Sign up for our newsletters to receive our Best of 2024 ezine!

Book Summary and Reviews of Seward by Walter Stahr

Seward by Walter Stahr

Seward

Lincoln's Indispensable Man

by Walter Stahr

  • Published:
  • Sep 2012, 608 pages
  • Rate this book

About this book

Book Summary

William Henry Seward was one of the most important Americans of the nineteenth century: progressive governor of New York, outspoken U.S. senator, odds-on favorite to win the 1860 Republican nomination for president, secretary of state and Lincoln's closest friend and advisor during the Civil War, target of assassins on the night Lincoln was killed, staunch supporter of President Andrew Johnson (Lincoln's unpopular successor), driving force behind "Seward’s Folly" (the purchase of Alaska from Russia), and the man who laid the groundwork for the acquisition of Hawaii and set America on course to becoming a world power.

Seward had a hand in so many policies that he became a controversial and at times polarizing figure. Some of Lincoln's critics even saw him, erroneously, as the power behind the throne, the man who controlled Lincoln. But Seward's most important role was in keeping Britain and France from recognizing the Confederacy as an independent nation, thereby contributing greatly to the Union's ultimate victory. Seward was also a fascinating person in his own right. Most nights this well-known raconteur with unruly hair and untidy clothes would gather diplomats, soldiers, politicians, and actors around his table to enjoy a cigar, a drink, and a good story.

Drawing on hundreds of sources long neglected by previous biographers, Seward sheds new light on this complex and central figure, as well as on pivotal events of the Civil War and its aftermath.

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Reviews

Media Reviews

"Starred Review. [T]here’s no doubting that this formidable figure has finally gained the biographer he’s long deserved." - Publishers Weekly

"This magnificent biography finally provides what William Henry Seward so justly deserves—a full, terrific and complex portrait of his endlessly fascinating life." - Doris Kearns Goodwin, author of Team of Rivals

"After a rocky start during which Seward crossed swords with Lincoln in the issue of Fort Sumter and other matters, the secretary of state did indeed become the president's most indispensable ally. Politician, diplomat, raconteur, a figure of controversy and power, Seward has finally found a biographer equal to his importance." - James M. McPherson, author of Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era

"A beautifully told, carefully researched narrative of William H. Seward's momentous career, from his days as a rising young antislavery politician to his role as Lincoln's right-hand man during the Civil War, culminating in his achievements as architect of American empire. Walter Stahr has delivered a biography worthy of one of America's greatest statesmen." - Daniel Walker Howe, author of What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815-1848

This information about Seward was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Author Information

Walter Stahr

Walter Stahr is the author of John Jay: Founding Father, a biography of America's first Supreme Court Chief Justice. He lives in Exeter, New Hampshire, and Vienna, Virginia.

More Author Information

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

More Recommendations

Readers Also Browsed . . .

more biography/memoir...

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Top Picks

  • Book Jacket: My Friends
    My Friends
    by Hisham Matar
    The title of Hisham Matar's My Friends takes on affectionate but mournful tones as its story unfolds...
  • Book Jacket: James
    James
    by Percival Everett
    The Oscar-nominated film American Fiction (2023) and the Percival Everett novel it was based on, ...
  • Book Jacket
    But the Girl
    by Jessica Zhan Mei Yu
    Jessica Zhan Mei Yu's But the Girl begins with the real-life disappearance of Malaysia Airlines ...
  • Book Jacket: Patriot
    Patriot
    by Alexei Navalny
    On the 17th of January, 2024, colleagues of Alexei Navalny posted a message to his Instagram account...

BookBrowse Book Club

Book Jacket
In Our Midst
by Nancy Jensen
In Our Midst follows a German immigrant family’s fight for freedom after their internment post–Pearl Harbor.
Book Jacket
The Berry Pickers
by Amanda Peters
A four-year-old Mi'kmaq girl disappears, leaving a mystery unsolved for fifty years.
Who Said...

Show me the books he loves and I shall know the man...

Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!

Wordplay

Big Holiday Wordplay 2024

Enter Now

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.