Book Briefs

Every Drop of Blood: The Momentous Second Inauguration of Abraham Lincoln
by Ed Achorn '79

On March 4, 1865, Abraham Lincoln delivered his second inaugural address, to the combat-weary masses crowding Washington’s Capitol grounds. In the stirring speech, Lincoln suggested that the Civil War was divine retribution for the sin of slavery—God “gives to both North and South, this terrible war, as the woe due to those by whom the offence came”—while also calling on the divided country to heal itself. That we now live in a similarly polarized nation makes Pulitzer Prize finalist Ed Achorn’s consideration of our complex sixteenth president—peppered with firsthand accounts from Frederick Douglass, Walt Whitman, and other notable figures of the time—all the more compelling.

Strike Zone
by Mike Lupica '74

Just as a well-meaning parent slips veggies into pasta sauce, Mike Lupica weaves important immigration issues into this young-adult baseball novel, a follow-up to his New York Times bestseller Heat. It centers around standout Little League pitcher Nick Garcia as he strives to become league MVP, dreams of meeting his favorite Yankees player, and grapples with his family’s undocumented status.

Black Lives, Native Lands, White Worlds: A History of Slavery in New England
by Jared Ross Hardesty MA’10, PhD’14

Though the story of slavery in New England is literally as old as America, it’s not often told or as well known as the struggles and horrors south of the Mason-Dixon Line. Jared Ross Hardesty, an associate professor of history at Western Washington University, chronicles slavery’s origins in the Colonies and explores its indelible impact on the region’s economy and culture. (The book marks his second examination of the topic, joining his 2016 debut, Unfreedom: Slavery and Dependence in Eighteenth-Century Boston.)

Ask Peter Kreeft: The 100 Most Interesting Questions He’s Ever Been Asked
by Peter Kreeft

“Hardly ever have I heard a lecture that did not bore me. Hardly ever have I heard a Q&A that did,” writes Peter Kreeft in the introduction to this collection of—you guessed it—questions he’s answered on the lecture circuit. A BC philosophy professor, serial author, and convert to Catholicism, Kreeft tackles such queries as: Why do you have to bring God into everything? (“I don’t. He’s already there.”); Does God have a sense of humor? (“God laughs. At us. We are His great joke.”); If you were pope, what’s the first thing you would do? (“Resign. That’s the only way the Church and I would both survive.”)

Dorothy Macardle
by Leeann Lane PhD’00

Dorothy Macardle (1889–1958) is best known as the author of The Irish Republic, an account of the revolutionary period from an anti-Treaty perspective. Drawing on the journal Macardle kept while she was in jail and other source materials, modern Irish history expert Leann Lane reveals a deeper portrait of the feminist, activist, and literary figure, while tracing her personal and political evolution. ◽