John Devanny

ABRAHAM LINCOLN LOOKS DOWN ON US in magisterial dominion from his throne in Washington's biggest monument-the American demigod. There is some justice in the symbol, because it was Lincoln who, with rivers of blood, destroyed the old Constitutional Union and founded the American nation that we know. As M.E. Bradford writes: "The truth about the life and death of Lincoln seems to matter very little when it is confronted by the myth." Even though, he adds, there is "God's plenty of evidence" to challenge the myth. In these essays, M.E. Bradford and Thomas Landess, high-caliber scholars, thinkers, and writers, examine aspects of Lincoln with the realism that is normally applied to any historical figure. What they find is revealing to everyone who will take note. Now that the American nation seems to have passed its peak, getting right with the real Lincoln may be essential to our survival.

The occasional essay was characterised by its personal and conversational style. It dealt usually with things of contemporary interest but with an insight and humane attention superior to ordinary discussion. It wore its considerable learning lightly and sometimes revealed a little gentle humour. John Devanny's work is in the great tradition of Southern essayists like Poe, Simms, Weaver, Davidson, O'Connor, and Percy. Excerpts: "This modest collection is designed to express the mentalitie' of a Southern conservative who holds to the old verities of faith and family, place, tradition, and custom. And who views history, and politics, and culture through the lens of not just changes, but important continuities." " . . . we know our good Yankee progressive cannot stop at the borders of his home state; He wants to bring the City on the Hill to you, whether you want it or not. ""The monuments erected in honour of specific political and military leaders of the Confederacy and of its ordinary soldiers and citizens, are meant to call to mind the fortitude, forbearance, patience in suffering, and self-sacrifice practiced by these men and women. . . . Indeed, this should be the working assumption of any civilized individual who comes upon the monuments of the other side. Only barbarians desecrate." '' . . . once the impious destroys the ties to tradition and piety, so too are the virtues that are allow for civilisation to be sundered. . . . One can reject the patrimony, but once the house is pulled down and the Jacobin has sown the wind, what then shall he reap?""Let us I advocate instead for the best in the Southern tradition and rebuild it each day and in every moment of our lives. Let us avoid (and forgive) the sins of our fathers, but more so let us imitate their virtues and always defend their honour." Essays: Musings on DislocationFall PlantingM.R. DucksFootball and the SouthHow 'bout a Little Bourbon with Your Philosophy?Gentleman Bob and the Decline of the SouthGuns, Yankees, and SuchPietas in the Era of RevolutionThrough a Glass Darkly: Justice Kavanaugh and the Triumph of Symbol over RealityThe Blundering Generations and the Crises of LegitimacyContested Ground: Southern Identity and the Southern TraditionThe Sins of Harper LeeAll Slavery, All the TimeA Society with SlavesJohn Randolph and the Formation of an American Conservative PersuasionPoison Under the Wings: The Constitution and Its DefectsZombies No More: Secession, Nullification, and the AcademyWhat We Have to ExpectRhetoric, Reality, and the Late UnpleasantnessSouthern Populism and the South's Agrarian IdentityWhere the Grapes of Wrath are Stored: The Reconstruction of Southern ReligionThe Late Unpleasantness: Memory, Meaning and Understanding