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Mark E. Neely Jr. (born November 10, 1944, inAmarillo, Texas) is an American historian best known as an authority on theU.S. Civil War in general andAbraham Lincoln in particular.[1]
Neely was born in Texas. He earned his BA in American Studies and PhD in history atYale University in 1966 and 1973. Yale's Graduate School awarded him aWilbur Cross Medal in 1995.
In 1971–1972 Neely was a visiting instructor atIowa State University. In 1972 he was named director of the Lincoln Museum inFort Wayne, Indiana, a position he held for 20 years.
In 1992 Dr. Neely was named theJohn Francis Bannon Professor of History and American Studies atSaint Louis University. In 1998 he was named the McCabe Greer Professor of Civil War History atPennsylvania State University.
Neely is best known for his 1991 bookThe Fate of Liberty: Abraham Lincoln and Civil Liberties, which won both the 1992Pulitzer Prize for History[2] and the 1992Bell I. Wiley Award.[3] In March 1991 he published an article in the magazineCivil War History entitled "Was the Civil War a Total War?," which is considered one of the three most influential articles on the war written in the last half of the 20th century.[citation needed]
According to the review in theJournal of American History, his 2011 bookLincoln and the Triumph of the Nation "is a meticulous study of Civil War-era constitutionalism, a complex and multifaceted book.... Neely has written what is perhaps the most important study of its kind to appear in the last 20 years."[4]
In 2010, Neely received The Lincoln Forum'sRichard Nelson Current Award of Achievement.[5]
| External videos | |
|---|---|
 Booknotes with Neely onThe Last Best Hope of Earth, June 12, 1994,C-SPAN | |
| Presentation by Neely onLincoln and the Triumph of the Nation, September 16, 2012,C-SPAN |
