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4.17 AVERAGE
4.17 AVERAGE
I have to admit that I wasn’t planning to read about Lincoln until much later in my challenge mostly because there are SO many books about him available. You have books that cover his entire life as well as those that are focused on a smaller segment of his life. I know some things about him (as most people do) – so where to start? As luck would have it, Simon and Schuster contacted me with the offer to review Lincoln by David Herbert Donald on audiobook, so I jumped at the chance and the decision was made.
I really appreciate the approach that Donald took when writing this book. In the introduction he lays out the following: “In tracing the life of Abraham Lincoln, I have asked at every stage of his career what he knew when he had to take critical actions, how he evaluated the evidence before him, and why he reached his decisions. It is, then, a biography written from Lincoln’s point of view, using the information and ideas that were available to him. It seeks to explain rather than judge” (preface). He really seeks to keep the focus on Lincoln himself and not get tied up in all of the turmoil that was going on around him – which is something that other books tend to do. You won’t really find tangents on the specific battle of the Civil War here, unless it was something important to what Lincoln did or where he went.
The bulk of the book (and it certainly is a chunkster, with a page count of 720 pages and over 30 hours of audio) focuses on the time prior to the presidency – particularly his time as a lawyer in Illinois. While I appreciated understanding where Lincoln came from and how he grew in popularity to even become president sometimes I thought this section was a little too in-depth. The author went on to talk about the specifics of almost every case that Lincoln tried. I didn’t need these details. I think it would have been more effective to choose a few of the cases that were most important to some aspect on Lincoln’s development and focus on those. It got to a point where it was an endless list.
I appreciated learning about the relationship between Abraham and Mary – it made her a real person. Typically we see Mary following Lincoln’s death as a grieving widow, but Donald makes her a complex creature. It was also eye-opening to learn that most of the other politicians of the time period thought that Lincoln was doing a terrible job as president and that he almost wasn’t re-nominated for a second term. He is typically viewed as the greatest of our presidents by the modern American public. It makes me wonder how more recent presidents will be viewed once we are further removed from their term of office. If this book does one thing, it really gets you into Lincoln’s head which is a great feat since he kept his own mind most of the time.
I would recommend this book for someone looking for a complete life of Lincoln. However, be aware that the book ends almost immediately following the assassination, so do not expect an analysis of that issue.
The audio narration was overall very well done. I thought that the narrator kept my attention throughout the book. My only complaint would be with regard to the production. There would be times where I was listening and the voice would seemingly change. I think, if this was done intentionally, it was to denote the reading of a footnote so as to help the listener differentiate from the text. Whatever the case, I found it to be a little jarring. I would have preferred if they were reading a footnote to say something like “footnote: blah, blah, blah”.
This review was previously posted @ The Maiden's Court. Was received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
I really appreciate the approach that Donald took when writing this book. In the introduction he lays out the following: “In tracing the life of Abraham Lincoln, I have asked at every stage of his career what he knew when he had to take critical actions, how he evaluated the evidence before him, and why he reached his decisions. It is, then, a biography written from Lincoln’s point of view, using the information and ideas that were available to him. It seeks to explain rather than judge” (preface). He really seeks to keep the focus on Lincoln himself and not get tied up in all of the turmoil that was going on around him – which is something that other books tend to do. You won’t really find tangents on the specific battle of the Civil War here, unless it was something important to what Lincoln did or where he went.
The bulk of the book (and it certainly is a chunkster, with a page count of 720 pages and over 30 hours of audio) focuses on the time prior to the presidency – particularly his time as a lawyer in Illinois. While I appreciated understanding where Lincoln came from and how he grew in popularity to even become president sometimes I thought this section was a little too in-depth. The author went on to talk about the specifics of almost every case that Lincoln tried. I didn’t need these details. I think it would have been more effective to choose a few of the cases that were most important to some aspect on Lincoln’s development and focus on those. It got to a point where it was an endless list.
I appreciated learning about the relationship between Abraham and Mary – it made her a real person. Typically we see Mary following Lincoln’s death as a grieving widow, but Donald makes her a complex creature. It was also eye-opening to learn that most of the other politicians of the time period thought that Lincoln was doing a terrible job as president and that he almost wasn’t re-nominated for a second term. He is typically viewed as the greatest of our presidents by the modern American public. It makes me wonder how more recent presidents will be viewed once we are further removed from their term of office. If this book does one thing, it really gets you into Lincoln’s head which is a great feat since he kept his own mind most of the time.
I would recommend this book for someone looking for a complete life of Lincoln. However, be aware that the book ends almost immediately following the assassination, so do not expect an analysis of that issue.
The audio narration was overall very well done. I thought that the narrator kept my attention throughout the book. My only complaint would be with regard to the production. There would be times where I was listening and the voice would seemingly change. I think, if this was done intentionally, it was to denote the reading of a footnote so as to help the listener differentiate from the text. Whatever the case, I found it to be a little jarring. I would have preferred if they were reading a footnote to say something like “footnote: blah, blah, blah”.
This review was previously posted @ The Maiden's Court. Was received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Studying slavery and the civil war as a history major in college, I've previously run into Lincoln and in particular this book. Donald has received extensive praise for this biography. I never took time to actually read the entire thing at once though. Now that I have, I can confidently say it deserves every bit of praise. The number of subjects covered, Donald's consistency and depth of insight, his skill in delineating fact and opinion in the treatment of each subject, and the sheer readability of this book are enough to justify its plaudits. What lies beyond any praise I can offer, however, is the quality of the writing. Donald's prose is stunning in its simple delivery of complex information. And yet it remains accessible enough for a threateningly drowsy end-of-day train read.
With Lincoln as a subject it is not terribly difficult to find the man. Despite his private nature, Lincoln revealed himself in all his writing and interactions. He was a people person, and he never shied away from presenting himself in multi-faceted ways. That makes for an engrossing subject already, and a talented historian can readily uncover that. It can, however, be difficult to find something interesting to say that hasn't already been said. Donald both uncovers the man and adds to the conversation on Lincoln in every instance of import. His ability to cut to the core of historical issues and help the reader understand why they mattered is unmatched. For these reasons Donald's Lincoln has revived and added upon my appreciation for one of the United States's greatest leaders. I will be reading more Lincolniana very soon!
With Lincoln as a subject it is not terribly difficult to find the man. Despite his private nature, Lincoln revealed himself in all his writing and interactions. He was a people person, and he never shied away from presenting himself in multi-faceted ways. That makes for an engrossing subject already, and a talented historian can readily uncover that. It can, however, be difficult to find something interesting to say that hasn't already been said. Donald both uncovers the man and adds to the conversation on Lincoln in every instance of import. His ability to cut to the core of historical issues and help the reader understand why they mattered is unmatched. For these reasons Donald's Lincoln has revived and added upon my appreciation for one of the United States's greatest leaders. I will be reading more Lincolniana very soon!
challenging
dark
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
I loved Donald's premise: Lincoln's story told from only primary sources that Lincoln himself would have had access to. It makes for an intensive psychological and political portrait. This is a densely written book, and there are places where Donald clearly fell in love with his research, but I found the book fascinating.
It took a long time to get through this one. The writing is good, and I appreciate the author’s efforts in using mostly primary sources rather than drawing on the numerous earlier biographies of Lincoln. I think the problem is the deep dive into the struggles Lincoln had in managing the divided Republican Party during the Civil War. There is an inordinate amount of detail into the workings of Lincoln’s divided Cabinet, the so-called Conservative and Radical Republicans, the War Democrats, Copperheads and various other factions that the reader really needs a roster to keep track. Clearly, the way Lincoln navigated these troubled waters and managed to solidify the new Republican Party and keep the Union intact during Civil War is a great political achievement, but the focus overwhelms the book. The brief passages that deal with the more personal side of Lincoln during his presidency are welcome interludes, and I felt some relief when they came around, but they were few and far between.
On the positive side this book does a great job of covering Lincoln’s life before the White House, and I enjoyed reading about Lincoln’s time in Illinois.
In case you’re wondering, the book spends very little time on the assassination, and literally ends in abrupt fashion with Lincoln’s death. Smart move, since there are plenty of books on this subject, however a summarizing chapter or epilogue collecting the author’s overall thoughts would have been nice.
Overall, I think the author’s main point was to illustrate how Lincoln honed his political skills as a young lawyer to successfully carry his administration and the country through the worst of times. But it gets bogged down, and I feel like I need to read Doris Goodwin’s Team of Rivals to get a clearer picture.
On the positive side this book does a great job of covering Lincoln’s life before the White House, and I enjoyed reading about Lincoln’s time in Illinois.
In case you’re wondering, the book spends very little time on the assassination, and literally ends in abrupt fashion with Lincoln’s death. Smart move, since there are plenty of books on this subject, however a summarizing chapter or epilogue collecting the author’s overall thoughts would have been nice.
Overall, I think the author’s main point was to illustrate how Lincoln honed his political skills as a young lawyer to successfully carry his administration and the country through the worst of times. But it gets bogged down, and I feel like I need to read Doris Goodwin’s Team of Rivals to get a clearer picture.
You could ask for a better biography of Lincoln aside from this measured, thorough, fair single volume, but you couldn’t find one.
One word would suffice for a review of this book. Spectacular. This should be the benchmark for all Lincoln biographies, albeit I've not even come close to reading all of them... not even scratched the surface.
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
tense
slow-paced
A thorough if somewhat bland reinforcement of Lincoln as one of our greatest Americans. Rather fact driven without a lot of great narrative to thread it all with, but I might have unrealistic standards.
An in-depth look into Lincoln's life, this book revealed the difficulty of leadership and showed the humanity behind those who lead. Many people have claimed that Lincoln was racist and favored slavery. This was one of the viewpoints that I wished to discover a conclusion to, one way or another. With this open mindset, I set about to understand the man and his motives.
I was especially surprised to discover the doubts, hardships, and oppositions that Lincoln was forced to overcome. Seeing as how he is viewed as one of the best presidents we've ever had, I was astonished to discover the immense unpopularity felt towards him during the majority of his presidency. Knowing the inevitability of the ending, I had a hard time finishing. As the last pages drew nearer and nearer, I hoped that Lincoln would see the signs of his impending assassination and this time avoid his awful fate. Alas, this is an impossibility and I was saddened as history stayed true to course and Lincoln met his untimely demise. It is a great book, well thought out and researched. In the end it showed that those who would try to rewrite and reinterpret history to show that Lincoln was pro-slavery are entirely mislead. Lincoln was a great man who guided the country through a most difficult time with political adroitness and contemplation. Lincoln is a hero in every sense of the word.
I was especially surprised to discover the doubts, hardships, and oppositions that Lincoln was forced to overcome. Seeing as how he is viewed as one of the best presidents we've ever had, I was astonished to discover the immense unpopularity felt towards him during the majority of his presidency. Knowing the inevitability of the ending, I had a hard time finishing. As the last pages drew nearer and nearer, I hoped that Lincoln would see the signs of his impending assassination and this time avoid his awful fate. Alas, this is an impossibility and I was saddened as history stayed true to course and Lincoln met his untimely demise. It is a great book, well thought out and researched. In the end it showed that those who would try to rewrite and reinterpret history to show that Lincoln was pro-slavery are entirely mislead. Lincoln was a great man who guided the country through a most difficult time with political adroitness and contemplation. Lincoln is a hero in every sense of the word.