Posted on June 3, 2021 at 8:00 AM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Abraham Lincoln has achieved mythological status in the United States; his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, much less so. 

And part of that myth has long been that the president was devoted to his wife, despite her flaws (some of which, to be fair, came from health issues and personal tragedies).

A new book, however, seeks to debunk that myth.

An American Marriage: The Untold Story of Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd, by Michael Burlingame, argues that their marriage was toxic and dysfunctional — in the words of a contemporary, “a burning, scorching hell.”

That said, reviewer Amy S. Greenberg raises several pointed questions about the author’s biases, both in terms of which sources he trusts and in how he analyzes the couple’s behaviors.

Check out the review of An American Marriage in the New York Times and decide whether you want to pick up the book itself and serve the judge.

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Categories: Today in Books

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