A few days before Christmas 1864, Abraham Lincoln received a Christmas present from General William T. Sherman – capture of the city of Savannah, Georgia. Lincoln was pleased, but continued t…

It’s time for my annual Year in a Traveler’s Life even though I’m not quite done traveling for the year. You can read about 2024 year here and follow the links to previous years. …

By David J. KentWashington, DCWednesday, December 17, 2025Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation freed those enslaved in the areas still in rebellion against the United States. Lincoln then fough...

Lincoln in New England is in an entertaining “ride-along” style. That means you get to come along with me as I visit the places Lincoln visited on his two tours through New England. The road through the New England landscape on the cover gives a sense of the thousands of miles I drove on Lincoln’s trail while I talked with dozens of experts and locals about Lincoln’s legacy.

As usual, the year sped by, which means it’s time to take stock of all my Abraham Lincoln book acquisitions for 2025. I began the year thinking I would continue reducing the number of books I…

It was the quickest of times, it was the slowest of times. It was the time between writing the book and publication of the book. It is a busy time. Writers use that time to do multitudes, from writ…

It was the quickest of times, it was the slowest of times. It was the time between writing the book and publication of the book. It is a busy time. Writers use that time to do multitudes, from writing companion articles to setting up presentations to squeezing in some vacation time while such a thing is still possible. It's also a time to be inspired. I thought of this today as I reviewed questions I've been asked to answer for an upcoming interview feature on the release of Lincoln in New England: In Search of His Forgotten Tours…

Ronald Rietveld passed away on November 27, 2025, at the age of 88. Rietveld was a professor of history at California State University – Fullerton for many years, although he is best known for his …

On December 5, 1864, President Lincoln, with Mrs. Lincoln, Secretary of State Seward, and Secretaries Nicolay and Hay, attends Grover’s Theatre for a performance of Charles Gounod’s Fau…

Paul Simon had a highly successful song in the mid-1970s called 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover. The repeating chorus has the line, “Make a new plan, Stan,” one of several ways the song sug…

When did the Civil War end? When did the Peace begin? Did the war end when Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox? When Johnston surrendered to Sherman? When Andrew Johnson declared the war "virtually" over? When was Jefferson Davis captured? With Grant's "guerilla order"? With the Kirby Smith surrender? With Johnson's Proclamation on Amnesty and Reconstruction? How about when the last former Confederate state was allowed to send representatives to Congress?

Ronald Rietveld passed away on November 27, 2025, at the age of 88. Rietveld was a professor of history at California State University – Fullerton for many years, although he is best known for his …

Ronald Rietveld passed away on November 27, 2025, at the age of 88. Rietveld was a professor of history at California State University – Fullerton for many years, although he is best known for his …

The process for rolling out my new book, Lincoln in New England: In Search of His Forgotten Tours continues. I previously shared an article that was published in the For the People newsletter of th…

As I prepare to spend a few days with fellow Lincolnites at the Lincoln Forum in Gettysburg, this is a good time to provide a few updates on Lincoln in New England: In Search of His Forgotten Tours…

As I prepare to spend a few days with fellow Lincolnites at the Lincoln Forum in Gettysburg, this is a good time to provide a few updates on Lincoln in New England: In Search of His Forgotten Tours…

This summer I finally made it to one of my lifelong dream locations - the Galapagos Islands. And I delivered the mail. More on that in a second. Back in my marine biology days, which started when I first saw a Jacques Cousteau special on television as a pre-teen, I became enamored with the Galapagos. The archipelago way off the coast of its parent country of Ecuador offered a marine and island diversity not seen anywhere else on earth. It was where Charles Darwin did some of his most important research during his five-year voyage on the Beagle.