Murder on the Mississippi: The Shocking Crimes that Shaped Abraham Lincoln
By Saladin Ambar
Diversion Books, 2025

Three brutal murders over three years crystalized the worldview of Abraham Lincoln in his mid-20s, inspiring the speech that put him on the national map: “The Lyceum Address.” Through meticulous research and gripping storytelling, Murder on the Mississippi sheds new light on Lincoln’s transformation from a struggling young legislator bordering on suicidal despair, to a leader ultimately willing to risk everything to save a nation. Lincoln’s battle was political, deeply personal, and reflective of a nation already at war with itself.

This event is presented in partnership with Southern Delaware Alliance for Racial Justice (SDARJ).

About the Author
Saladin Ambar is Professor of Political Science and Senior Scholar at Rutgers. He won the Association of American Publishers’ PROSE Best Book Award in Government and Politics for Stars and Shadows: The Politics of Interracial Friendship from Jefferson to Obama. He lives in Philadelphia and has teenage triplets.

Purchase the book
Please help support local independent bookstores by purchasing this book at Browseabout Books, official bookseller of the History Book Festival. Online sources and digital versions are tempting; however, supporting local brick and mortar shops helps to preserve our vibrant main streets. Drop by Browseabout, order books online, or call the store at 302-226-2665. You also may purchase a copy at biblion in Lewes.

About the Festival
The History Book Festival is the first and only book festival in the United States devoted exclusively to history. With the help of our presenting funding partners — Delaware Humanities and The Lee Ann Wilkinson Group, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices | PenFed Realty — as well as our program and community partners, volunteers, and donors, the 2025 History Book Festival will be full of great discussions with authors of newly published narrative nonfiction and historical fiction. 

Thanks to all of our donors, especially our education and outreach funding partners: Ronald Collins & Susan Cohen, Carolyn & Aaron Nayer, Jen Mason & Clare Hancock, and Browseabout Books. HBF authors visit classrooms in Delaware, and HBF provides their books to schools, libraries, and community organizations.

Our Keynote event is presented by Griswold Home Care for Sussex and Kent Counties and Sally Mott Freeman & John K. Freeman; our Closing event is presented by the Delaware Community Foundation. Saturday’s Spirited Discussion, our gathering for attendees and presenters to celebrate and discuss their day, is presented by Dogfish Head Beer & Benevolence.

Special thanks to our Founding Program Partners for their continuing support: the Lewes Public Library, for event promotion and production, and Browseabout Books in Rehoboth Beach, official bookseller of the History Book Festival. Thanks also to the  Lewes Chamber of Commerce for event promotion, and the Cape Gazette and Delmarva Public Media, our media partners.