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halberdbooks's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.25
Certainly no book I have read so far has done such a good job of presenting Abraham Lincoln as a man in his time. The best parts of this book are the ones that trace Lincoln's actions and stated beliefs through their historical context. The structure of the book is great at this: a little bit of biography is always followed by a great deal of explanation. It is certainly very even-handed throughout, but the author's own prejudices still seep in. He refuses to set the stage or closing the curtain without briefly presenting strawman caricatures of modern ideologies he disdains. It's less blatant than a number of newer books on Abraham Lincoln, but it still is there. That said, like all books in this series, it is meticulously researched and clearly explained.
panda_incognito's review against another edition
5.0
This 128 page biography of Lincoln is extraordinary. It is required reading in the Civil War course I'm taking right now, and I thought it would be boring, but I ended up enjoying it so much that I slowly read and pondered every word. While a lesser book would merely present facts and minutiae about Lincoln's life and presidency, this has a satisfying narrative arc and provides international historical context for his principles and politics.
In addition to explaining the essence of Lincoln in brief, effective form, this book stands above others by providing a philosophical look at the times. Its focus on the history of ideas reveals the state of political liberalism in the 1800s and explains how Lincoln's unique combination of political and moral sensibility developed over time in response to the inadequate rationality of post-Enlightenment politics. The realities of the Civil War killed dreams of unstoppable social progress, and this book powerfully presents how Lincoln wrestled with ideological challenges and developed a theological vision of the war's events to make sense of its chaos.
In addition to explaining the essence of Lincoln in brief, effective form, this book stands above others by providing a philosophical look at the times. Its focus on the history of ideas reveals the state of political liberalism in the 1800s and explains how Lincoln's unique combination of political and moral sensibility developed over time in response to the inadequate rationality of post-Enlightenment politics. The realities of the Civil War killed dreams of unstoppable social progress, and this book powerfully presents how Lincoln wrestled with ideological challenges and developed a theological vision of the war's events to make sense of its chaos.
scifi451's review against another edition
4.0
If you are looking for a good but short (as the series name implies) introduction to Lincoln the book does an excellent job at that. It manages to tackle Lincoln in a condensed way that it gives you a good look into what Lincoln was like. Without getting overburdened by the Civil War and the myth making that over the years have started to surround Lincoln.
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