1 comments about The Roads to Santiago: The Medieval Pilgrim Routes Through France and Spain to Santiago de Compostela.

1. Although you can find books of any kind about the now so popular roads to Santiago, this one adds value by its beautiful pictures and well written impressions that go along them.
   Especially, if you didn't take a camera along your own camino, this book is an addition.
   It brought quite some memories back to my mind.
   And it makes me long for other roads.

No comments about Abraham Lincoln: A Presidential Life.

5 comments about Selected Speeches and Writings: Abraham Lincoln.

1. This book chronicles not only texts of key speeches showing the evolution of Lincoln's view of slavery, but also insightful letters revealing some private thoughts of this shrewd railroad lawyer whose ambition propelled him to heights that made him the best President our Republic has ever seen. The 1838 Lyceum speech of Lincoln's youth gives stunning insight into that ambition. This book supports the notion that Lincoln was also the greatest writer to ever occupy the White House, revealing an impressive variety of literary styles, from meticulous legal argumentation to a dry, concise wit. In light of Lincoln's literary legacy, it is no wonder that each President since Woodrow Wilson has deemed the aid of professional speechwriters vital to their strategies. And even with the professional help the modern chief executives have gotten, Lincoln's rhetoric remains the most sublime of all our Presidents.



2. The musty, stoic Lincoln of folklore is brought to life in the pages of this book, and in the best way possible... through his own words. Abraham Lincoln, we discover through his letters and speeches, was first and foremost an intellectual: one can feel his pain as he writes poetry about homesickness and the loss of a close friend to mental illness; one can hear his enthusiasm as he discusses the history of communication and human progress, to such a degree that he goes off on fascinating tangents; one can detect barely-suppressed anger at pro-slavery activists who lynched an abolitionist in 1838, or at the hypocrisy of popular sovereignty when espoused by Stephen Douglas twenty years later. I refer to him here as an intellectual because the defining characteristic that underlies the majority of these letters is the way that Lincoln uses his mind to both understand and make his way through the world he occupied. One can see him exploring new ideas, contemplating contemporary events, attempting to formulate political strategies, and so on; his cerebral nature shines through every page. I can think of no better way to get to know one of our nation's three greatest presidents (along with George Washington and Franklin Roosevelt) than through the pages of this book.



3. I bought this book as a gift for my husband who has been interested in Linclon ever since reading "Lincoln: The Unknown" by Dale Carnegie. Since receiving the book he has become interested in studying Lincoln's prose to improve his own written communication skills. I've read parts and it is truly fascinating---there are letters to his wife Mary Todd Lincoln and to other notable historical persons (and various others) that help us to see Mr. Lincoln as he really was---kind, clever, quick-witted, and intelligent.



4. Abraham Lincoln is a giant in American history, but it wasn't until I read his speeches and writings that his wisdom and wit became apparent. This is a man born in the depths of poverty, and who climbed to the very top. The Gettysburg Address, largely ignored when it was first given, has risen to become one of the most profound, definite, and understood explanations of the American dream..."we will witness a new birth of freedom...that government ofthe people, by the people, and for the people will not perish from the earth..." God Bless Lincoln, and God Bless America.



5. Of all the folks in the storied history of this world of ours, Mr. Lincoln is the one I'd most like to have had the opportunity to meet....this book takes one as close as he or she can get to that imaginary event.

5 comments about This Mighty Scourge: Perspectives on the Civil War.

1. This book contains 16 different essays, each focused on a different topic related to the Civil War. Subjects covered include Jesse James, Harriet Tubman, the military strategies of Grant, Lee, Sherman and other generals and the effects of journalism on troop morale. Each essay is well written and has something interesting to say. But my favorite was the very first, "And The War Came", which provides an explanation of the causes of war that is as insightful, fair minded and knowledgeable as I have ever read.
   
   McPherson correctly notes that the blame for the Civil War has to lie primarily with the South and their insistence that the "peculiar institution" of slavery be continued by any means necessary. Of course McPherson also recognizes that only a small minority of Northerners were actually dedicated abolitionists whose foremost concern was the liberation of black slaves. And when Lincoln was elected he did not immediately end slavery.
   
   It's important to remember that the North and South had been in engaged in a bitter struggle over the admission of new states as either "slave states" or "free states" since the Missouri Compromise of 1820. The extreme determination of the South to expand the territorial boundaries of slavery is shown by their unsuccessful efforts to annex Cuba as a "slave state" in the 1850's and the efforts of Southern military adventurers to invade Nicaragua and northern Mexico in hopes of adding them as additional "slave states".
   
   With the election of Lincoln the political tide seemed to be turning in favor of the "free state" Republicans. So pro-slavery Southerners, rather than to continue to engage in the democratic process, basically "picked up their marbles and went home", seceding from the United States.
   
   Of course, the original and primary goal of Lincoln, and most people in the North, was not the immediate abolition of slavery but rather the preservation of the Union. In fact, as McPherson explains on page 129, if the South had been defeated prior to the Emancipation Proclamation of 1862 it would have been allowed to re-enter the Union and "slavery and the antebellum Southern social order would have remained largely intact."
   
   Ultimately, it was a power struggle between the North and South over the direction of the country and thank goodness, for all our sakes, that the Yankees won. As a Southerner proud of the many positive aspects of life and culture here, I get feed up with these Confederate flag waving yahoos who still want to keep fighting the Civil War. The Civil War was fought over slavery and the South was on the wrong side of the issue. Get over it!
   
   It's true that not all Northerners had the most altruistic of motives but they did manage to preserve the United States as a nation and we should all be happy about this fact. To me the most honorable people of all were the minority of abolitionists dedicated to ending the enslavement of African-Americans. Some abolitionists also lived in the South, including my own ancestors on my great-grandfather's side. These folks were from the Blue Ridge Mountains of north Georgia and western North Carolina, where far fewer people owned slaves and where the majority of people were opposed to Southern secession.
   
   Much of what I have written I learned from this excellent book, which also contains a wealth of knowledge on many more intersting Civil War related themes. Kudos to the great scholar McPherson and recommended reading for all!



2. There are dozens of remarkable men and women who write intelligently and prolifically about the Civil War, and many of them have been mentored directly or indirectly inspired by James McPherson. His prose is lucid, graceful, and at times dryly humorous, and his insights frequently penetrating and always courageous.
   
   This Mighty Scourge collects a handful of his essays, most of them previously published in one form or another. About half of the reprinted pieces are redone book reviews that originally appeared in the New York Review of Books, and half are published essays that appeared in journals or anthologies. Many of them will be more than familiar to followers of McPherson's work. For those less familiar, they serve as a good introduction to McPherson's take on the Civil War.
   
   There are three new pieces in the collection: one on Lee's hopes for winning the peace at Gettysburg, one on the Vicksburg campaign, and a fascinating piece on Lincoln and presidential powers during wartime (especially timely today, I might add).
   
   For my money, though, the most riveting essay in the book is "Long-Legged Yankee Lies: The Lost Cause Textbook Crusade." Shortly after Appomattox, followers of the Lost Cause, trying to salvage something from southern defeat, began to insist that the war was fought exclusively over constitutional issues, and that slavery had nothing to do with the struggle. With the formation of the United Confederate Veterans (UCV) and United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC), "educational" committees were established to watchdog textbooks used in primary and secondary schools as well as colleges and universities to make sure that "long-legged Yankee lies" weren't passed off as truth. Northern publishers who offended were lobbied to modify their texts, and public campaigns to expunge offending books (including Encyclopedia Britannica, for example) from libraries were launched.
   
   Mildred Rutherford, historian general of the UDC, was a driving force in all this. In 1919, she published a list of instructions to teachers and librarians that advised them on which history books to keep and which to stay away from. Her recommendations included rejecting books that claimed the south fought to keep slaves, described slaveholders as cruel or unjust to slaves, glorified Lincoln or vilified Jefferson Davis, or neglected to tell of the "South's heroes and their deeds" (p. 102).
   
   Extraordinary stuff. McPherson's tale of the textbook wars alone is worth the price of the book.



3. This book is pleasureable to read just for it's great writing style, besides the fascinating perspectives it brings to light. My prediction is that southern readers might not appreciate it as much and will see a north-biased theme, however, being raised in the south and having lived in the north (and now the west) I feel it's only fair that southerners should see their past exposed for the sham attempt made by their ancestors after the war to cover up the facts about the south being "pro-slavery" before and during the war. All that hypocrisy about fighting for honor ! As usually happens in life, your "beliefs" are aligned with the main source of your income. One fifth of the south pre-war population was reaping unprecedented profits from cotton, from slavery. Anyway this book covers many interesting areas and delivers a lot of new insight and for me was a great way to re-visit civil war history, after a few years of absence.



4. There are literally tons of excellent Civil War books, ranging from McPherson's own "Battle Cry of Freedom," a Pulitzer Prize winner, to Bruce Catton and Shelby Foote and their multi-volume sets. If you want a more undiluted and contemporary to the time view, there may be nothing better than the 19th century "Battles and Leaders of the Civil War," the four volumes of which are now available as re-prints (at least in used book stores) by Castle.
   
   This digression is really a necessary back-drop for what McPherson has done here with "The Mighty Scourge." I can't think of a better distillation on the war, its causes and social currents before and after. McPherson does reintroduce some of his older material but the whole of the books hangs together very cohesively and persuasively. If you want to get into the details of each and every battle this book is not for you but if you want an authoritative and fully informed survey of what is most important about the subject, this is the book. When you know as much as he does about a subject, the decision of what to include and exclude to get the essence of the story across is high art. Princeton's McPherson has nailed it.



5. "This Mighty Scourge: Perspectives on the Civil War" is a collection of footnoted essays by one of the foremost Civil War scholars. McPherson offers four themes in the book: The Lost Cause and legacy of the Confederacy, high-level military and national strategy, a survey of period sentiments, and several mini-bios that provide a relevant digression from the more scholarly content.
   
   The first half of the book focuses on the Confederacy, and it is riddled with an indictment of the "Lost Cause" mythology. McPherson offers no doubt that the Civil War was about slavery and provides evidence of the South trying to obfuscate its original intentions from even as early as 1865. McPherson says the Lost Cause myth helped the South deal with its painful defeat, and surmises the North indirectly allowed it to propagate in the interest of reconciliation. He documents decades of attempts at revisionist history which span even into modern times. It is all a hard pill to swallow, but I do not necessarily disagree with him. Just as McPherson quotes Southern historian Charles Dew's painful realization upon review of the facts, it is indeed painful for anyone proud of their Southern heritage to digest.
   
   The essays discussing Confederate political infighting, "big-man-me-ism" and divergent strategies are fascinating and provide a good summary of what I have read in many other recently published materials. While the treatment here is definitely one-sided with the focus on the South's foibles, McPherson freely acknowledges the Union faced similar tribulations. He admits that it is the "squeaky wheel that squeaks" and if we were to take all this negative press at face value, "we could scarcely understand how the Confederacy could last four weeks, let alone four years".
   
   McPherson examines Confederate war strategy, particularly the offensive stance of the Army of Northern Virginia. He peers into at Lee's goals at Gettysburg and looks at (and defeats) the theory that it was a mere raid which was only characterized as a pivotal battle after the fact. He looks at Lee's relationship with Davis and postulates on whether Lee was too pre-occupied with the Virginia theatre of the war.
   
   The mini-biographies include John Brown, Harriet Tubman, Jesse James and Lincoln. McPherson even offers some fresh material on the Lincoln mythology as he provides some interesting commentary on his biographers, including Lincoln's partner and friend Billy Herndon. He concludes with a look at Lincoln's use of Commander-in-Chief powers in order to execute the war and offers a solid response to recent books that claim Lincoln abused those powers.
   
   I really liked that the essays contained inherent book reviews as McPherson cites and comments on the work of other authors even as he puts forth his own fresh insights. I have several new books to consume now as the result of reading Scourge. In summary, "This Might Scourge" is an outstanding and [mostly] balanced set of essays. Perspectives like those presented here could only be written by a learned someone who spent his career studying and writing about the Civil War in detail. I would wager McPherson could keep writing these essays forever ... and I would probably keep buying them.

1 comments about The Last Lincolns: The Rise & Fall of a Great American Family.

1. Charles Lachman has done an incredibly thorough job of researching and writing a page turner on the Lincoln legacy. The book is dynamic, well-organized and truly entertaining. Historians and non-historians alike will enjoy the breakthrough journalism and compelling narrative.
   I highly recommend this book. It would also be great for book clubs.
   I could not put it down!

5 comments about Lincoln at Peoria.

1. The blurbs on the dust jacket overhype the book. Albeit a very important speech in American history, I am not sure this one anti-slavery effort in Peoria by Mr. Lincoln requires a new explanatory book.
   
   Lewis Lehrman is a big time Lincoln buff, but he is not a polished writer of the first rank. His narrative often does not easily flow and he seems to me more interested in dropping in quotes from almost every notable historian of Lincoln and the Civil War period than in providing his own original analysis.
   
   I do hope after wading through a somewhat heavy text readers will study Abraham Lincoln's quite logical and convincing speech, provided at the book's end, which helped propel this extraordinary man to The White House.



2. Many legends, from the factual to the sublime, have been constructed about the rise of Abraham Lincoln from obscure, backwoodsman, through personal and political defeat to the Presidency of the United States at its most crucial time. Lewis Lehrman shares his life's work and passion while illustrating that the true turning point in the political fortunes of Mr. Lincoln was a speech that he gave concerning "America's peculiar institution" of slavery in Peoria, IL on October 16, 1854. In the telling, he shows how this became a remarkable turning point in American and, indeed, world history.
   
   Read more at: http://americanhistory.suite101.com/article.cfm/lincoln_at_peoria_the_turning_point



3. Explaining Lincoln's rise first to state and then national prominence has been a challenge for many historians. Mr. Lehrman finds the answer in Lincoln's renewed political energy after passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act in early 1854. This Act, surely one of the most unfortunate in U.S. history, revoked the Missouri Compromise and removed Congressional control over the admission of territories as free or slave states, giving it instead (at least in theory) to settlers in the territories themselves. In the aftermath of Kansas-Nebraska, it was no longer possible to believe that by containing it in the South, slavery was placed on a "course toward ultimate extinction." Lincoln was among those who had believed this to be true; he was jolted into action by the prospect that slavery might now spread rather than diminish.
   
   Mr. Lehrman contends that Lincoln's Peoria speech in October, 1854, marks a turning point in Lincoln's emergence as a politician and anti-slavery spokesman, someone previously known more for wit and stump speaking than for powerful political and moral argument. And the Peoria speech was something new for Lincoln. In it, he displayed a new rigor of thought and expression, a new power in argument and analysis, a new firmness of purpose. But Mr. Lehrman claims too much for the Peoria speech. We have the advantage of hindsight: Knowing what Lincoln became, we look for early signs of greatness everywhere. That, I think, is the case here with Mr. Lehrman's narrative. The Peoria speech was a major step in Lincoln's career, yes; but whether it was *the* major step is a completely different matter. The 1858 debates and the Cooper Union speech have better claims to that title.
   
   There is not much analytical weight to Mr. Lehrman's book. Here are two examples. Explicating a statement by Congressman Richard Yates, Mr. Lehrman offers the following parenthetical observation: "The 'North' was used to describe the free states while the 'South' referred to the slave states. This division had historically threatened the 'Union' sealed by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776" (p. 9). Ten pages later, one encounters the following: "Whigs and anti-slavery Know-Nothings rallied against Douglas, a favorite of Irish Catholics in Illinois. When Kentucky abolitionist Cassius Clay spoke in Springfield on July 10, Lincoln stretched out on the grass, whittling his way through the speech. Douglas meanwhile had been put on the defensive, having been required to explain his actions in Congress during the summer" (p. 19). What are these sentences doing together at the start of a paragraph? Unfortunately, there is much more like this throughout the book, the substance of which is simply too thin to be worth the effort of wading through such thickets.
   
   To his credit, Mr. Lehrman has made many contributions to the study of U.S. history through his collections and contributions to archives. Also to his credit, Mr. Lehrman admits he is not a historian. In this he is more accurate than the luminaries who wrote extravagant cover blurbs for his book.



4. This book provides excellent insight into the development of Abraham Lincoln's extraordinary leadership. I enjoyed the little details that helped me understand his charisma. Like most Americans, I had an understanding of the broad strokes of Lincoln's viewpoints, but this detailed analysis of a critically formative period really illustrated it in a powerful way. At points I almost felt as if I was right there. Lehrman clearly brought a powerful curiosity to this project and I'm grateful that he's shared the fruits of his labor with us.



5. Lincoln at Peoria: The Turning Point is an in-depth, historical and critical analysis of Abraham Lincoln's three-hour speech delivered at Peoria on October 16, 1854. The speech would come to mark a crucial turning point in Lincoln's political career, and therefore the history of America. Chapters give extensive historical context and frame of reference to Lincoln's speech, which firmly established his opposition to the further extension of slavery in the American republic and embodying Lincoln's anti-slavery campaign. A seminal and scholarly reference, Lincoln at Peoria is especially recommended for college library and American history shelves.

1 comments about Lincoln Shot: A President's Life Remembered.

1. This is a great book - way beyond what I thought it would be. The picture and description do not do it justice.

5 comments about Abraham Lincoln, a Man of Faith and Courage: Stories of Our Most Admired President.

1. I have collected books about Abraham Lincoln for well over forty years. I found Dr. Wheeler's book to be one of the most enjoyable to read of any that I have on my shelves. The stories that the author shares made this very unique President more "human" to me. I happened to be in Washington, D.C., when I finished the book. Although I have visited the Lincoln Memorial many times, it was a very emotional experience this time around because of what I had just read. I have enjoyed reading several of Dr. Wheeler's anthologies in the past, but I think this is his best collection ever.



2. In the introduction to his latest book, Joe Wheeler relates this advice from his ad man son Greg: "No matter what the product, just tie [Abraham] Lincoln to it and it's guaranteed to sell." This perhaps explains why I've seen ads for everything from car insurance to sleeping pills featuring the celebrated 16th president of the United States. There's even a diner in my old neighborhood that features Lincoln's face prominently on its sign. Nothing says bacon and eggs like a stovepipe hat!
   
   Books are no exception to Greg's rule. Wheeler contends that more books have been written about Lincoln than all the other presidents combined, and he enters the fray with ABRAHAM LINCOLN, A MAN OF FAITH AND COURAGE. "While I admire and revere Washington, it stops there. He is a model for many fine qualities, but with me at least, he remains only a model to be venerated. Not so with the sixteenth president. There is something about Abraham Lincoln that makes me love him. I cannot explain it: I know only that it's there," he writes. Wheeler's love for Lincoln is both a strength and weakness of his book, which often straddles the line between biography and hagiography.
   
   There is no doubt that Lincoln was an extraordinarily individual, and the stories here provide an entertaining survey of the moments --- large and small --- that made the man. The following story illustrates the combination of solid research and faith-filled speculation that characterizes Wheeler's book.
   
   "One day, when he was around nine, he took a bag of corn, mounted the flea-bitten gray mare, and rode leisurely to Gordon's Mill. His turn didn't come until late afternoon. Since each man was expected to provide his own power, Abe hitched the mare to the arm. As the animal moved around, the machinery responded with proportional speed --- or lack of it. Abe, mounted on the arm, found it necessary to frequently use his whip, otherwise, the horse would stop. Each time the whip action took place, Abe would say, `Get up you old hussy.' Finally, resenting Abe's whip, just as the words, `Get up,' were said, the horse elevated a shoeless foot and kicked him in the forehead, sending him sprawling.
   
   "Mr. Gordon, the miller, hurried into the ring, picked up the senseless boy (whom he took for dead), and sent for his father. His father came, loaded the body in the wagon, and took him home. Abe lay unconscious all night, but toward day there were signs of life. The blood began to flow normally, his tongue struggled to loosen itself, his body jerked for an instant and he awoke, blurting out the other three words interrupted at the mill, `you old hussy.'
   
   "Lincoln would talk about this strange phenomenon for the rest of his life, this memorable experience that so easily could have been his last. God must certainly have had a reason for sparing his life."
   
   This story comes from a biography of Lincoln written in 1925, and indeed Wheeler cites his "exhaustive scholarship" of reading 60 books about Lincoln in preparing to write his own. And yet there is clearly a healthy dose of speculation mixed in with the facts, especially when it comes to Lincoln's spiritual development and relationship with God. Wheeler is not shy about reading providence into Lincoln's life at almost every turn. This will leave some readers nodding in agreement, but will leave critical readers on edge.
   
   That said, many of Lincoln's writings offer great spiritual insight that Wheeler is right to highlight. It's clear that while Lincoln was often careful about being inclusive when discussing faith from his public platform, he was involved in a serious and significant spiritual journey with the God of the Bible. And at no time was such a searching and faithful president needed than during the Civil War.
   
   Wheeler uses a brush dipped in sepia tones to paint the picture of Lincoln's early years growing up on the frontiers of Kentucky and Indiana, which is somewhat ironic given that Lincoln himself is noted for having no such sentimentality in his regard for the hardscrabble lifestyle of those years. But the author does an excellent job of giving context to his years by explaining the cultural, religious, political, even ecological milieu in which he lived. Wheeler is able to move helpfully between a wide angle perspective and a closer focus on Lincoln, providing a cohesive and comprehensive narrative for those not already familiar with his life and even adding some interesting details for those who have read a book or two on him. I hear there are a few out there...
   
   --- Reviewed by Lisa Ann Cockrel



3. This was an "easy read" and the stories were very detailed, but the life of the man himself was handled on a broad "overview" basis, therefore, I need more. The book was thoroughly enjoyable, but it only whetted my appetite for a more comprehensive view of the life of our greatest president, his humble beginnings, and the events that shaped him into the "man for the ages." This book would be a great addition to an already established library of writings about our past presidents...I enjoyed reading the stories told, and you will not regret purchasing the book...read it, you will like it!



4. "I believe the declaration that `all men are created equal' is the great fundamental principle upon which our free institutions rest."
   ~Abraham Lincoln
   
   Accurate,beautifully written work. Every American should read this
   eloquent book. The stories,inspiring and well described.
   
   Heartily recommend this book!



5. I have always admired Abraham Lincoln, as a man and as a president, and I have been a student of his presidency and the Civil War in the past. But I learned so much within the pages of this excellent book that I hadn't known before. I cannot recommend it highly enough. I bought it for my Kindle and "highlighted" lots of passages throughout. I'll definitely read this book again.

5 comments about The Civil War as a Theological Crisis.

1. This book shows how the beliefs and assumptions held by American Christians in 1860 precluded any kind of critical reflection on the Civil War. If you've read Nathan Hatch's Democratization of American Christianity, this serves as an excellent second installment in the saga. Many of the ideals whose development Hatch chronicles played important roles in paving the way for the Civil War ethos. This book is also a nice supplement to Harry S. Stout's Upon the Altar of the Nation. Stout beautifully chronicles Americans' moral ambivalence, but doesn't really go into the root causes to the extent that Noll does. Nor does Stout explore foreign commentary on the war. Noll's exploration of foreign commentary, in fact, was one of the most fascinating aspects of the book. Foreigners seem to have seen fairly clearly what nobody in America could see.
   
   If you're looking for a rousing or moving narrative, this isn't the book for you. But if you'd like to understand why American theology was paralyzed in the face of the slavery crisis, this little book is ideal.
   
   That it's a "little" book is also nice. Noll says a whole lot in only about 160 pages.



2. Great stuff, I don't have the time to review this, because I'm writting for a Phd and using several of Noll's books. This one (for me) is valuable because it sets the scene for American Evangelicalism up to the period/person I'm working on...as do other's of Noll's works.



3. This is the book that every Protestant evangelical who invokes "the sole authority of Scripture," and who insists upon the "simplicity," "plain meaning," and "clarity" of its message, should read. I wish a similar monograph had existed when I was in seminary, and that my professors had made me read it as a case study in hermeneutics (the study of the interpretation of Scripture). Why instead of unanimity was there an "interpretive standoff" regarding slavery among Protestant believers, an "unbridgeable chasm of opinion" that tore the nation in two? Why was the evil of slavery eradicated not by the theological arguments of Christians but by the military might of armies? How can you argue against slavery when both the Old Testament and New Testament condone it?
   
   Mark Noll, for over twenty-five years a professor at Wheaton College and now at Notre Dame, examines a broad diversity of religious viewpoints-- mainly American Protestant, but also foreign Protestant, Jewish, and Catholic (both American and foreign) -- about the theological crisis provoked by slavery. This was a question partly about what the Bible said (how to interpret the Bible), and partly about what God was doing in history (providence). Disagreements about what the Bible said about slavery, Noll demonstrates, were deeply influenced by American assumptions about common sense rationalism, economic individualism, race, gender, and political democracy (which is why his two chapters on Protestant and Catholic opinions abroad are so helpful). Even worse, the far deeper issue of racism was barely broached; people separated "the slavery question" and "the negro question." No one in their wildest imagination considered the enslavement of whites (as in OT and NT times), even if they thought it acceptable to enslave blacks, and so even though the war abolished slavery, horrific racism and its evil twin economic disenfranchisement continued unabated. Finally, interpreting the ancient text and applying it to our contemporary context was further complicated by the Protestant insistence that there's no authority above the Bible itself, which was another way of saying that everyone and no one had the ultimate authority to say definitively "what the Bible means" about slavery.
   
   It's a short step from Noll's theological case study about slavery to virtually every other important issue that Christians face--women's ordination, homosexuality, abortion, politics, economics, and race. The Scriptures, said the Westminster divines, are "most necessary" for Christian faith and life, and every believer ought to study them often and well. But as Noll shows, earnest appeals to the authority of Scripture, however necessary and well-intentioned, are the beginning and not the end of the serious work of studying the Bible and then living according to the letter and spirit of its message.



4. Noll has done a splendid job identifying the theological considerations that neutralized the ability of Christians to help the nation avoid the recourse to arms to settle the slavery question. His examination of how various Christian leaders, north and south, viewed divine providence is enough to make anyone uncomfortable with a self-assured approach to understanding the ways of God. His inclusion of European theological perspectives on slavery and the American scene are an added treat. This is a fine book.



5. This book is an excellent resource for understanding the origins of all slavery, not just the slavery of the black people. It explains the root causes of the Civil war due to differing views of the meaning of the Bible and the workings of providence prior to the Civil War. I would recommend this book very highly.

5 comments about Lincoln's Melancholy: How Depression Challenged a President and Fueled His Greatness.

1. Shenk's study of Lincoln and depression is fascinating, and Richard Davidson does an excellent narration. I found the audiobook entertaining and thought-provoking.
   
   Shenk provides a detailed biography of Lincoln interspersed with musings on psychology and related topics. He points out that modern culture has unfairly criticized depressives as negative people, with only a minority of scientists pointing out that depressed people may actually be more realistic than optimists. In light of the threats facing mid-19th century America, Lincoln was more in touch with what was likely to happen than his happier peers. Shenk also shows that Lincoln's long-standing depression contributed to some of his outstanding character traits, such as his desire to be of service to his country and an unwavering determination to complete necessary tasks, no matter how unpleasant. This made him strong enough to lead his country through an incredibly bloody war.
   
   Shenk finishes the book with a discussion on Lincoln's biographers and how historians inject their own prejudices into published research. The final CD concludes with an interesting interview with the author.



2. Carl Becker said that every man is his own historian, and so it seems fitting that Lincoln be reinterpreted in the light of modern approaches to depression and mental illness. What is most admirable about this book is the author's respectful approach to Lincoln and the past; he insists on viewing Lincoln's behaviors in the context of the mores and culture of his time, which were far different from those prevailing today. The author persuasively argues that there was a romantic connotation to melancholy back then. This, combined with the cultural acceptance of greater emotion from single young men, explains some of Lincoln's publicly expressed emotional troubles as a young man
   
   On the other hand, the author insists on defining Lincoln as suffering two "breakdowns." It's not clear what relevance this modern term has, nor can the author distinguish between mental illness and the culturally acceptable level of melancholy and love-sickness a young man was permitted to manifest at the time.
   
   In short, given the lack of data (most notably the inability to interview the subject, Mr. Lincoln) and the different culture back then, why even try to import these modern day notions of depression to the 1830's-1860's?
   
   Still, the book does make three points exceptionally well, which makes this a very worthwhile effort.
   
   First, he destroys the idiotic notions that Lincoln was gay by virtue of close emotional relationships with men that were permitted and encouraged by the culture back then. Superficial modern day notions of sexual identity have no place in a different time with different (and perhaps healthier) approaches toward the permissibility of emotional intimacy between men.
   
   Second, he argues that Lincoln's struggles with melancholy were part of his larger struggles against adversity that toughened him up for the greatest trial faced by any American President since Washington. This is an old theme, but it is well constructed here. On paper, hugely successful men like Buchanan, Jefferson Davis, and General McClellan should have been the ones to lead successfully during this crisis. But in some ways their previous success was a curse. The depressive's realism and ability to solider on during adversity is perhaps far better preparation. A fascinating point and one that is completley lost in modern Presidential races.
   
   Third, the author argues that Lincoln's mental makeup allowed him to resist the compromises and stop gap measures that seduced men like Buchanan, Douglas, and Crittenden. Lincoln saw that the country had to recognize the evil of slavery and put it on the path to ultimate extinction. This was, of course, Lincoln's greatest insight, though I'm not convinced that his melancholia necessarily predisposed him to accept it. But there is some appeal in the contention that depressives can be curiously more disposed to realism in a world that is frequently evil and unfair.
   
   This is an insightful book, though the ability to analyze Lincoln's psyche given the absence of data and intervening culutural changes is, of course, a doomed venture.



3. I can truthfully say that this is the first book I have ever read about A. Lincoln. I loved it! It had intimate deatils and insight looks into the depression of the former President himself. I would reccommend this book to anyone wanting to read something "different, appeal'n" on Lincoln. Great book.



4. "Lincoln's Melancholy," by Joshua Wolf Shenk, is a superb account of how the lifelong depression suffered by Lincoln was overcome by his own strength of character and led to his greatness. Initially an obstacle, Lincoln triumphed over the melancholy he probably inherited from his family by focusing on a larger goal, stopping the spread of slavery into the new, western territories and finally, preserving the Union itself.
   
   Lincoln suffered two major depressive incidents in his youth, the first after the death of Ann Rutledge, and the second when his engagement to Mary Todd was broken. His indecisiveness led to a mental breakdown which was only alleviated when he finally married her. After these incidents, Lincoln settled into a state of chronic depression, which nonetheless did not interfere with his likeability and gregarious nature. Lincoln used humor, storytelling, and reading and writing poetry to cope with his bouts of sadness.
   
   Shenk gives an account of earlier biographies of Lincoln, which were sometimes off the mark. Early in the 20th century, when Freud was the rage, it was speculated that Lincoln's sorrow was due to an Oedipus complex and guilt over his mother's death. Later writers insisted that he could not have been in love with Ann Rutledge because they distrusted the source of that rumor, William Herndon, Lincoln's law partner. It is now believed that the eyewitnesses Herndon interviewed may have been correct.
   
   The book was written in a compelling, easy-going style complete with poetic references. I especially loved the preface wherein Leo Tolstoy tried to explain Lincoln to a group of local tribesmen in the Caucasus. It is such a beautiful, concisely written biography that I have been inspired to use it as the basis of a speech on Lincoln that I will deliver on the occasion of his bicentennial in February.



5. Anyone who suffers from depression should read this story. Lincoln was a man who learned how to overcome this illness to achieve great things for God and for himself. A very inspirational read.