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A review by alanthomp
Lincoln by David Herbert Donald
4.0
Abraham Lincoln. It's a name that is recognisable to a lot of individuals throughout the world however, curiously, I didn't know much about him apart from the fact that he was the great emancipator. Sometime in 2012 my curiosity piqued and I started researching biographies. Being Australian, by knowledge of American history is almost non-existent, and I was eager to learn. Lincoln just seemed like a natural choice, I couldn't tell you why I was drawn to him but I didn't regret my decision.
I landed on the one volume tome by David Herbert Donald and was extremely impressed with the results. Donald does a remarkable job at recounting a remarkable life and condensing it down. He takes us on a journey through the whole of Lincoln's life, from birth to death, and concentrates almost solely on Lincoln.
Abraham Lincoln was not perfect, he was flamed just like we all are, but he was an absolute man of his time. He was presented with some of the greatest challenges that America has ever seen and he stood tall and did his best to face them with steely determination.
Lincoln was an impressive specimen. Not only was he a strong force of determination, but he was also quietly spoken and humorous. He would often tell hilarious anecdotes to lighten the mood and enjoyed a god joke and a funny song. The thing that surprised me most was just how much he was disliked at the time, especially by his own party. Members of his own cabinet thought that emancipation was a bad idea and tried to convince him of the same. Many people thought that he was crazy and he had several death threats made against him, so much so that he ordered his secretaries to filter them out of his mail and to not show or tell him about them.
Despite all the hardships he faced, Lincoln stood tall (literally, he was 6'3 in a time when people were 5'10), and took them all head on. He freed the slaves, he saw the end of the civil war, and he fought disruption inside his own party and was re-elected. Even though I knew how this was all going to end, I was still devastated when it happened. Lincoln had so much more good to do, but unfortunately he never got the chance. While shot at 10 at night he didn't die until 7:22 the next morning, a fact which I didn't before know.
All these facts would not have been taken in so well if it had not been for the excellent writing of David Herbert Donald, whose love for Lincoln really shines through but does not affect his ability to write objectively about him. He shows his flaws and failures as well as his triumphs. He was also able to make this as exciting and interesting as any fiction novel, which is impressive because, as I mentioned earlier, its ending is already known by many people throughout the world.
This was a fantastic book and really taught me a lot about Abraham Lincoln and a brief look at the other events that were happening at the time. If you want to learn more about Lincoln, or are just a little curious, give it a read. All the information you could want and all in one volume.
I landed on the one volume tome by David Herbert Donald and was extremely impressed with the results. Donald does a remarkable job at recounting a remarkable life and condensing it down. He takes us on a journey through the whole of Lincoln's life, from birth to death, and concentrates almost solely on Lincoln.
Abraham Lincoln was not perfect, he was flamed just like we all are, but he was an absolute man of his time. He was presented with some of the greatest challenges that America has ever seen and he stood tall and did his best to face them with steely determination.
Lincoln was an impressive specimen. Not only was he a strong force of determination, but he was also quietly spoken and humorous. He would often tell hilarious anecdotes to lighten the mood and enjoyed a god joke and a funny song. The thing that surprised me most was just how much he was disliked at the time, especially by his own party. Members of his own cabinet thought that emancipation was a bad idea and tried to convince him of the same. Many people thought that he was crazy and he had several death threats made against him, so much so that he ordered his secretaries to filter them out of his mail and to not show or tell him about them.
Despite all the hardships he faced, Lincoln stood tall (literally, he was 6'3 in a time when people were 5'10), and took them all head on. He freed the slaves, he saw the end of the civil war, and he fought disruption inside his own party and was re-elected. Even though I knew how this was all going to end, I was still devastated when it happened. Lincoln had so much more good to do, but unfortunately he never got the chance. While shot at 10 at night he didn't die until 7:22 the next morning, a fact which I didn't before know.
All these facts would not have been taken in so well if it had not been for the excellent writing of David Herbert Donald, whose love for Lincoln really shines through but does not affect his ability to write objectively about him. He shows his flaws and failures as well as his triumphs. He was also able to make this as exciting and interesting as any fiction novel, which is impressive because, as I mentioned earlier, its ending is already known by many people throughout the world.
This was a fantastic book and really taught me a lot about Abraham Lincoln and a brief look at the other events that were happening at the time. If you want to learn more about Lincoln, or are just a little curious, give it a read. All the information you could want and all in one volume.