This book gave a great retelling of Lincoln and his relationship with the press. It read like a novel, so it would be good for even a casual reader of history to pick up. This isn't a story that's often told, so history buffs would love it too. Even though these events happened 150 years ago, Mitchell's writing makes this seem timely and relevant. I would recommend it to anyone who asks.

Subtitled: A True Civil War Caper Through Fake News, Wall Street, and the White House

I received an advance reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book revolves around a fake news story that was circulated in 1864 to several newspapers in New York concerning a new draft of 500,000 soldiers for the Union Army. The last time such a draft was proposed, there was rioting in the streets due to all of the lives that had already been lost in the war.

The book summarizes several different types of interactions between Lincoln and the press. During the war, Lincoln seized all the telegraph companies, allowing for messages from and to potential Confederate spies to be intercepted. In Illinois, Lincoln even purchased a German-language newspaper in order to control its messaging. It was not uncommon for him to have writers friendly to his cause to write columns and/or letters to the editor that were favorable toward him and his policies.

With regard to the faked news story, the author provides several possibilities as to the nature and purpose of the leak, including: a newspaper reporter wanting to make a killing on the gold market, the first lady Nancy Todd Lincoln trying to pay off the huge debt she had built up purchasing dresses and other items, and confederate or confederate friendly individuals wanting to deter the Union war effort and morale.

I gave Lincoln's Lie four stars. It did not follow a consistent timeline, withholding the most likely solution to the mystery until the very end.

Lincoln's Lie is a story I had never heard of before and was a picture of Lincoln that had never been presented. In May 1864 a hoax was played on some newspapers in New York. Late a night after the last of the news stories had come in and the papers were going to print a proclamation from Lincoln arrived at several newsrooms. Once of the newsrooms printed it. Lincoln was requesting an extra 400K men or a draft would be called. The Battle of the Wilderness had just been fought and this proclamation would lead people to believe that the Union was losing.

Mitchell's book tells the story of this proclamation, who sent it, how Lincoln reacted, etc. The story had parallels to now. The media can be manipulated and should be punished, certain liberties can be withheld, everything that one does not like is a hoax, leaks from the Lincoln administration. I tells a side of Lincoln that is not normally told and is a little said to read. Most of the story is told in chronological order except for the first 4 chapters and the last 2. The story starts with the dissemination of the proclamation and then jumps to the train trip from Illinois to DC after Lincoln was elected. The other off story parts are in regards to Mary Todd Lincoln. She was a very flawed woman and had some confidants that were not the most appropriate. Now I know that these non-related items needed to be told because they are related to the story Mitchell wanted to tell but it made the story disjointed and I just wanted to say give me just the days in 1864 when this hoax occurs.

While I did not find the flow of the book great I will say that the story was won I have never even heard a little bit of so that made it interesting.