sonofthunder's review against another edition
5.0
What a biography. And yes, this is only volume 1!! Seven-hundred-some-odd pages and I still have another volume to go! (Which...I slightly miscalculated my reading speed, so ordered it a few days ago and thus don't have it yet. Probably good to take a little break anyway). So I've been aware of this 2-volume biography for a while because a few years ago (Christmas 2017 maybe?) I got it for Maryanne for Christmas. I did my research and determined that for the best definitive biography of Lincoln, this was it. Go big or go home, right? Well, Maryanne's been heartily enjoying it, so I knew I needed to read it myself someday. End of last year finally ordered myself Vol 1 and then finally started it...a few weeks ago? I honestly can't remember when I started it, but it was in January and apparently my last book log was on Jan 10...but surely I haven't read this one in 12 days. Except maybe I have. Because it's been totally engrossing. Usually I have 2-3 books on the go at any one time (fiction, non-fiction, Christian), but for the past (roughly) two weeks, I've just been reading this one. Lincoln's life is utterly fascinating and I have not been able to put it down and have been staying too late reading this quite a few nights in the past weeks! (And see, this is why I need to do re-reads in bed, not new reads)
But enough of a foreword. Why did I decide to read this book? Well, I love history and I love biographies. And Lincoln is one of the foremost men in our nation's history. Why would I not want to know more about him? This meticulously researched book (so many quotations...and over a hundred pages of citations at the end of book!) tells a story of a very fascinating man. Grew up in poverty in Kentucky/Indiana/Illinois. Educated himself to some extent. Never went to college. Worked all kinds of jobs(shipping cargo down the Mississippi,, surveying, being a store clerk, postmaster). Eventually became a lawyer, because why not? Served in the Illinois state legislature. Served one term in US Congress. Eventually became convinced of the immorality and evils of slavery and started speaking out against it. Ran for US Senator but lost to S.A. Douglas (but became famed throughout the country for the debates that he'd participated in with Douglas). Was elected US President but before he could even be inaugurated, a good portion of the South seceded in protest of this Republican (and as they saw it, anti-slavery) victory. Those are the bare facts. But who was the man? Sometimes I think we like to imagine our heroes fully-formed and vigorous, fiercely determined to always do the right thing. Well Lincoln was just a man. And like any of us, complex. He was sometimes lazy and just wanted to talk and have fun with his friends! He liked all kinds of off-colour jokes (he definitely had a very interesting sense of humour!!). He made a pretty unfortunate mistake in marrying his wife Mary, who was very much not suited to him (the account of their married life is horrifying!). His views on the slavery issue were not always set in stone and although he seemed to always find the idea of slavery reprehensible, he made many comments about the differences between the races that to our modern sensibilities sound appalling. He on many occasions sought to reassure his listeners that he didn't think non-whites should be able to vote, be on juries or be allowed all the privileges and honors that come with being a white person. He would frequently state that he would stick up for his race, because obviously, what man wouldn't want his own race to prosper and be predominate? If we ever think our country is full of racist hatred now...well, please read some history. Back then, the flames of racial hatred were stoked and stirred - people were horrified that "Negros" would be the equal of the white man in all things. One of the worst fears of all was that intermarriage between the races would occur if the races were deemed to be equal. Lincoln famously often stated that he had never had a Negro woman as a slave or a wife...and he could do just fine without either. So to talk about Lincoln and hear about some of his views and read some of the things he said...they sound a bit hideous to our modern ears. So what? Do we call Lincoln a monster, wash our hands and be done with him? Or do we recognize that people are flawed (all people, even us today who are oh so enlightened) and that Lincoln was an imperfect man living in an imperfect world. "I am a man of unclean lips, in a people of unclean lips." I believe Lincoln was mightily used by God (whether he knew it or not) to change the course of our country. I believe God had mercy upon our country by giving us such a leader as Lincoln, who did come to believe that slavery was a monstrous evil and must be destroyed. I'm grateful that Lincoln so early planted a flag in the Declaration of Independence and boldly proclaimed that "all men are created equal" and thus slavery was an affront to our nation's earliest ideals. I am thankful that one of Lincoln's earliest principles stated that "every man should be free to earn his own bread with his own hands" and not be enslaved by any other. And while Lincoln was also a pragmatist (he was not a hard-core abolitionist - he stated that he would preserve the rights of the Slave States and allow them their "peculiar institution"), once the Slave States began calling for secession in the wake of his election, his backbone stiffened and he firmly stated that slavery would not be allowed to spread to any other territory or state and that he would not be bullied into it by southern radicals. War was not inevitable, but the South was (somewhat mistakenly) hysterical that Lincoln would promote an encroachment of Northern principles upon southern sovereignty. And something that I hear time and time again (especially living in various southern states in the course of my life) is that the Civil War was not a war about slavery, it was a war about state's rights. Well that's utter nonsense. It was absolutely primarily about slavery, and anyone that wants to dispute that, please read some history. All of the principle debates and proposed compromises leading up to the Civil War dealt with slavery and the extension or containment thereof. Would the United States become a great slave empire or would chattel slavery be extinguished? Yes, popular sovereignty was used as a catchphrase ("every state should be allowed to do what it wants in this slavery issue!"), but the issues at hand leading to the Civil War revolved around whether slavery should be banned in new states/territories...or should it be allowed? Would the balance of power in the Union tilt towards Slave or Free? Thankfully Lincoln, as pragmatic as he was, declared slavery to be immoral and evil. And thus the Southerners were afraid. And as the media tends to be somewhat hyperbolic now, it was the same then (so many inaccuracies and hysteria in the papers of the day!). Nothing new under the sun. And so Lincoln was elected. And so the South was furious and enraged. And as this book ended, Lincoln is on the train to Washington for his inauguration in early 1861 and open war is on the horizon.
Apologies for the long review!! I might take a little break before I proceed to Vol 2...but I am greatly looking forward to it, make no mistake of that.
But enough of a foreword. Why did I decide to read this book? Well, I love history and I love biographies. And Lincoln is one of the foremost men in our nation's history. Why would I not want to know more about him? This meticulously researched book (so many quotations...and over a hundred pages of citations at the end of book!) tells a story of a very fascinating man. Grew up in poverty in Kentucky/Indiana/Illinois. Educated himself to some extent. Never went to college. Worked all kinds of jobs(shipping cargo down the Mississippi,, surveying, being a store clerk, postmaster). Eventually became a lawyer, because why not? Served in the Illinois state legislature. Served one term in US Congress. Eventually became convinced of the immorality and evils of slavery and started speaking out against it. Ran for US Senator but lost to S.A. Douglas (but became famed throughout the country for the debates that he'd participated in with Douglas). Was elected US President but before he could even be inaugurated, a good portion of the South seceded in protest of this Republican (and as they saw it, anti-slavery) victory. Those are the bare facts. But who was the man? Sometimes I think we like to imagine our heroes fully-formed and vigorous, fiercely determined to always do the right thing. Well Lincoln was just a man. And like any of us, complex. He was sometimes lazy and just wanted to talk and have fun with his friends! He liked all kinds of off-colour jokes (he definitely had a very interesting sense of humour!!). He made a pretty unfortunate mistake in marrying his wife Mary, who was very much not suited to him (the account of their married life is horrifying!). His views on the slavery issue were not always set in stone and although he seemed to always find the idea of slavery reprehensible, he made many comments about the differences between the races that to our modern sensibilities sound appalling. He on many occasions sought to reassure his listeners that he didn't think non-whites should be able to vote, be on juries or be allowed all the privileges and honors that come with being a white person. He would frequently state that he would stick up for his race, because obviously, what man wouldn't want his own race to prosper and be predominate? If we ever think our country is full of racist hatred now...well, please read some history. Back then, the flames of racial hatred were stoked and stirred - people were horrified that "Negros" would be the equal of the white man in all things. One of the worst fears of all was that intermarriage between the races would occur if the races were deemed to be equal. Lincoln famously often stated that he had never had a Negro woman as a slave or a wife...and he could do just fine without either. So to talk about Lincoln and hear about some of his views and read some of the things he said...they sound a bit hideous to our modern ears. So what? Do we call Lincoln a monster, wash our hands and be done with him? Or do we recognize that people are flawed (all people, even us today who are oh so enlightened) and that Lincoln was an imperfect man living in an imperfect world. "I am a man of unclean lips, in a people of unclean lips." I believe Lincoln was mightily used by God (whether he knew it or not) to change the course of our country. I believe God had mercy upon our country by giving us such a leader as Lincoln, who did come to believe that slavery was a monstrous evil and must be destroyed. I'm grateful that Lincoln so early planted a flag in the Declaration of Independence and boldly proclaimed that "all men are created equal" and thus slavery was an affront to our nation's earliest ideals. I am thankful that one of Lincoln's earliest principles stated that "every man should be free to earn his own bread with his own hands" and not be enslaved by any other. And while Lincoln was also a pragmatist (he was not a hard-core abolitionist - he stated that he would preserve the rights of the Slave States and allow them their "peculiar institution"), once the Slave States began calling for secession in the wake of his election, his backbone stiffened and he firmly stated that slavery would not be allowed to spread to any other territory or state and that he would not be bullied into it by southern radicals. War was not inevitable, but the South was (somewhat mistakenly) hysterical that Lincoln would promote an encroachment of Northern principles upon southern sovereignty. And something that I hear time and time again (especially living in various southern states in the course of my life) is that the Civil War was not a war about slavery, it was a war about state's rights. Well that's utter nonsense. It was absolutely primarily about slavery, and anyone that wants to dispute that, please read some history. All of the principle debates and proposed compromises leading up to the Civil War dealt with slavery and the extension or containment thereof. Would the United States become a great slave empire or would chattel slavery be extinguished? Yes, popular sovereignty was used as a catchphrase ("every state should be allowed to do what it wants in this slavery issue!"), but the issues at hand leading to the Civil War revolved around whether slavery should be banned in new states/territories...or should it be allowed? Would the balance of power in the Union tilt towards Slave or Free? Thankfully Lincoln, as pragmatic as he was, declared slavery to be immoral and evil. And thus the Southerners were afraid. And as the media tends to be somewhat hyperbolic now, it was the same then (so many inaccuracies and hysteria in the papers of the day!). Nothing new under the sun. And so Lincoln was elected. And so the South was furious and enraged. And as this book ended, Lincoln is on the train to Washington for his inauguration in early 1861 and open war is on the horizon.
Apologies for the long review!! I might take a little break before I proceed to Vol 2...but I am greatly looking forward to it, make no mistake of that.
markk's review
5.0
Abraham Lincoln has not wanted for biographers since his death, and every year new volumes about his life and presidency are added to shelves already groaning with them. Yet as Michael Burlingame notes at the start of this magnificent book, multi-volume studies of Lincoln’s life have been scarce of late, with the most recent one published decades ago. His biography is an effort to fill this gap by providing a comprehensive interpretation of Lincoln’s life, one that draws upon the enormous body of material accumulated about our 16th president to provide a deeper understanding of who he was and how he shaped our nation’s history.
The result is a breathtakingly thorough account of Lincoln’s life. In two volumes Burlingame traces Lincoln’s life from his early years on the Indiana and Illinois frontier to his tragic death on the eve of the Union’s victory over the Confederacy. Throughout his focus is resolutely on Lincoln, showing how he developed as a person and how that person sought to address the myriad challenges he faced throughout his life. In the process he draws out some fascinating insights, ones that reveal Lincoln as a man of principle and ambition, whose evolution into the “Great Emancipator” only came after a substantial career in the politics and the law.
Yet Burlingame also shows how despite considerable success as a Whig representative in the Illinois state legislature and a term in Congress, Lincoln was continually underestimated by many of his contemporaries, who dismissed him as a pleasant fellow who was not up to the challenges of the nation’s highest office. Such assessments ignored (and often enabled) Lincoln’s mastery of the political game, and Burlingame almost relishes recounting how he bested his opponents time and again. Where that mastery is best displayed, however, is on the issue of slavery, as Lincoln demonstrated throughout his career an ability to push his constituents to the limits in their opposition to the “peculiar institution” – and sometimes beyond them as well.
By the end of this book Burlingame leaves his readers with a profound appreciation of who Lincoln was as a person and how his personality shaped our nation’s history. Even those already familiar with Lincoln’s life will learn much from its pages, as Burlingame offers a perspective of his subject gained from a career spent studying the man. Nobody who wishes to understand in depth our nation’s 16th president can afford to ignore this book, which is unlikely to be surpassed soon for its breath of research and the depths of its analysis.
The result is a breathtakingly thorough account of Lincoln’s life. In two volumes Burlingame traces Lincoln’s life from his early years on the Indiana and Illinois frontier to his tragic death on the eve of the Union’s victory over the Confederacy. Throughout his focus is resolutely on Lincoln, showing how he developed as a person and how that person sought to address the myriad challenges he faced throughout his life. In the process he draws out some fascinating insights, ones that reveal Lincoln as a man of principle and ambition, whose evolution into the “Great Emancipator” only came after a substantial career in the politics and the law.
Yet Burlingame also shows how despite considerable success as a Whig representative in the Illinois state legislature and a term in Congress, Lincoln was continually underestimated by many of his contemporaries, who dismissed him as a pleasant fellow who was not up to the challenges of the nation’s highest office. Such assessments ignored (and often enabled) Lincoln’s mastery of the political game, and Burlingame almost relishes recounting how he bested his opponents time and again. Where that mastery is best displayed, however, is on the issue of slavery, as Lincoln demonstrated throughout his career an ability to push his constituents to the limits in their opposition to the “peculiar institution” – and sometimes beyond them as well.
By the end of this book Burlingame leaves his readers with a profound appreciation of who Lincoln was as a person and how his personality shaped our nation’s history. Even those already familiar with Lincoln’s life will learn much from its pages, as Burlingame offers a perspective of his subject gained from a career spent studying the man. Nobody who wishes to understand in depth our nation’s 16th president can afford to ignore this book, which is unlikely to be surpassed soon for its breath of research and the depths of its analysis.
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