Journalist Roger Lowenstein reveals the unlikely story of how Abraham Lincoln used the urgency of financing the Civil War to transform a union of states into one united nation.
A vast literature exists on nearly every aspect of the Civil War. But Roger Lowenstein’s Ways and Means, an account of the Union’s financial policies, examines a subject long overshadowed by military narratives ... In the hands of a less skilled author, the litany of bonds, notes, loans and forms of currency that he discusses could become mind-numbing. But Lowenstein is a lucid stylist, able to explain financial matters to readers who lack specialized knowledge. Perhaps he can write a book that helps laypersons like me understand recent innovations such as cryptocurrency and nonfungible tokens ... Lowenstein devotes considerably less attention to Southern fiscal policy, but what he does say is scathing.
... captivating ... Mr. Lowenstein makes what subsequently 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 ... Ultimately, Mr. Lowenstein centers the story so firmly on the Union’s Treasury department that it becomes perhaps too easy to overlook Lincoln’s masterful stewardship of the entire war effort. But the author is right that the beleaguered president fully delegated finances to his gifted but flawed Treasury secretary, Salmon P. Chase, who embraced both the challenge and the credit ... To great effect, Mr. Lowenstein makes the most of opportunities to view wartime milestones, political and military included, through an economic lens.
Based on Chase’s papers and other documents, Lowenstein’s clearly argued book shines a light on an oft-neglected history of the American Civil War and how it shaped the U.S. economy.
