socraticgadfly's review against another edition
4.0
On Douglass, Oakes looks at how he moved from radical to politician throughout his life, including wedding himself so much to the GOP in his last years that he apparently never entertained the idea of a "Free Vote Party" paralleling the Liberty Party of his younger days.
No, it's not a full bio, but it leads to further questions. Was this the "settling" of an old man? Was it an evolving pragmatism? Did getting a patronage job bank his inner fires?
On Lincoln, Oakes takes a careful look at the long-debated issue as to whether or not he had any racist bones, either before election to the presidency or even after.
On 126-29, Oakes tackles the pre-1860 politics of Lincoln re black-white relations beyond slavery with depth. He says Lincoln simply accepted white intransigence was so great that blacks never could have equality and that it was not a case of Lincoln himself rejecting racial equality. Nonetheless, Oakes believes "spineless" is a legitimate charge, as is "cynical."
More serious are some of the themes from a pro-colonization lecture, in essence, Lincoln gave to northern black leaders shortly before announcing the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation.
Oakes sees this as a more cynical version of Lincoln's 1850 stance on accepting white racism even though Lincoln didn't hold to it himself. After claiming in the past "racism" and "slavery" were different, Oakes says Lincoln now tried to conflate them with a cheap syllogism.
No, again, this is not a complete dual bio. But Oakes' excellent "For Further Reading" appendix points to the best bios on both men, as well as takes on the Civil War militarily and socially, Reconstruction and more.
Update, July 4, 2021: Realizing this is the same author of "The Crooked Path to Abolition," and that I dinged that book for whitewashing (pun intended) Lincoln on colonization, I've dropped the rating on this a star. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3824533023
No, it's not a full bio, but it leads to further questions. Was this the "settling" of an old man? Was it an evolving pragmatism? Did getting a patronage job bank his inner fires?
On Lincoln, Oakes takes a careful look at the long-debated issue as to whether or not he had any racist bones, either before election to the presidency or even after.
On 126-29, Oakes tackles the pre-1860 politics of Lincoln re black-white relations beyond slavery with depth. He says Lincoln simply accepted white intransigence was so great that blacks never could have equality and that it was not a case of Lincoln himself rejecting racial equality. Nonetheless, Oakes believes "spineless" is a legitimate charge, as is "cynical."
More serious are some of the themes from a pro-colonization lecture, in essence, Lincoln gave to northern black leaders shortly before announcing the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation.
Oakes sees this as a more cynical version of Lincoln's 1850 stance on accepting white racism even though Lincoln didn't hold to it himself. After claiming in the past "racism" and "slavery" were different, Oakes says Lincoln now tried to conflate them with a cheap syllogism.
No, again, this is not a complete dual bio. But Oakes' excellent "For Further Reading" appendix points to the best bios on both men, as well as takes on the Civil War militarily and socially, Reconstruction and more.
Update, July 4, 2021: Realizing this is the same author of "The Crooked Path to Abolition," and that I dinged that book for whitewashing (pun intended) Lincoln on colonization, I've dropped the rating on this a star. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3824533023
lucasmiller's review against another edition
5.0
I ended up a big fan of this. It isn't designed to be a dual biography and doesn't really try to break new ground, there is no new cache of documents or major revisions, but rather the book is a close reading of Lincoln and Douglass on a number of topics the author collective calls "antislavery politics."
The close readings of Douglass's writing about Lincoln was really well done, and the chapter that goes into Lincoln's use of racism to build up an antislavery politics in the Republican party was really illuminating.
There are a million books about Lincoln, and a lot about Douglass as well. In the end, Oakes writing just won me over. He is engaging and thoughtful, he unpacks concepts in ways that are clear and easy to read and he using the sources in clever, convincing ways. Just makes me want to read more books about Lincoln and Douglass.
The close readings of Douglass's writing about Lincoln was really well done, and the chapter that goes into Lincoln's use of racism to build up an antislavery politics in the Republican party was really illuminating.
There are a million books about Lincoln, and a lot about Douglass as well. In the end, Oakes writing just won me over. He is engaging and thoughtful, he unpacks concepts in ways that are clear and easy to read and he using the sources in clever, convincing ways. Just makes me want to read more books about Lincoln and Douglass.
mscoutj's review against another edition
4.0
Actually quite good, if a bit repetitive and in some place contradictory. Oakes clearly lays out Lincoln's longstanding opposition to slavery, as opposed to his abolition-by-convenience reputation. Frederick Douglass gets a fair treatment as well and its interesting to see his political development a well.
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