David Herbert Donald's Lincoln is a stunningly original portrait of Lincoln's life and presidency. Donald brilliantly depicts Lincoln's gradual ascent from humble beginnings in rural Kentucky to the ever- expanding political circles in Illinois, and finally to the presidency of a country divided by civil war. Donald goes beyond biography, illuminating the gradual development of Lincoln's character, chronicling his tremendous capacity for evolution and growth, thus illustrating what made it possible for a man so inexperienced and so unprepared for the presidency to become a great moral leader. In the most troubled of times, here was a man who led the country out of slavery and preserved a shattered Union -- in short, one of the greatest presidents this country has ever seen.
Lincoln
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle.
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Book Description
Frequently Bought Together
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Pulitzer prize winner Donald's biography was a PW bestseller for 11 weeks.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Winner of two Pulitzer Prizes, most recently for Homeward: A Life of Thomas Wolfe (LJ 12/86), Donald proves himself the superb biographer of Lincoln, though two recent biographies, Michael Burlingame's The Inner World of Abraham Lincoln (LJ 4/1/94) and Merrill Peterson's Lincoln in American Memory (LJ 10/1/94), are both important studies. Donald's profile of the 16th president focuses entirely on Lincoln, seldom straying from the subject. It looks primarily at what Lincoln "knew, when he knew it, and why he made his decisions." Donald's Lincoln emerges as ambitious, often defeated, tormented by his married life, but with a remarkable capacity for growth?and the nation's greatest president. What really stands out in a lively narrative are Lincoln's abilities to hold together a nation of vastly diverse regional interests during the turmoil and tragedy of the Civil War. Donald's biography will appeal to all readers and will undoubtedly corral its share of book awards. Highly recommended for all libraries.?Boyd Childress, Auburn Univ. Lib., Ala.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
170 of 183 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
"Lincoln" is a remarkable look at Abraham Lincoln as he advanced from extremely poor, rural roots, in what was then the western United States, into both the Illinois legislature and the U.S. Congress for one term, through a career as a self-taught lawyer, and finally to the presidency. The author has extensively researched Lincoln's movements, first-hand accounts of his utterances, his formal speeches and writings, as well as official records kept in the discharge of his various duties and offices.
It is a fascinating look at the evolution of the character and personality of a man of meager origins and virtually no formal education. Lincoln was driven to make something of himself; this is best seen in his insatiable desire to educate himself. Beyond self-development, Lincoln had an inherent ability to relate to others. He combined humility with a great ability to tell stories. This ease among his fellow citizens led to his being elected to the Illinois legislature at a fairly young age and to a reasonably successful career as a lawyer.
Lincoln was a Whig and devotee of Henry Clay and his American system of internal improvements. But it would be completely wrong to regard Lincoln as mostly an opportunistic politician. He was principled, if anything. Manipulating a political view to get elected would have never occurred to Lincoln. Furthermore, Lincoln was a man of his word. When elected to Congress in 1846, he returned home after one term as he promised, though undoubtedly he could have been re-elected. However, the author shows that Lincoln became very astute politically with a substantial network of political friends both at the state and national levels.
Early in Lincoln's career, slavery was seldom an issue. But by the mid-1850s, slavery came to dominate the political and social life of the country. Lincoln, though clearly antislavery, was not an abolitionist. In his debates with Stephen Douglas in 1858 and on his way to being elected president in 1860, Lincoln articulated, often eloquently, a moderate position on slavery that resonated with a large segment of Northern voters. The extension of slavery to new territories became the foremost issue of the day as compared to eradication.
Lincoln was probably not technically qualified to be president; he had never held an administrative post of any importance. Nor did hundreds of high-level administrative assistants perform most of his duties, as is the case in the modern era. In addition, Lincoln faced perhaps the greatest challenge that any president in our history ever has. The secession of the South exacerbated political divides in the country. Not only did Lincoln have to deal with radical and moderate Republicans and War and Peace Democrats, but also his own cabinet, populated with some of his political rivals, exhibited the same sort of splits. Militarily, the U.S. was totally unprepared to put down a rebellion, as Lincoln called it, of the size that the Confederacy represented. He was often driven to the edge of his patience in dealing with a series of incompetent generals that cost the Northern armies defeat after defeat in the early years of the War.
The author captures the immense pressures on Lincoln during his presidency. His ungainliness was fodder for the various political factions that publicly labeled Lincoln as an "imbecile" or a "baboon." Though the presidency took a tremendous toll on Lincoln, he retained his generally good humor, even seeing countless numbers of nameless citizens straight from the streets in his office. He functioned at a high level of awareness, navigating the political minefields of the day, in making difficult decisions. The Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 was just such a decision. It was a typically moderate Lincoln response to the antislavery and unionist extremists. When Lincoln was shot at the beginning of his second term, he had prevailed and brought the country through a terrible experience through the sheer strength and flexibility of his intellect and personality. One doubts whether there existed another individual in the country at that time, who could have dealt with all of the issues that Lincoln did with the same degree of success.
Though the author is favorably deposed towards Lincoln, he does not push Lincoln on the reader - he does not have to. He does a great job of letting the reader closely watch Lincoln in action for about forty years. It is an incredible story.
60 of 64 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
David Herbert Donald's biography of Abraham Lincoln is an outstanding work that emphasizes his most important aspect, his humanity. Lincoln came to the presidency with one of the skimpiest political resumes of any non-General in American History. Donald shows how this Washington outsider had to grope his way around at first, but then used his remarkable skills to find the political center, which was vital though he often seemed to stand alone. Donald's book focusses on Lincoln's life through Lincoln's eyes. He does not go into great detail about Civil War battles or anything else that Lincoln did not personally witness. The result is a biography that is as thorough as it is readable and that, like its subject, will stand the test of time.
30 of 30 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I really enjoyed this dense, but extremely informative Lincoln biography. The biography demands that we reexamine Lincoln. Not in some politically correct revisionist view, but rather as a man with many human frailties and a relatively limited ability to influence the behavior of key individuals around him. Often times, you wonder how much he is controlling the fate of the country and it is controlling him.
This book does not diminish Lincoln as a President or a man, but does provide deeper insight into his character, his view of race relations and how little (or at least public) thought he gave to the practical effects of emancipation, expecially prior to his presidency.
I should probably have given this book 5 stars, but I thought Donald spent too much time on newly discovered evidence of Lincoln's uniteresting legal practice prior to his public life. Moreover, while this is obviously a biography and not a history of the Civil War, the description of the war effort was at times meager given the significance of certain battles and how they ultimately affected the outcome of the war.
All in all, these are very minor concerns over what has been called our generation's biography of Lincoln.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
The Myth Pales in the Face of the Reality
Gawd.
Last night I finished Lincoln, by David Herbert Donald. I feel devastated.
What Lincoln went through, and to get a bullet in the head at the end of it... Read more
Last night I finished Lincoln, by David Herbert Donald. I feel devastated.
What Lincoln went through, and to get a bullet in the head at the end of it... Read more
Published 4 days ago by Martin Zook
Lincoln History
I bought this book to read during my treadmill walks. I'm surprised how quickly time passes. It's an easy read and I'm learning a lot about the life of Abraham Lincoln.
Published 1 month ago by clync
More Facts, Less Heart
Am a Lincolnphile, and always enjoy reading about this incredible man. This version of his life is long on facts, and gives less of a mythical sense of who Lincoln was. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Dennis A. Pratt
Excellent biography
This book was a birthday present for my husband... He knew he was going to receive it...chose this book over the other biographies about Lincoln and really enjoyed the book... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Chris T.
lincoln books
Best book so far that I have read about Lincoln as it was more about him and not the civil war or other aspects of that decade.
Published 3 months ago by kroy
Portrait of Lincoln
Like Washington and Jefferson before him, Lincoln is bathed in so much mythology that it's hard to find a human in there. Read more
Published 4 months ago by M. Godon
Mission Fulfilled
Like many others, I am busy at times, raising two children, owning/operating an Optometric practice, and co-authoring my own book, "I'm the One the Oher Isn't". Read more
Published 5 months ago by Dr.Stanley Toompas, author of "I"m the One the Other Isn't"
Donald's biography is a masterful telling of the life of one of our...
David Herbert Donald's 1996 biography Lincoln has been called the best single volume Lincoln biography of the period. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Gary Hoggatt
Lincoln, the man, but not the political figure
Herbert does a great job of sharing the real Lincoln and that which contributed to the individual doing a difficult job. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Dr. Cardinal
Slow going
I am not completely through the book yet but so far I am enjoying it. The beginning of his life is very boring reading but it eventually builds up and gets interesting when he... Read more
Published 7 months ago by DC
Inside This Book
(learn more)
First Sentence:
Abraham Lincoln was not interested in his ancestry. In his mind he was a self-made man, who had no need to care about his family tree. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
accidental instrument, internal improvements plan, unimpassioned reason, floating driftwood, will the country say, practical statesmanship, swap horses Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
White House, New York, United States, Army of the Potomac, New Salem, Mary Lincoln, War Department, Emancipation Proclamation, Abraham Lincoln, Fort Sumter, David Davis, House of Representatives, Secretary of State, John Hay, Thomas Lincoln, Secretary of War, New England, Jefferson Davis, Thurlow Weed, Henry Clay, Mississippi River, South Carolina, Charles Sumner, Sangamon County, Dred Scott New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Abraham Lincoln was not interested in his ancestry. In his mind he was a self-made man, who had no need to care about his family tree. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
accidental instrument, internal improvements plan, unimpassioned reason, floating driftwood, will the country say, practical statesmanship, swap horses Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
White House, New York, United States, Army of the Potomac, New Salem, Mary Lincoln, War Department, Emancipation Proclamation, Abraham Lincoln, Fort Sumter, David Davis, House of Representatives, Secretary of State, John Hay, Thomas Lincoln, Secretary of War, New England, Jefferson Davis, Thurlow Weed, Henry Clay, Mississippi River, South Carolina, Charles Sumner, Sangamon County, Dred Scott New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 195
books:
See all 195 books this book cites
- Lincoln, the President:: Last Full Measure (v. 4) by J. G. Randall on 24 pages
- Lincoln's Quest for Union by Charles Strozier on 8 pages
- The War for the Union, Vol. 1: The Improvised War, 1861-1862 by Allan Nevins on 7 pages
- Abraham Lincoln, 1809-1858, Set by Albert J. Beveridge on 7 pages
- Recollections of Abraham Lincoln, 1847-1865 by Ward Hill Lamon on 6 pages
See all 195 books this book cites
Books on Related Topics
(learn more)
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
|
|
