Lincoln and the Democrats: The Politics of Opposition in the Civil War By Mark E. Neely Jr.

Abstract

Northern Democrats during the Civil War have been grossly understudied; therefore, we should caution against making broad generalizations about their character and motivations. Such is the general thrust of Mark E. Neely’s slender but illuminating Lincoln and the Democrats, a book that draws on the author’s vast knowledge of nineteenth-century politics, the Constitution, and Abraham Lincoln. If this is, as stated in the introduction, Neely’s last book on the Civil War, he will have made another signal contribution to the field. By carefully pruning away questionable interpretive underbrush, he has well prepared the ground for future studies on this crucial topic.