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Abraham Lincoln and Civil War America: A Biography

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This book is a welcome addition ot the already crowded Lincolnia bookself. The author is the presumed successor to the retired David Herbert Donald at Harvard University. Gienapp has produced a highly readable and concise version of a Lincoln biography that can be completed on a moderately long airplane trip(and it's quite portable unlike most hardcover books). While relatively short,this book is a sufficiently thorough treatment of the Civil War Lincoln. I especially enjoyed the author's analysis of the politician Lincoln who mastered his rivals, both Republican and Democrat. This a good book for either a new Lincoln /Civil War "buff" or a good refresher for a scholar of the times.

William Gienapp's Abraham Lincoln and Civil War America answers a longstanding need for a biography of Lincoln manageable in size, accessible in style, and wise and balanced in content. Lincoln appers on every page of the book and is never lost sight of in the welter of events. He emerges from the text a real believable person, an individual and persuasive assessment of Lincoln's leadership abilities, the finest such appraisal avilable anywhere.

Gienapp, William E. 'Abraham Lincoln and Civil War America; A Biography.' Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002.

The recently deceased, William Gienapp's brief biography of Abraham Lincoln is in great need to be revisited. Since the bicentennial of Lincoln's birth, nearly 50 new Lincoln books are set to come out, yet few will be as concise and well organized as Gienapps.

While Gienapp offers few new quotations in his work, his use of them as well as more well known ones is unparalleled; making for a new and refreshing read. Along the same lines as James M McPherson's Tried by War, Gienapp (6 years earlier) attempted to explain "why this man [Abraham Lincoln] turned out to be such an extraordinary war leader." (x)

Gienapp starts his book with Lincolns obscured early years. This section, nearly 80 pages worth of reading, seems characterless and stale. He merely follows the chronology of Lincoln, leaving the reader with an almost obsolete knowledge of the antebellum period. However, once Lincoln is elected president in 1860, the remaining of the book is a marvelous read.

Gienapp devotes large sections of his book to tracing the development and concept of Total War. Believing that the Civil War was the first total war, Gienapp writes that by 1864, "the Union army had confiscated private property in the South, expelled disloyal civilians from Union lines, emancipated slaves, utilized black soldiers, and waged a grinding, all-out form of warfare. To this mix was now added the dimension of psychological warfare designed to break the will of southern civilians. This was the nineteenth-century equivalent of the strategy of total war." (177) Gienapp's definition of total war is near the best offered. Other than McPherson's 1996 essay "From Limited to Total War," Gienapp comes the closest to understanding the concept. However Gienapp seems to forget the importance that new technology plays in total war which seems odd when one reflects on Lincolns interests and support for new advancements in technology. By 1864, most Union soldiers were equipped with the seven shot repeating carbine rifle, giving them a distinct and deadly advantage over their southern opponents. Also the appearance of Ironclad warships helped to change naval warfare. This component is important within the evolution of Total Warfare.

Following the trend of other historians, Gienapp heavily favors the war in the east. Gienapp also forgets about the harsh guerrilla warfare that was going on in Missouri and Kansas. Here, as Joseph Glatthar demonstrates in his Partners in Command, is were Grant, Sherman, Sheridan and Porter (the major proponents of the hard war concept) were first exposed to the ruthless type of war which would be required to dispel the rebellion.

Curiously, Gienapp writes on several occasions that the Union never took any propaganda efforts to mobilize the public. This is not completely true, in an essay by William Hesseltine in 1935, Hesseltine convincingly demonstrates that in 1861, as a result of McClellan's inactivity, Senator Benjamin Wade created the Committee on the Conduct of the War which highly publicized Southern atrocities toward Union soldiers in an effort to enrage the Northern public opinion. While this propaganda may or may not have been influenced by Lincoln, it is spurious to write there were no attempts to create a war hysteria through propaganda. In fact, the Norths bellicose mood after the end of the war culminated in the hanging of Captain Henry Wirtz, is direct evidence of sustained war hysteria.

Gienapp demonstrates his overall ability as a scholar by effectively including small and obscure events such as Lincoln's Corning Letter into the text. Here Lincoln responds to Democrat Erastus Corning to defend his measures against civil liberties. Gienapp writes Lincoln was always more concerned with policy to end the war rather then policy to up hold an already sundered Constitution. It is these small inclusions which puts Gienapps work closer to the level of much larger Civil War study's such as McPherson's Pulitzer prize winning, 'Battle Cry of Freedom' and David Donald's 'Civil War and Reconstruction.'

In conclusion Gienapp's study is an effective biography given its relatively small breadth. The book offers a large punch and should be considered by both experts and laymen alike as an example of first rate scholarship. It's small size and relatively inexpensive price should make this book a standard within the field.

This book has enriched my understanding of Lincoln in many ways. The author's writing style is superb. He gives new life to this pivotal figure in American history to such a degree that enables the reader to have a clear and concise picture of the man who is often portrayed as a super hero, neglecting to remind the reader how plain and ordinary he was throughout most of his life.

One of the most easy to read and interesting books about Abraham Lincoln. You don't get bogged down by facts. Very readable and entertaining.

Writing a biography of Abraham Lincoln is no easy task. The amount of primary sources, secondary sources, photographs, and topics within the subject can be overwhelming and tiring. If you don't believe me, just ask Lincoln Scholar Michael Burlingame, who wrote a two volume massive history of Lincoln in 2009.

The late William E. Gienapp's Abraham Lincoln and Civil War America is an great introductory biography of Abraham Lincoln. This book was the main textbook assigned by Dr. Rietveld at CSUF in his course, "Abraham Lincoln and His Era."

The book is really short, which makes it even better. I have always argued that it is much more difficult to write history books in shorter length than long, and Gienapp does a wonderful job of this here. It is an easy read that took me only three days to finish.

This is primarily a biography of Lincoln during the Civil War. However, Gienapp does spend the first three chapters telling a brief history of the 16th President's early life. His "setting up" Lincoln for the war years is really well done without spending too much time on the Ann Rutledge controversy, or the annoying accusations of his law partner, William Herndon, made about Lincoln's early life and peccadilloes.

Overall, this is a great book to recommend to anyone interested in Abraham Lincoln. I would even say it is the best "first book" on Lincoln that any interested party should read. I would it as Dr. Rietveld used it--as a good short textbook on a Lincoln course or Civil War course. While it is not as amazingly comprehensive biography like David Donald's famous biography, it is a great place to start to learn about our greatest President.

A short, but very well biography of Lincoln. It counts only 250 pages, but it gives an excellent overwiew and superb analyse of the life of AL. The bibliography is also very interesting. One of the best books about the 16th president. A must for a Lincolnhistorian.

Bill Gienapp was a brilliant historian, and his work "The Origins of the Republican Party, 1852-1856" is a pillar of American political history. Unfortunately, his final work, "Abraham Lincoln and Civil War America," is a tremendous let-down. It is perhaps one of the worst examinations of Lincoln's life, and has almost nothing to do with "Civil War America." Essentially, it is an unqualified love poem to Lincoln, and strives only to prove his greatness -- there is no critical analysis at all. Lincoln is given credit for every political and military success 1861-1865 and is absolved from blame for all his mistakes. In reality, Lincoln was a complex personality and his public career was much more tumultuous than Gienapp proposes. It is disappointing that Gienapp, a man who dedicated his life to exhaustive, nearly flawless historical research would resort to such frivolous, uncritical "pop history" at the end of his tragically short life. Skip Gienapp's Lincoln and, instead, read Stephen Oates's "With Malice Toward None" or Don Fehrenbacher's "Prelude to Greatness: Lincoln in the 1850s."

The product came in great condition as expected and when the shipping was late, the dealer was able to let me know what was going on. The next few days I received the book with no problems. Also the seller was quick to respond and very easy to work with. Thanks!

A good short, solid political biography. While Lincoln and the Civil War is its focus, by no means is this a battle history: Gettysburg is described in one paragraph.

Professor Gienapp has written a book that will introduce one to, or remind one of, the long and trying path traveled by Abraham Lincoln toward ultimate greatness.