Lincoln Unmasked (review: 2.5/5)

I was a bit underwhelmed with this latest book from Thomas DiLorenzo. In Lincoln Unmasked, you’ll find a collection of criticism of one of the most-worshipped Presidents. DiLorenzo offers up a variety of evidence against the common coin Lincoln legacy: that he was a railroad lobbyist entrenched in big business politics; he was willing to compromise on the slavery issue; he first introduced the era of the President qua dictator; etc.
Fair enough. I won’t dispute those facts. Revealing and fleshing out those issues would have been plenty, and I think DiLorenzo is at his best when he’s doing that kind of nut-and-bolts history. I really like this kind of counter-cultural, libertarian guerrilla criticism. But it’s easy to get distracted while attacking the totem. In the course of his arguments, DiLorenzo also delivers a fair amount of invective against the “Cult of Lincoln,” and much of the book is not really about Lincoln himself but about the ancillary politics of Lincoln study. At less than 200 pages, there’s not a whole lot of room for both editorial and and for deep, nuanced research. I think this one comes up a little thin on both counts. In other words, I wanted more. I might check out his other books.