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A review by cemoses
Lincoln and the Power of the Press: The War for Public Opinion by Harold Holzer
2.0
I found the book very boring-and I like books on American presidents and history. Maybe a professional historian would like the book but I found it unreadable.
I think the problem with the book is that it tries to be all things to all people. It does not have a focus or point of view. It does not tell a story. Instead it throws massive unrelated amounts of information at the reader. Some of the information is interesting but it does not stop the book from being dull and hard to read.
For a book about Lincoln, big chunks of the book are about the press. Some readers might think this is a good thing but I found that it made the book overly complex and confusing. (However, the book did bring out one interesting piece of information that in Lincoln's time nothing it was not seen as wrong for the press to be openly partisan and for members of the press to get government appointments in exchange for favorable press).
In regards to LINCOLN and the press, the book focused on three themes.
1) Lincoln himself dabbled in journalism
2) Lincoln was good at public relations with the press
3) There was a lot of restrictions on the press-some people would say censorship of the press during the Civil War(this is what I thought the book would be about). There are questions about what Lincoln's role was in putting restrictions on the press.
I think the book would have been better reading if it focused on one of these aspects of Lincoln and the press. Instead, the book throws massive amounts of information at the reader. It is a very dry book.
I think the problem with the book is that it tries to be all things to all people. It does not have a focus or point of view. It does not tell a story. Instead it throws massive unrelated amounts of information at the reader. Some of the information is interesting but it does not stop the book from being dull and hard to read.
For a book about Lincoln, big chunks of the book are about the press. Some readers might think this is a good thing but I found that it made the book overly complex and confusing. (However, the book did bring out one interesting piece of information that in Lincoln's time nothing it was not seen as wrong for the press to be openly partisan and for members of the press to get government appointments in exchange for favorable press).
In regards to LINCOLN and the press, the book focused on three themes.
1) Lincoln himself dabbled in journalism
2) Lincoln was good at public relations with the press
3) There was a lot of restrictions on the press-some people would say censorship of the press during the Civil War(this is what I thought the book would be about). There are questions about what Lincoln's role was in putting restrictions on the press.
I think the book would have been better reading if it focused on one of these aspects of Lincoln and the press. Instead, the book throws massive amounts of information at the reader. It is a very dry book.