Ways and Means
Winner of the Harold Holzer Lincoln Forum Book Prize
A revelatory financial investigation into how Lincoln and his administration used the funding of the Civil War as the catalyst to centralize the government and accomplish the most far-reaching reform in the country’s history.
“Lowenstein has delivered an outstanding contribution to the rich literature on the Civil War. . . . This volume will certainly rank as the classic treatment of the subject for a very long time to come.”
— Ron Chernow, author of Grant
“Roger Lowenstein gives a gripping account of how Lincoln and his secretary of Treasury, Salmon P. Chase, successfully won the financial war against the South. It also tells the deeper story of how Lincoln forged a new economic union, even as he was remaking the political union. Ways and Means is a tour de force of narrative history that provides a novel and original perspective on our greatest President.”
— Liaquat Ahamed, author of Lords of Finance
Order Books, Ebooks and Audiobooks at
Indiebound • Amazon • Barnes & Noble
“Nonfiction writing at its best”
—Robert S. Davis in the New York Journal of Books
“Lowenstein is a lucid stylist. . . . Ways and Means, an account of the Union’s financial policies, examines a subject long overshadowed by military narratives.”
—Eric Foner in the New York Times
“Captivating . . . Mr. Lowenstein makes what occurred at Treasury and on Wall Street during the early 1860s seem as enthralling as what transpired on the battlefield or at the White House.”
—Harold Holzer in the Wall Street Journal
“enlightening work of economic history”
—Library Journal
“His experience writing about financial matters . . . informs this fresh look at the president’s essential Republican roots as a self-made man, rather than slaveholder, and belief that anyone could be successful in America.”
— Kirkus Reviews
“Masterful history . . . character-driven narrative . . . fascinating . . . this is a must-read for American history buffs.”
— Publishers Weekly
“Lowenstein delivers a fine account of a crucial yet overlooked aspect of the American Civil War.”
—Booklist