A gracefully written, compelling study that illuminates one of the most effective foreign policy partnerships in US history. Not only does Fry convince that Lincoln and Seward enabled Union victory by navigating the shoals of Civil War diplomacy with flexibility, imagination, and subtlety; he shows how their policies set parameters for America's later course to overseas empire. Anyone with an interest in the Civil War, Reconstruction, or American diplomacy will benefit greatly from reading this richly informative book.
~Robert May, author of Slavery, Race, and Conquest in the Tropics: Lincoln, Douglas, and the Future of Latin America
Joseph Fry, a distinguished historian of US foreign policy, has written an important book that admirably corrects lingering misconceptions about Secretary of State William Seward and his relationship with President Abraham Lincoln. In his rendering, we see two masters of statecraft working together, devising domestic and foreign policies that complemented one another and saved the life of the nation from its enemies at home and abroad. Fry's book is a heartening reminder that politicians, at their best, can rise above petty rivalries and jealousies to serve a larger cause, and they proved this during America's greatest crisis.
~Don H. Doyle, author of The Cause of All Nations: An International History of the American Civil War
In this engaging and well-crafted study, Joseph A. Fry examines the unusual partnership that developed between President Abraham Lincoln and Secretary of State William H. Seward during the Civil War. Setting aside their intense rivalry, they became close friends, united in their determination to preserve and expand the Union while warding off an intervention by either England or France—or both—that could have changed the outcome of the war. An impressive work that will interest both academic and general readers.
~Howard Jones, author of My Lai: Vietnam, 1968, and the Descent into Darkness
Joseph Fry has written the book that we have long needed. More than just an examination of one of the greatest political partnerships in US history, this insightful study shows how the course of the nation's greatest internal crisis hinged upon its relations with foreign powers. Anyone who is interested in the Civil War and the emergence of the United States as a world power should read this book.
~Jay Sexton, author of Debtor Diplomacy: Finance and American Foreign Relations in the Civil War Era, 1837-1873
This is quite simply the best book I have read on the Civil War in the last twelve months. The author sketches in the vastly different backgrounds of the two men and their prewar philosophies and political experience. To read this book, filled with deft portraits of the two men and their critical partnership, is almost to meet them. Informed and wise, it is a joy to read.
~North & South
Fry...does more than just discuss the Lincoln administration's efforts to prevent foreign intervention in the Civil War, a topic well covered by many authors, but also touches on the broader range of issues that more or less fell under the umbrella of 'foreign relations'.... Lincoln, Seward, and U.S. Foreign Relations in the Civil War Era...is a valuable read for anyone interested in American foreign policy in the mid-nineteenth century, and, of course, the Civil War.
~Strategy Page
Fry offers an illuminating overview of the cooperative efforts of Lincoln and Seward to shape US foreign policy during the Civil War.
~Humanities and Social Sciences Online
Fry has produced an impressive and judicious account of Lincoln and Seward's conduct of Civil War foreign relationsit is an excellent, slim volume to recommend to undergraduates and lay readers alike.
~Journal of Southern History
