Wills won the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award for Lincoln at Gettysburg in 1993. Well, the best travel writers suffer more than most, so perhaps that's why their books are so memorable. Geoffrey C. West reviewed the book for the New York Times and described it as compelling and well-researched: But Mr. Donalds Lincoln is so lucid and richly researched, so careful and compelling, that it is hard to imagine a more satisfying life of our most admired and least understood President, at least for the foreseeable futureMr. Shenk draws from historical records, interviews with Lincoln scholars, and contemporary research on depression to understand the nature of his unhappiness. (His enemies in Illinois dubbed him the Benedict Arnold of our district.) He struggled with his brilliant but irascible secretary of state, William Seward, to control the direction of foreign policy. ; he argues, convincingly, that the Presidents violation of civil liberties was not so great as many actions taken by later chief executives in less critical circumstances.
Garry Wills is a Emeritus Professor of History at Northwestern University. An excellent readInterestingly narrated as an admirer of his life from a first hand experience.. Lincoln at Gettysburg: The Words That Remade Americaby Garry Wills (1993). Foner tackles what would seem to be an obvious topic, Lincoln and slavery, and manages to cast new light on it. Lincoln and the Worldby Kevin Peraino (2013), There can be no new Lincoln stories, one of the Presidents former secretaries wrote in 1900, the stories are all told. And yet, as Kevin Peraino writes in his compelling book, Lincoln in the World, One of the unexpected joys of studying Lincoln in the 21st-century is how much astonishing new material about him has come to light.. We see Lincoln as a boy: not the dutiful son studying by firelight, but the stubborn rebel determined to make something of himself. In the morning President Lincoln anticipated defeat. No other narrative account of Abraham Lincolns life has inspired such widespread and lasting acclaim as CharnwoodsAbraham Lincoln: A Biography. ), Lincoln: The Biography of a Writerby Fred Kaplan (2008). There were times, in his journey from storekeeper and mill operator to lawyer and member of the Illinois state legislature, when Lincoln lost his nerve and self-confidence on at least two occasions he became so despondent as to appear suicidal and when his acute emotional vulnerabilities were exposed. In focusing on Lincolns politics, Foner explains that the reader can learn more about Lincoln himself as well as more about the Civil War-era in general: But I believe that casting a bright, concentrated light on Lincoln and the politics of slavery with politics defined in the broadest sense, not simply as elections and office-holding but the shaping of opinion with the extended public sphere, can illuminate his life and his era in new ways.. Learn about his interesting life.
This makes the life and legacy of our 16th president intimidating to the newcomer, but heres ten nonfiction works and one novel that will guide the novice through the halls of Lincoln lit. In 1999, Allen C. Guelzo, two-time winner of the prestigious Lincoln Prize and author of Abraham Lincoln: Redeemer President; Lincoln and Douglas: The Debates That Defined America; and Lincolns Emancipation Proclamation: The End of Slavery in America, described Thomass Lincoln as the finest one-volume survey biography of the sixteenth president. William McFeely, in his review of the book in The New York Times, was struck by its attention to the details of the speech: Mr. 
David Herbert Donald, who died in 2009, was a history author who wrote numerous books about Lincoln such as Lincoln Reconsidered: Essays on the Civil War Era; We Are Lincoln Men: Abraham Lincoln and His Friends; and Lincoln at Home: Two Glimpses of Abraham Lincolns Family Life. Lincoln at Gettysburg: The Words That Remade America, Lincoln at Cooper Union: The Speech That Made Abraham Lincoln President, Lincoln as I Knew Him: Gossip, Tributes, and Revelations from His Best Friends and Worst Enemies, Lincoln President-Elect: Abraham Lincoln and the Great Secession Winter 1860-1861, Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln. Obama, a keen reader, acknowledged the influence of Goodwin's book several times as he campaigned to become president. I dont want to have people who just agree with me. Keep in mind, these arent the only Lincoln books that you should read, but if your time and/or money is limited, these are definitely the must-read Lincoln books. Upon hearing these stories, he became fascinated with Lincoln and decided to write a biography about Lincolns time as a country lawyer in the midwest. 
White shows us Lincoln as a man who would leave a trail of thoughts in his wake, jotting ideas on scraps of paper and filing them in his top hat or the bottom drawer of his desk; a country lawyer who asked questions in order to figure out his own thinking on an issue, as much as to argue the case; a hands-on commander in chief who, as soldiers and sailors watched in amazement, commandeered a boat and ordered an attack on Confederate shore batteries at the tip of the Virginia peninsula; a man who struggled with the immorality of slavery and as president acted publicly and privately to outlaw it forever; and finally, a president involved in a religious odyssey who wrote, for his own eyes only, a profound meditation on the will of God in the Civil War that would become the basis of his finest address. The heart of the book is about how Lincoln persuaded his former rivals to let go of their grudges against him and become his allies in order to fight for the greater good of the country, as Goodwin explains in the introduction: This, then, is a story of Lincolns political genius revealed through his extraordinary array of personal qualities that enabled him to form friendships with men who had previously opposed him; to repair injured feelings that, left unattended, might have escalated into permanent hostility; to assume responsibility for the failures of subordinates; to share credit with ease; and to learn from mistakes., Fellow Lincoln biographer, James McPherson, reviewed the book for the New York Times Book Review and praised it as An elegant, incisive study.Goodwin has brilliantly described how Lincoln forged a team that preserved a nation and freed America from the curse of slavery., Jay Winik, of the Wall Street Journal, also reviewed the book and said it was Endlessly absorbing. He overcomes these obstacles by winning the respect of his former competitors, and in the case of Seward, finds a loyal and crucial friend to see him through. David S. Reynolds reviewed the book for The New York Times and praised it for its fresh, new perspective: Do we need yet another book on Lincoln? Well, yes, we do if the book is by so richly informed a commentator as Eric Foner. And we dont just love to read books. listeners: [], He often proved more adept at the arts of diplomacy that then polished and gold-braided envoys of Europe. Lincoln in the World isnt the first work to point out Lincolns brilliance as a seminal foreign policy president, but it is the first to gather all the key episodes. } It is intended primarily for the reading public rather than for the expert, though I hope that the experts will approve of it. Suspenseful and inspiring, this is the story of how Lincoln, with almost no previous military experience before entering the White House, assumed the powers associated with the role of Commander in Chief, and through his strategic insight and will to fight changed the course of the war and saved the Union. Books have been written about his childhood, his politics, his wartime leadership, his married life, his death, his speeches, his generals and admirals, his writing, his mental health and his legal career. Publishers Weekly had a more lukewarm review of the book, stating: Goodwin seeks to illuminate what she interprets as a miraculous event: Lincolns smooth (and, in her view, rather sudden) transition from underwhelming one-term congressman and prairie lawyer to robust chief executive during a time of crisisGoodwins spotlighting of the presidents three former rivals tends to undercut that Lincolns most essential Cabinet-level contacts were not with Seward, Chase and Bates, but rather with secretaries of war Simon Cameron and Edwin Stanton, and Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles. The book explores why Lincolns views on these matters changed and evolved over time and why he sometimes contradicted himself on these issues. We view the long, horrifying struggle from the vantage of the White House as Lincoln copes with incompetent generals, hostile congressmen, and his raucous cabinet. Foner won the Pulitzer-Prize, the Bancroft Prize and the Lincoln Prize for the Fiery Trial in 2011 and the book was named Notable Book of the Year by the New York Times. 3. His operational device to his commanders was often perceptivehe seemed to have a firmer grasp of grand strategy than some of his generals, particularly McClellan. 6. Mark E. Neely, Jr., who won the Pulitzer Prize for his monograph The Fate of Liberty: Abraham Lincoln and Civil Liberties, deemed Thomass book wonderful, a masterpiece, an elegant and balanced synthesis resting on the best research and written in a fluid and readable style.. The book, which is less than 100 pages long, is intended to be a stripped-down, minimalist narrative of Lincolns life and his achievements. forms: { 5. Just when you thought there were no new angles to approach Lincoln from, Fred Kaplan, a distinguished professor emeritus of English at Queens College and, among others, author of The Singular Mark Twain, defined Lincoln through his own words, words that were shaped through early exposure to Shakespeare, the King James Bible, Aesops Fables, the writings of Thomas Jefferson, John Bunyon, the speeches of Henry Clay, Classical writers, and poets such as Thomas Gray and Oliver Wendell Holmes and others. This favorite among books on Abraham Lincoln explores his most influential and widely reported pre-presidential address an extraordinary appeal by the western politician to the eastern elite that propelled him toward the Republican nomination for president. Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, Lincoln at Gettysburg: The Words that Remade America, Tried by War: Abraham Lincoln as Commander in Chief, Lincoln's Melancholy: How Depression Challenged a President & Fueled His Greatness, Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer, The Last Best Hope of Earth: Abraham Lincoln & the Promise of America, Willie Speaks Out: The Psychic World of Abraham Lincoln, We Are Lincoln Men: Abraham Lincoln and His Friends, Abraham Lincoln: The Man Behind the Myths, The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery, Honor's Voice: The Transformation of Abraham Lincoln, Lincoln at Cooper Union: The Speech That Made Abraham Lincoln President, Mr. Lincoln's T-Mails: The Untold Story of How Abraham Lincoln Used the Telegraph to Win the Civil War, Giants: The Parallel Lives of Frederick Douglass & Abraham Lincoln.
Its reputation in our own time has declined so much that the Proclamation is now often viewed not as revolutionary but as delayed, insufficient, and insincere. Holzer, though, makes a reasoned argument that the lack of fire in Lincolns prose was deliberate as he did not wish to enflame moderates and that, whatever it did not accomplish at the moment was largely irrelevant; once the Proclamation was made slavery was doomed. (Team of Rivals served as the historical basis for Spielbergs film Lincoln. Join the Brooksy Society by subscribing to our Monthly Newsletter! She later taught government, including a course on the American presidency, at Harvard for 10 years. (Stanton referred to the President as a long-armed ape.and you thought Obama got no respect.) In the books brief preface, McPherson explains that he decided to write his book because he felt that most of the Lincoln biographies published to date are too complicated and wordy: Most of these are substantial works; one definitive multivolume biography runs well over a half million words. The books, which originally consisted of a two volume book titled Abraham Lincoln: The Prairie Years and a four volume book titled Abraham Lincoln: The War Years, were later condensed into one volume.
Your recently viewed items and featured recommendations, Select the department you want to search in, Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II. His entire life and previous training and his deep political experience went into this, his revolutionary masterpiece. At least 15,000 books have been written about Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States. Award-winning biographer and poet Daniel Mark Epstein gives a fresh close-upview of the couples life in Springfield, Illinois (of their twenty-two years of marriage, all but six were spent there), and dramatizes with stunning immediacy how the Lincolns ascent to the White House brought both dazzling power and the slow, secret unraveling of the couples unique bond.
Most enlightening, the man who comes into focus in this gem among books on Abraham Lincoln is a person of intellectual curiosity, comfortable with ambiguity, and unafraid to think anew and act anew.. })(); The 10 Best Books on President George Washington, Kraft Heinz CEO: Miguel Patricio Biography, 12 Inspirational Books David Friedberg Recommends, 10 Inspirational Books David Sacks Recommends Reading, 20 Inspirational Books Reid Hoffman Recommends Reading, 5 Inspirational Books Paul Tudor Jones Recommends, 20 Inspirational Books Nassim Taleb Recommends Reading, The 3 Best Day Trading Strategies for Beginners, 5 Chart Patterns Every Beginner Trader Should Know, How Day Trader Ricky Gutierrez Grew His YouTube Channel, How to Buy Your First Stock, with Ricky Gutierrez. A Pulitzer Prize-winning account by our greatest political writer of how Lincoln wrote the 272 words that has become our countrys most important document since the writings of the Founding Fathers. The book has been described by many critics as the quintessential Lincoln biography. Carl Sandburg, who died in 1967, was a poet, editor and author. McPherson has written numerous books about the Civil War such as Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War era; Abraham Lincoln and the Second American Revolution; For Causes and Comrades: Why Men Fought in the Civil War; and Crossroads of Freedom. 9. ); Originally published as six volumes in the 1930s, the book chronicles the events of Abraham Lincolns life starting from his early years and continuing to his presidency and assassination. Giving shape to the deep depression that pervaded Lincolns adult life, Joshua Wolf Shenks Lincolns Melancholy reveals how this illness influenced both the presidents character and his leadership. Was Slavery the Primary Cause of the Civil War? Oates wrote 16 history books, many of them about 19th and 20th century history, such as Let the Trumpet Soar: A Life of Martin Luther King, Jr; Woman of Valor: Clara Barton of the Civil War; and the Approaching Fury: Voices of the Storm, 1820-1861. Holzer describes the enormous risk Lincoln took by appearing in New York, where he exposed himself to the countrys most critical audience and took on Republican Senator William Henry Seward of New York, the front runner, in his own backyard. The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery, Abraham Lincoln: 65 Fascinating Facts For Kids, The Encyclopedia of Confederate Generals: The Definitive Guide to the 426 Leaders of the South's War Effort, ABRAHAM LINCOLN: National Hero. Published in 1977, the book chronicles the life of Abraham Lincoln from birth to death. Donald, who died in 2009, was praised by Eric Foner (professor of history at Columbia and author of The Fiery Trial; Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery) for Avoiding the two pitfalls that people fall into. Published in 1952, the book details the events of Abraham Lincolns life from his early life to his presidency. Doris Kearns Goodwin recommended this book on NPR a few years ago, saying that McPherson is such a narrative genius what hes done is to mix together the battles, Lincolns leadership, the home front, the finances, the Cabinet, all together, but it drives forward as a story, and you dont know until finally, perhaps, Atlanta, whether the North is really going to win this war.. 8. Foner has written many books about Lincoln as well as the Civil War such as Our Lincoln: New Perspectives on Lincoln and His World; Gateway to Freedom: The Hidden History of the Underground Railroad; and A House Divided: America in the Age of Lincoln. Instead he gave the whole nation a new birth of freedom in the space of a mere 272 words. Perhaps Massachusetts Governor John A. Andrew said it best: a poor document, but a mighty act., Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincolnby Doris Kearns Goodwin (2006), It took 141 years after the death of Lincoln for a book to appear which put into detail his genius for reading character and establishing relationships. As a divided nation plunges into the deepest crisis in its history, Abraham Lincoln boards a train for Washington and his inauguration an inauguration Southerners have vowed to prevent. Focusing on the crucial years between 1831 and 1842, Wilsons skillful analysis of the testimonies and writings of Lincolns contemporaries reveals the individual behind the legends. If you want to completely shake up history, then Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith might appeal (and thats fiction by the way). Bookpedia.com calls the book an enjoyable read that relies heavily on personal accounts to show a more human side of Lincoln: The reading takes on an extended story-telling fireside chat feeling, where you know and trust the storyteller who happens to know the kinds of things you would be interested in knowing. The books listed here are best-sellers on the topic, have received great reviews from critics and historians, have won numerous literary awards, such as the Pulitzer Prize and the Lincoln Award, and have great reviews on sites like Amazon and Goodreads. The book differs from many other Lincoln biographies because it argues that Lincoln wasnt the inexperienced, unknown country lawyer that many historians depict him as and argues instead that he was an experienced politician who was popular throughout his home state of Illinois and was actually well known to national leaders. Lincoln forged a hard path toward mental health from the time he was a young man. The Life of Abraham Lincoln by Henry Ketcham. Such an ones idea are made up not from his rememberance and appreciation of events as they occurred, but from what he has read and heard about them in subsequent years.. document.getElementById("ak_js_1").setAttribute("value",(new Date()).getTime()); Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, Lincoln at Gettysburg: The Words that Remade America, The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery, Abraham Lincoln: The Prairie Years and the War Years, With Malice Toward None: A Life of Abraham Lincoln. Two years ago, Paul Tetreault, director of Fords Theater in Washington, declared that there are more books written about Abraham Lincoln than any other person than Jesus Christ. Wilson also reconstructs Lincolns frequently anguished personal life: his religious skepticism, recurrent bouts of depression, and difficult relationships with women from Ann Rutledge to Mary Owens to Mary Todd. In Lincoln at Cooper Union he does for Lincolns 1860 speech what Garry Wills did for the Gettysburg Address. Thats why Ive compiled a short list of some of the best books about Abraham Lincoln. He was a pioneer and frontier crusader for American Liberty. Additional Reading: Abraham Lincoln: A Life, Volume One and Two by Michael Burlingame Lincoln: The Biography of a Writer by Fred Kaplan Abraham Lincoln: A History, Volumes 1-10 by John M. Hay and John George Nicolay Abraham Lincoln: an Essay by Carl Schurz The Life of Abraham Lincoln, Volumes One & Two by Ida M. Tarbell,
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, Sources:Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association: Benjamin P. Thomas: quod.lib.umich.edu/j/jala/2629860.0019.204/benjamin-p-thomas?rgn=main;view=fulltextBest Presidential Bios: Review of Abraham Lincoln: A Biography by Benjamin Thomas: bestpresidentialbios.com/2014/04/14/review-of-abraham-lincoln-a-biography-by-benjamin-thomas/New York Times; Call Him Elequent Abe, the Writer in Chief; Michiko Kakutani; November 2008: nytimes.com/2008/11/07/books/07book.htmlChicago Tribune; Controversy Hits Accuser and Accused; Patrick T. Reardon; December 1990: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1990-12-11/news/9004120516_1_lincoln-scholar-plagiarism-stephen-b-oatesBest Presidential Bios: Review of Abraham Lincoln: The War Years by Carl Sandburg: bestpresidentialbios.com/2014/05/24/review-of-abraham-lincoln-the-war-years-by-carl-sandburg/New Republic; Lincolns as War Leader; Max Lerner; December 1939: newrepublic.com/article/80144/carl-sandburg-abraham-lincoln-war-leaderWashington Post; Eric Foners Book on Lincoln and Slavery, Reviewed by Fred Kaplan; November 2010: washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/28/AR2010112802826.htmlNew York Times; Learning to be Lincoln; David S. Reynolds; September 2010:Commentary Magazine; Lincoln at Gettysburg by Garry Wills; Walter Berns; November 1992: commentarymagazine.com/articles/lincoln-at-gettysburg-by-garry-wills/New York Times; How We Were Created Equal; William McFreely; June 1992: nytimes.com/books/98/12/06/specials/wills-lincoln.htmlWashington Post; Abe the Intellectual; David W. Blight; February 2009: washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/05/AR2009020503121.htmlBest Presidential Bios: Review of Lincoln by David Herbert Donald: bestpresidentialbios.com/2014/03/29/review-of-lincoln-by-david-herbert-donald/History Net: Book Review: Lincoln (David Herbert Donald): historynet.com/book-review-lincoln-david-herbert-donald-cwt.htmNew York Times; Before He Became a Saint; Geoffrey C. Ward; October 1995: nytimes.com/1995/10/22/books/before-he-became-a-saint.html?pagewanted=allHistory.net: Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln (Book Review):historynet.com/team-of-rivals-the-political-genius-of-abraham-lincoln-book-review.htmNew York Times: Team of Rivals Friends of Abe by James McPherson: nytimes.com/2005/11/06/books/review/team-of-rivals-friends-of-abe.html?_r=0Business Insider; There Are About 15,000 Books on Abraham Lincoln Here Are 7 You Should Read: businessinsider.com/best-books-on-abraham-lincoln-2015-2, Thanks for this list! (function() { Generally regarded by aficionados as one of if not the best single-volume biography of Lincoln. This brilliant multiple biography is centered on Lincolns mastery of men and how it shaped the most significant presidency in the nations history. Beautifully written, it is clear, concise, and correct. That point has been made before, but never with so much attention given to the structure of Lincolns major speeches. McPherson won the Pulitzer-prize for Battle Cry of Freedom and also won the Lincoln Prize for For Causes and Comrades. Another fellow Lincoln author, Fred Kaplan, wrote a negative review of the book for the Washington Post and argued that Foner merely created a thesis to fit his narrative: Foners justification for The Fiery Trial is that there is value in tracing Lincolns growth, as it were, forward. As it were reveals a nice hesitancy or qualification that the book as a whole doesnt maintain. Lincoln, once convinced of both the economic and moral validity of freeing the slaves, agonized over the process, rewriting his proclamation three times. This makes it an ideal beginning place for American readers nearly a hundred years after its publication. Youre seeing this ad based on the products relevance to your search query. Among the choice nuggets Peraino unearths is a letter to Lincoln from none other than Karl Marx, who congratulated him on the triumphant war cry of your reelection.. Published in 2009, this New York Times best-seller discusses the personal, political and moral evolution of Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln, Kaplan claims, was the Twain of our politics. Kaplan, the editor and critic, and Lincoln, the writer, are a wonderful combination. McPherson touches more Lincoln bases than any reader might reasonably expect, winning a well-deserved accolade that less is truly more.. Donald brilliantly depicts Lincolns gradual ascent from humble beginnings in rural Kentucky to the ever-expanding political circles in Illinois, and finally to the presidency of a country divided by civil war. These criticisms aside, Goodwin supplies capable biographies of the gentlemen on whom she has chosen to focus, and ably highlights the sometimes tangled dynamics of their team within the larger assemblage of Lincolns full war cabinet..
best books on abraham lincoln
