"Historian Michael Hogan makes a bold claim. He says that Abraham Lincoln is in no small part responsible for the United States being blessed for many generations with an essentially friendly nation to the South." -- Smithsonian Magazine. "Michael Hogan's important new study of US expansionist policy in the mid-nineteenth century provides an illuminating and unvarnished account of United States imperialist ambitions vis-à-vis Mexico. It is also a spirited defense against and rebuttal of simplistic thinking about Abraham's Lincoln's ideas about slavery, Mexico, and American hegemony. Hogan sets the record straight on these and other controversial historical matters, and...offers a positive way forward in considering Mexican-American relations." -- Robert DiYanni, Professor, Center for the Advancement of Teaching. New York University. "In this shining contribution to the literature on Abraham Lincoln and that of the US-Mexican War, Michael Hogan illuminates the stance of a young politician against that terrible war, telling a story that is both urgently necessary and well more than a century overdue." -- C.M. Mayo, author of The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire "Michael Hogan, in Abraham Lincoln and Mexico, brings together a passion for Mexico and an understanding of the United States during the nineteenth century. There is a scope about this book that finds a kind of grandeur in the events as they are eloquently described." -- William H. Beezley, Professor of History, University of Arizona. Author of The Essential Mexico (Oxford University Press). "The story of Lincoln's evolving defense of Mexico's autonomy and rights as a sovereign nation is an excellent forum for understanding related topics including the limitations of presidential power, the interpretation of the power to wage war, and the limits of the use of a pre-emptive attack on another country." -- Victoria M. Breting-Garcia, Independent scholar/historian. "While Abraham Lincoln and Mexico undoubtedly privileges the U.S. context, it nevertheless adds to the vital pedagogical mission of challenging triumphalist narratives of U.S. identity with more critical renderings of the past." -- Carlos R. Hernández, Department of History, Yale University. "These neglected connections between Lincoln and Mexico provide valuable insights into U.S.-Mexico relations and international history. This is an important book that...should be a resource in every high school and college classroom." -- Victor Gonzalez Pérez, Facultad de Estudios Sociales, Colegio Americano, Guadalajara. "As an AP teacher, I believe that books like these are worth their weight in gold. Michael Hogan has not only broken ground on undiscovered sources covering Lincoln's relationship with Mexico, but has also generously annexed the sources in their entirety. It is a godsend for history teachers who are constantly looking for new material and ways to challenge their students' analytical skills." -- Liam O'Hara, Chair, Department of History and Social Studies, American School Foundation of Guadalajara, A.C. "Dr. Hogan has done it again, finding a grand tale lost in the shadows of history. His meticulous research brings to light a period of Lincoln's life often ignored by other biographers." -- Christopher Minster, Ph.D., Founder and Editor of About.com's Latin American History site. "Abraham Lincoln and Mexico brings to light that which for too long has hidden in the shadows: the interest, integrity, and involvement of our sixteenth President in the struggles and victories of our southern neighbor, be they internal or external with the United States and France." -- Philip Stover, former Deputy Superintendent, San Diego Unified School District, and author of Religion and Revolution in Mexico's North.