In the Presence of Mine Enemies: The Civil War in the Heart of America, 1859-1864 (Valley of the Shadow Project)

If I wanted to describe Edward L. Ayers's In the Presence of Mine Enemies in one word, that word would be tedious. The premise is quite interesting: comparing and contrasting the experiences of the people living in the border counties on the eve, and during the first years, of the American Civil War.

To that end, he has selected Franklin County, Pennsylvania, and Augusta County, Virginia. Ayers has then painstakingly reconstructed the events and times from original sources: newspapers, letters, legal documents, diaries, and other public and private records.

The first section of the book is devoted to showing how similar the people and places are. Ayers does this, if anything, too well. Until half the men went off to fight in blue and the other half in gray, I could not keep the counties straight. He switches between them frequently and I often had to reread entire pages to make sure I knew which county was the focus of a particular episode.

These early chapters are also dry. The political arguments - whether recounted in newspapers or personal letters - simply do not make for compelling reading. There is little new material about John Brown's raid or the abolitionists' growing impatience, or the presidential election of 1860. I had determined to read this book months ago, though, and I had paid good money for the privilege (which I rarely do!), so I was determined to slog on.

Ultimately, I made the correct decision, as the firsthand accounts of war and the homefront do save the latter parts of In the Presence of Mine Enemies. In the end, though, this is a book for those who are interested in the original source material, and not simply a primer on the big early battles.

The Lincoln Deception

David O. Stewart's historical mystery is built around the premise, some might say conspiracy theory, that John Wilkes Booth was not simply a madman bent on revenge in the name of Dixie, but was a paid operative in a plan hatched by men at the highest levels of the Confederacy - and the Union. Jamie Fraser, a small town doctor from Ohio, and Speed Cook, a former black professional baseball player turned newspaperman, embark on a journey to prove Booth's motives following a deathbed confession by former congressman John Bingham.

Fraser and Cook are an unlikely pair, and their adventures as The Lincoln Deception unfolds become increasingly unlikely (without giving anything away, I will say that the "realism" score feel off for me entirely around the time of their Baltimore steamer escapades). That said, the book does have at least one strong commonality with another Lincoln fiction, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, in that both are highly readable, if far-fetched. In fact, I read this is a single go, while sitting in an airport late last week waiting for a flight that was delayed some 8 or 10 hours. It has that going for it: you can pick it up, keep turning the pages, and a few hours later discover the story has flown by and you're about to the end of the mystery.

Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker

Elizabeth Keckley was fashion designer to the stars, back when the stars were Varina Davis (that's Mrs. Jefferson Davis to you) and Mary Todd Lincoln (a lady who needs no further introduction). She designed and sewed every stitch of their wardrobes - and those of many other leading ladies, as well - becoming their friend and confidante along the way. She nursed the Lincoln boys when they were in poor health, and Abraham Lincoln addressed her by name. Eventually, short on cash and with a misplaced devotion to her dearest patron, Mrs. Lincoln, she wrote a memoir, Behind the Scenes. All of this, after she spent the first thirty-odd years of her life as a slave.

Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker, by Jennifer Chiaverini, is the fictional telling of Mrs. Keckley's life, focused especially on her years inside the Lincoln White House. Elizabeth Keckley is fascinating to read about and Chiaverini paints a vivid portrait of the relationship between the loyal Keckley and the unstable Mrs. Lincoln. For reasons that I can't place my finger on, though, I didn't love this book. The historical research is outstanding - the recounting of the raid on Alexandria echoes the story as it's told in 1861: The Civil War Awakening as do numerous other passages - but there was just something intangible missing. Normally, I give stars (if I'm inclined to give any formal rating at all), but I feel a grade is more fitting today, and the grade I'd give this book is a B-.

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

In DC earlier this summer, I had the opportunity to spend an afternoon at one of the few historical sites I'd not yet visited: Ford's Theater. Browsing through the gift shop, my eyes fell on a "staff pic": Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith. It's not my usual fare. There are definite elements of fantasy and reality is often suspended, if not entirely forsaken. The entire premise of the book is that Old Abe Lincoln fought a decades' long battle with vampires, killing scores, before waging the entire Civil War to prevent them taking over America. It's nuts, really. And yet, unlike other fantasy-esque books that I've previously read and disparaged, I actually kind of like this one. Why?

I loved the way Grahame-Smith wove historical events, speeches and writings by Lincoln, and other facts into his tall tale. In many ways, at heart this is Lincoln's story...modified to fit with the vampire theme. It's like he wanted to tell his readers about Lincoln, realized most would never make it past page five of anything resembling a real biography, and had this brilliant, subversive idea to seed his Lincoln story with vampires. Vampires, after all, seem to be the fare of choice these days for those who don't suffer from the suspension-of-reality-blues. From start to finish real and important elements of Lincoln's life and work form the cornerstones of this work, a non unimpressive feat for a vampire story.

This is not a deep, thinking read. I tackled it, start to finish, on a travel day. I started in the airport and finished before the Pacific hove into view. It is a light - and, yes, fun - refresher on the life and times of our 16th president.

4 stars.