Freedom under LincolnThis book is the single finest treatment of the entire subject of the actual historical Lincoln and his involvement with the War that I have ever read. It does not contain the usual preface or credits, but launches directly into its topic, amassing considerable documentation which it combines with a writing style that is both exciting and pleasurable. Although its material is treated in a scholarly manner, it is not at all pedantic. The picture it paints of "the Great Emancipator" is rather unflattering and will be denounced unread by the Lincoln cult historians. However, they do so at a very steep price, viz. that of truth, the only element in historical writing which distinguishes it from fiction and propaganda.
This is not a book for scandal-mongers or the uncritical. The former would do well to limit themselves to daily newspapers and celebrity magazines and there are no books of any worth for the latter. This book provides what is perhaps the single most readable insight available today into the historically accurate record of the Lincoln administration during the War. Its style is full of the excitement usually reserved for the best fiction but the accuracy and objectivity of the best historical works. It is difficult to give it too much praise as it accomplishes in a scholarly, unpretentious manner something which is very difficult to find in the literature written about this particular historical period, viz., clarity, accuracy, and objectivity. This is all presented in a fascinating, very readable form. The book details a series of historical events which are seldom mentioned in the usual histories and the author places them in perspective within the general historical context with great effect. What he writes needs to be read by anyone who would consider himself knowledgeable regarding what is currently referred to as " the Civil War". It is a wonderful antidote to the usual monolithic hagiography of Lincoln which passes for "history" in our politically correct, but historically inaccurate, age. While the old adage "to the victor belongs the spoils" is certainly true, it is also true that the victor is the one who writes the official version of the war. Such versions universally sacrifice historical accuracy and truth to other, anti-historical, overriding political ends. Such is the case with Mr. Lincoln and his War. The author successfully dissects the official version and clearly shows it to be what it is, viz. little more than a myth used to justify, after the fact, the most bloody, costly war in our nation's history.
Of all the books on the War, this is one to purchase in hardback and which I will keep in my permanent library and from which I have learned a great deal in a delightful read.
