The Lincoln Enigma

Download The Lincoln Enigma PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Oxford University Press on Demand
ISBN 13 : 0195156269
Total Pages : 353 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (951 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Lincoln Enigma by : G. S. Boritt

Download or read book The Lincoln Enigma written by G. S. Boritt and published by Oxford University Press on Demand. This book was released on 2001 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Essays by leading Lincoln scholars seek to unravel the "Lincoln enigma" by exploring often controversial topics, including his possible gay relationships and his plan to send blacks back to Africa.

The Lincoln Enigma

Download The Lincoln Enigma PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : BookRix
ISBN 13 : 3755452588
Total Pages : 44 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (554 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Lincoln Enigma by : Asif Ahmed Srabon

Download or read book The Lincoln Enigma written by Asif Ahmed Srabon and published by BookRix. This book was released on 2023-09-10 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The Lincoln Enigma: Unraveling History's Hero" takes readers on a captivating journey through the life of one of America's greatest presidents, Abraham Lincoln. Authored by Asif Ahmed Srabon, this book delves deep into the enigmatic character of Lincoln, exploring his humble beginnings, his meteoric rise in politics, and his pivotal role in the tumultuous times of the Civil War.

The Mary Lincoln Enigma

Download The Mary Lincoln Enigma PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : SIU Press
ISBN 13 : 080933125X
Total Pages : 392 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (93 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Mary Lincoln Enigma by : Frank J. Williams

Download or read book The Mary Lincoln Enigma written by Frank J. Williams and published by SIU Press. This book was released on 2012-07-05 with total page 392 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mary Lincoln is a lightning rod for controversy. Stories reveal widely different interpretations, and it is impossible to write a definitive version of her life that will suit everyone. The thirteen engaging essays in this collection introduce Mary Lincoln’s complex nature and show how she is viewed today. The authors’ explanations of her personal and private image stem from a variety of backgrounds, and through these lenses—history, theater, graphic arts, and psychiatry—they present their latest research and assessments. Here they reveal the effects of familial culture and society on her life and give a broader assessment of Mary Lincoln as a woman, wife, and mother. Topics include Mary’s childhood in Kentucky, the early years of her marriage to Abraham, Mary’s love of travel and fashion, the presidential couple’s political partnership, and Mary’s relationship with her son Robert. The fascinating epilogue meditates on Mary Lincoln’s universal appeal and her enigmatic personality, showcasing the dramatic differences in interpretations. With gripping prose and in-depth documentation, this anthology will capture the imagination of all readers. Univeristy Press Books for Public and Secondary Schools 2013 edition

Lincoln's Smile and Other Enigmas

Download Lincoln's Smile and Other Enigmas PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Hill and Wang
ISBN 13 : 1429923423
Total Pages : 406 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (299 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Lincoln's Smile and Other Enigmas by : Alan Trachtenberg

Download or read book Lincoln's Smile and Other Enigmas written by Alan Trachtenberg and published by Hill and Wang. This book was released on 2008-01-22 with total page 406 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A new assemblage of masterly essays from a foremost scholar of American history and culture Alan Trachtenberg has always been interested in cultural artifacts that register meanings and feelings that Americans share even when they disagree about them. Some of the most beloved ones—like the famous last photograph of Abraham Lincoln, taken at the time of his second inaugural—are downright puzzling, and it is their obscure, riddlelike aspects that draw his attention in the scintillating essays of Lincoln's Smile and Other Enigmas. With matchless authority, Trachtenberg moves from the daguerreotypes that entranced Americans from the start (and that Hawthorne made much of in The House of Seven Gables) to literary texts of which he is a peerless interpreter: Howell's novels, Horatio Alger's stories, Huckleberry Finn, the cityscapes of Walt Whitman and Stephen Crane. In his exploration of the ways that nineteenth-and early-twentieth-century writers tried to make sense of the modern American city he also addresses subjects as diverse as Louis Sullivan's Auditorium Building, the Brooklyn Bridge, and the early works of Lewis Mumford. The celebrated author of Reading American Photographs concludes his important new book with "readings" not only of the photographs of Walker Evans, Wright Morris, and Eugene Smith, but of the city images of film noir.

The Lincoln Enigma

Download The Lincoln Enigma PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN 13 : 9780195156263
Total Pages : 356 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (562 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Lincoln Enigma by : G. S. Boritt

Download or read book The Lincoln Enigma written by G. S. Boritt and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2001 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Boritt invites renowned Lincoln scholars and rising new voices to take a look at much-debated aspects of Lincoln's life--including his possible gay relationships, his plan to send blacks back to Africa, and his high-handed treatment of the Constitution. 85 halftones & illustrations.

Coolidge

Download Coolidge PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 1596987375
Total Pages : 462 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (969 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Coolidge by : Robert Sobel

Download or read book Coolidge written by Robert Sobel and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2012-04-01 with total page 462 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the first full-scale biography of Calvin Coolidge in a generation, Robert Sobel shatters the caricature of our thirtieth president as a silent, do-nothing leader. Sobel instead exposes the real Coolidge, whose legacy as the most Jeffersonian of all twentieth century presidents still reverberates today.

The Lincoln Image

Download The Lincoln Image PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9780252069840
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (698 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Lincoln Image by : Harold Holzer

Download or read book The Lincoln Image written by Harold Holzer and published by . This book was released on 2005 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Focusing on prints produced in Lincoln's lifetime and in the iconographically important months immediately following his death, this lavishly illustrated volume--now available in paperback for the first time--pairs original photographs and paintings with the prints made from them. Featuring the work of Currier and Ives, John Sartain, and other artists, the juxtaposition reveals how the printmakers reworked the original images to refine Lincoln's appearance, substituting his image for those of earlier politicians or adding a beard to images of him that originally appeared clean-shaven.The Lincoln Image also includes wartime cartoons, Lincoln family portraits (most of which appeared after the assassination), and renderings of the fateful moment of the shooting at Ford's Theatre. In addition to discussing the prints themselves, prominent Lincoln scholars Harold Holzer, Gabor S. Boritt, and Mark E. Neely Jr. examine the political environment of the nineteenth century that sustained and helped to shape the market for political prints, showing how images of Lincoln were made, altered, and manipulated before, during, and after the Civil War.Harold Holzer is vice president for external affairs at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the author or editor of several books, including Lincoln at Cooper Union. Gabor Boritt, Robert C. Fluhrer Professor of Civil War Studies and director of the Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College, is the author of The Lincoln Enigma and other books. Mark E. Neely Jr., McCabe Greer Professor of History at Pennsylvania State University, is the author of The Last Best Hope of Earth: Abraham Lincoln and the Promise of America and other books.

A Secession Crisis Enigma

Download A Secession Crisis Enigma PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : LSU Press
ISBN 13 : 9780807137390
Total Pages : 304 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (373 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis A Secession Crisis Enigma by : Daniel W. Crofts

Download or read book A Secession Crisis Enigma written by Daniel W. Crofts and published by LSU Press. This book was released on 2010-04-15 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The Diary of a Public Man," published anonymously in several installments in the North American Review in 1879, claimed to offer verbatim accounts of secret conversations with Abraham Lincoln, William H. Seward, and Stephen A. Douglas -- among others -- in the desperate weeks just before the start of the Civil War. Despite repeated attempts to decipher the Diary, historians never have been able to pinpoint its author or determine its authenticity. In A Secession Crisis Enigma, Daniel W. Crofts solves these longstanding mysteries. He identifies the author, unravels the intriguing story behind the Diary, and deftly establishes its contents as largely genuine. According to Crofts, the Diary was not a diary at all but a memoir, probably written shortly before it appeared in print. The mastermind who created it, New York journalist William Henry Hurlbert (1827--1895), successfully perpetrated one of the most difficult feats of historical license -- he pretended to have been a diarist who never existed. Crofts contends, however, that Hurlbert's work was far from fictional. Time after time, the Diary introduces material virtually impossible to fabricate along with previously concealed information that was corroborated only after its publication. The Diary bristles with precise details regarding the struggle to shape Lincoln's cabinet and the composition of his inaugural address. Crofts's careful analysis, accompanied by the full text of the Diary in an appendix, offers a bold new perspective on the frantic scramble to reverse southern secession while avoiding the abyss of war. Hurlbert, a long-forgotten eccentric genius, emerges vividly here. Part detective story, part biography, and part a detailed narrative of events in early 1861, A Secession Crisis Enigma presents a compelling answer to an enduring mystery and brings "The Diary of a Public Man" back into the historical lexicon.

We Are Lincoln Men

Download We Are Lincoln Men PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 1416589589
Total Pages : 304 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (165 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis We Are Lincoln Men by : David Herbert Donald

Download or read book We Are Lincoln Men written by David Herbert Donald and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2007-11-01 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this brilliant and illuminating portrait of our sixteenth president, two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner David Herbert Donald examines the significance of friendship in Abraham Lincoln's life and the role it played in shaping his career and his presidency. Though Abraham Lincoln had hundreds of acquaintances and dozens of admirers, he had almost no intimate friends. Behind his mask of affability and endless stream of humorous anecdotes, he maintained an inviolate reserve that only a few were ever able to penetrate. Professor Donald's remarkable book offers a fresh way of looking at Abraham Lincoln, both as a man who needed friendship and as a leader who understood the importance of friendship in the management of men. Donald penetrates Lincoln's mysterious reserve to offer a new picture of the president's inner life and to explain his unsurpassed political skills.

Lincoln in the Bardo

Download Lincoln in the Bardo PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Random House
ISBN 13 : 081299535X
Total Pages : 369 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (129 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Lincoln in the Bardo by : George Saunders

Download or read book Lincoln in the Bardo written by George Saunders and published by Random House. This book was released on 2017-02-14 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • WINNER OF THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE The “devastatingly moving” (People) first novel from the author of Tenth of December: a moving and original father-son story featuring none other than Abraham Lincoln, as well as an unforgettable cast of supporting characters, living and dead, historical and invented Named One of Paste’s Best Novels of the Decade • Named One of the Ten Best Books of the Year by The Washington Post, USA Today, and Maureen Corrigan, NPR • One of Time’s Ten Best Novels of the Year • A New York Times Notable Book • One of O: The Oprah Magazine’s Best Books of the Year February 1862. The Civil War is less than one year old. The fighting has begun in earnest, and the nation has begun to realize it is in for a long, bloody struggle. Meanwhile, President Lincoln’s beloved eleven-year-old son, Willie, lies upstairs in the White House, gravely ill. In a matter of days, despite predictions of a recovery, Willie dies and is laid to rest in a Georgetown cemetery. “My poor boy, he was too good for this earth,” the president says at the time. “God has called him home.” Newspapers report that a grief-stricken Lincoln returns, alone, to the crypt several times to hold his boy’s body. From that seed of historical truth, George Saunders spins an unforgettable story of familial love and loss that breaks free of its realistic, historical framework into a supernatural realm both hilarious and terrifying. Willie Lincoln finds himself in a strange purgatory where ghosts mingle, gripe, commiserate, quarrel, and enact bizarre acts of penance. Within this transitional state—called, in the Tibetan tradition, the bardo—a monumental struggle erupts over young Willie’s soul. Lincoln in the Bardo is an astonishing feat of imagination and a bold step forward from one of the most important and influential writers of his generation. Formally daring, generous in spirit, deeply concerned with matters of the heart, it is a testament to fiction’s ability to speak honestly and powerfully to the things that really matter to us. Saunders has invented a thrilling new form that deploys a kaleidoscopic, theatrical panorama of voices to ask a timeless, profound question: How do we live and love when we know that everything we love must end? “A luminous feat of generosity and humanism.”—Colson Whitehead, The New York Times Book Review “A masterpiece.”—Zadie Smith

Mrs. Lincoln

Download Mrs. Lincoln PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Harper Collins
ISBN 13 : 0060760419
Total Pages : 436 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (67 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Mrs. Lincoln by : Catherine Clinton

Download or read book Mrs. Lincoln written by Catherine Clinton and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2010-01-19 with total page 436 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Abraham Lincoln is the most revered president in American history, but the woman at the center of his life—his wife, Mary—has remained a historical enigma. One of the most tragic and mysterious of nineteenth-century figures, Mary Lincoln and her story symbolize the pain and loss of Civil War America. Authoritative and utterly engrossing, Mrs. Lincoln is the long-awaited portrait of the woman who so richly contributed to Lincoln's life and legacy.

The Alpha Enigma

Download The Alpha Enigma PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Astra Publishing House
ISBN 13 : 0756414474
Total Pages : 573 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (564 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Alpha Enigma by : W. Michael Gear

Download or read book The Alpha Enigma written by W. Michael Gear and published by Astra Publishing House. This book was released on 2020-11-03 with total page 573 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A thrilling new science fiction mystery from the New York Times bestselling author of the Donovan novels Dr. Timothy Ryan, head of the military psychiatric unit at Grantham Barracks, is meeting a new patient, a woman known as "Prisoner Alpha." As she is being transferred, they are attacked by assassins, barely escaping with their lives. One shooter vanishes, leaving behind a dead companion unlike anyone Ryan has ever seen. But even more baffling is the puzzle of Alpha herself. She speaks in a strange tongue, and doodles in bars, dots, and little pictures like nothing Ryan has ever seen. Is she some sort of savant, or the most cunning spy he's ever met? Meanwhile, in Egypt, archaeologist Reid Farmer uncovers an 18th-Dynasty tomb that shouldn't exist, filled with Mayan epigraphy, mathematics, and materials that didn't exist 3,000 years ago. As a result of this discovery, Reid and forensic anthropologist Kilgore France—along with the sarcophagus they have found—are snatched away to a hidden lab to solve the enigma of a man lost in time. As dark forces gather, Alpha makes an impossible escape from Grantham. Ryan quickly becomes the prime suspect in her disappearance, but with a team of unique allies, sets out to prove his innocence. Together, they must find Alpha and save Ryan before it is too late.

Lincoln in Private

Download Lincoln in Private PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Random House Trade Paperbacks
ISBN 13 : 1984855115
Total Pages : 369 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (848 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Lincoln in Private by : Ronald C. White

Download or read book Lincoln in Private written by Ronald C. White and published by Random House Trade Paperbacks. This book was released on 2022-05-24 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “An intimate character portrait and fascinating inquiry into the basis of Lincoln’s energetic, curious mind.”—The Wall Street Journal WINNER OF THE BARONDESS/LINCOLN AWARD • From the New York Times bestselling author of A. Lincoln and American Ulysses, a revelatory glimpse into the intellectual journey of our sixteenth president through his private notes to himself, explored together here for the first time A deeply private man, shut off even to those who worked closely with him, Abraham Lincoln often captured “his best thoughts,” as he called them, in short notes to himself. He would work out his personal stances on the biggest issues of the day, never expecting anyone to see these frank, unpolished pieces of writing, which he’d then keep close at hand, in desk drawers and even in his top hat. The profound importance of these notes has been overlooked, because the originals are scattered across several different archives and have never before been brought together and examined as a coherent whole. Now, renowned Lincoln historian Ronald C. White walks readers through twelve of Lincoln’s most important private notes, showcasing our greatest president’s brilliance and empathy, but also his very human anxieties and ambitions. We look over Lincoln’s shoulder as he grapples with the problem of slavery, attempting to find convincing rebuttals to those who supported the evil institution (“As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy.”); prepares for his historic debates with Stephen Douglas; expresses his private feelings after a defeated bid for a Senate seat (“With me, the race of ambition has been a failure—a flat failure”); voices his concerns about the new Republican Party’s long-term prospects; develops an argument for national unity amidst a secession crisis that would ultimately rend the nation in two; and, for a president many have viewed as not religious, develops a sophisticated theological reflection in the midst of the Civil War (“it is quite possible that God’s purpose is something different from the purpose of either party”). Additionally, in a historic first, all 111 Lincoln notes are transcribed in the appendix, a gift to scholars and Lincoln buffs alike. These are notes Lincoln never expected anyone to read, put into context by a writer who has spent his career studying Lincoln’s life and words. The result is a rare glimpse into the mind and soul of one of our nation’s most important figures.

Abraham Lincoln

Download Abraham Lincoln PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
ISBN 13 : 9780802842930
Total Pages : 532 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (429 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Abraham Lincoln by : Allen C. Guelzo

Download or read book Abraham Lincoln written by Allen C. Guelzo and published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. This book was released on 1999 with total page 532 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This biography of the sixteenth president explores Lincoln's life and political career along with insights into his philosophy, religious views, and moral character.

Courting Mr. Lincoln

Download Courting Mr. Lincoln PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Algonquin Books
ISBN 13 : 1616209437
Total Pages : 352 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (162 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Courting Mr. Lincoln by : Louis Bayard

Download or read book Courting Mr. Lincoln written by Louis Bayard and published by Algonquin Books. This book was released on 2019-04-23 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A miracle; an exquisite story exquisitely told . . . If you love Jane Austen, or Hamilton, or fiction—of any era—that transports and transforms in equal measure, look no further.” —A.J. Finn, bestselling author of The Woman in the Window From the prizewinning author of Mr. Timothy and The Pale Blue Eye comes Courting Mr. Lincoln, the page-turning and surprising story of a young Abraham Lincoln and the two people who loved him best: a young, marriageable Mary Todd and Lincoln’s best friend, Joshua Speed. When sparky and independent Mary Todd arrives in Springfield, Illinois, in the 1840s to live with her sister, who is determined to find Mary a husband, she is astonished to find herself drawn to an awkward, melancholic lawyer with a gift for oratory. The two share ambition, an obsession with politics—and a need to be suitably married off. Always at Lincoln’s side, however, is the charming Joshua Speed, a shopkeeper who became his mentor in society, loyal friend, roommate—and possible lover. Told in alternating chapters from the points of view of Todd and Speed, this witty, psychologically astute, and brilliantly plotted novel follows the threesome during Todd and Lincoln’s tumultuous courtship, with all the suspense and delight of the best Jane Austen novels. Historians have long speculated that Lincoln and Speed had a romantic relationship, and here Bayard explores that forbidden possibility with deep empathy. Rich with both period detail and contemporary insight, Courting Mr. Lincoln offers smart storytelling at the highest level.

Team of Rivals

Download Team of Rivals PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 1416549838
Total Pages : 945 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (165 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Team of Rivals by : Doris Kearns Goodwin

Download or read book Team of Rivals written by Doris Kearns Goodwin and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2006-12-08 with total page 945 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the most influential books of the past fifty years, Team of Rivals is Pulitzer Prize–winning author and esteemed presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin’s modern classic about the political genius of Abraham Lincoln, his unlikely presidency, and his cabinet of former political foes. Winner of the prestigious Lincoln Prize and the inspiration for the Oscar Award winning–film Lincoln, starring Daniel Day-Lewis, directed by Steven Spielberg, and written by Tony Kushner. On May 18, 1860, William H. Seward, Salmon P. Chase, Edward Bates, and Abraham Lincoln waited in their hometowns for the results from the Republican National Convention in Chicago. When Lincoln emerged as the victor, his rivals were dismayed and angry. Throughout the turbulent 1850s, each had energetically sought the presidency as the conflict over slavery was leading inexorably to secession and civil war. That Lincoln succeeded, Goodwin demonstrates, was the result of a character that had been forged by experiences that raised him above his more privileged and accomplished rivals. He won because he possessed an extraordinary ability to put himself in the place of other men, to experience what they were feeling, to understand their motives and desires. It was this capacity that enabled Lincoln as president to bring his disgruntled opponents together, create the most unusual cabinet in history, and marshal their talents to the task of preserving the Union and winning the war. We view the long, horrifying struggle from the vantage of the White House as Lincoln copes with incompetent generals, hostile congressmen, and his raucous cabinet. He overcomes these obstacles by winning the respect of his former competitors, and in the case of Seward, finds a loyal and crucial friend to see him through. This brilliant multiple biography is centered on Lincoln's mastery of men and how it shaped the most significant presidency in the nation's history.

The Enigma of Clarence Thomas

Download The Enigma of Clarence Thomas PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Metropolitan Books
ISBN 13 : 1627793844
Total Pages : 288 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (277 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Enigma of Clarence Thomas by : Corey Robin

Download or read book The Enigma of Clarence Thomas written by Corey Robin and published by Metropolitan Books. This book was released on 2019-09-24 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Enigma of Clarence Thomas is a groundbreaking revisionist take on the Supreme Court justice everyone knows about but no one knows. Most people can tell you two things about Clarence Thomas: Anita Hill accused him of sexual harassment, and he almost never speaks from the bench. Here are some things they don’t know: Thomas is a black nationalist. In college he memorized the speeches of Malcolm X. He believes white people are incurably racist. In the first examination of its kind, Corey Robin – one of the foremost analysts of the right – delves deeply into both Thomas’s biography and his jurisprudence, masterfully reading his Supreme Court opinions against the backdrop of his autobiographical and political writings and speeches. The hidden source of Thomas’s conservative views, Robin shows, is a profound skepticism that racism can be overcome. Thomas is convinced that any government action on behalf of African-Americans will be tainted by racism; the most African-Americans can hope for is that white people will get out of their way. There’s a reason, Robin concludes, why liberals often complain that Thomas doesn’t speak but seldom pay attention when he does. Were they to listen, they’d hear a racial pessimism that often sounds similar to their own. Cutting across the ideological spectrum, this unacknowledged consensus about the impossibility of progress is key to understanding today’s political stalemate.