it.

The book sells for $14.95. If you are interested in a personalized copy, write to me at bradgottfried@yahoo.com and we can oblige.