{"product_id":"the-lincoln-memorial-american-life","title":"The Lincoln Memorial \u0026 American Life","description":"\u003cp\u003eHonoring perhaps the most celebrated and important president in history  the Lincoln Memorial is one of our most recognized national shrines. It seems impossible to envision the Mall in Washington  D.C. or national pageantry without it--yet the Lincoln Memorial was almost not built. From the projects inception  the memorial--a modified Greek temple designed by architect Henry Bacon--gave rise to charged cultural and aesthetic debate  including arguments about Modernism and Americanism. Christopher Thomas offers the first detailed analysis of Bacons design and the memorial as a system  including the statue of Lincoln by Daniel Chester French. Using extensive archival data  Thomas discusses just why the memorial looks as it does.Because the idea of a memorial to Lincoln raised questions of race  the legacy of the Civil War  and lingering sectional animosities  the project sparked political debate between the legislative and executive branches of government and between political parties. Thomas traces the long and controversial path of the project  ranging from the immediate aftermath of the Civil War through the Progressive era  with its mix of novelty  racism  and imperialism. As he concentrates on the memorials background  design  construction  reception  and uses--including the many public demonstrations for civil rights and justice that have taken place there--Thomas shows that the Lincoln Memorial is not a neutral symbol of America at all but a partisan and racially coded object  susceptible to appropriation and re-appropriation.A valuable contribution to American studies  this book combines architecture and art history with American history and politics. It will appeal to scholars in these fields and to any general reader with an interest in Lincoln  the early twentieth century  and the monuments of our nations capital.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44963024142389,"sku":"ByrdShop_069101194X","price":34.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780691011943.jpg?v=1770403860","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-lincoln-memorial-american-life","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}