Lincoln Reconsidered: Essays on the Civil War Era [Paperback]

David Herbert Donald (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 14, 1989

Why did the North win the Civil War?

What accounted for Lincoln's success as a wartime statesman?

What factors brought about sectionalism during the pre-war decades?

What is the meaning of the Lincoln legend for contemporary America?

In light of new techniques for research in the social sciences, Professor David Donald presents his brilliant reinterpretations of Civil War issues and personalities.

Lincoln Reconsidered is "...a gentle assessment, a common sense, witty, and erudite analysis of certain unrealities which have grown to be accepted as Gospel truths in the average American's thinking about Lincoln and the Civil War. It is a book which had to be written, and it could not have been written with more wisdom, better documentation or more charm than in Mr. Donald's Essays on the Civil War Era."

-- R. E. Danielson in The Atlantic

Editorial Reviews

Review

Lincoln Reconsidered is "...a gentle assessment, a common sense, witty, and erudite analysis of certain unrealities which have grown to be accepted as Gospel truths in the average American's thinking about Lincoln and the Civil War. It is a book which had to be written, and it could not have been written with more wisdom, better documentation or more charm than in Mr. Donald's Essays on the Civil War Era."-- R. E. Danielson in The Atlantic -- Review

From the Publisher

"An erudite analysis of certain unrealities which have grown to be accepted as Gospel truths in the average American's thinking about Lincoln and the Civil War."--The Atlantic Monthly

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 250 pages
• Publisher: Vintage (May 14, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679723102
• ISBN-13: 978-0679723103
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,297,303 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 40 Years of Life; Lincoln Reconsidered fires the brain, December 17, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Austin, Texas, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lincoln Reconsidered: Essays on the Civil War Era (Paperback)

Lincoln Reconsidered is a collection of provactive essays that probe the multiple depths of Abraham Lincoln--life and mythology. He paints Lincoln's portrait onto the background of the sectional conflict that led to the Civil War. Originally published about 1961, Donald's stories remain fresh and relevant. In fact the reader will encounter the thesis and outline for his recent prize-winning biography of Lincoln. I first encoutered LR in 1962 when I taught Advanced Placement American History and assigned portions of the book to my students. They loved it; you will. Donald is a superlative historian and stylist. Listen to these chapter headings: Getting Right With Lincoln, Reconsideration of Abolitionists, Herndon and Mrs. Lincoln, Folklore Lincoln, An Excess of Democracy. Readers of Donald's Lincoln will want to have this as a companion reference piece. It's rare for an historian's essays to experience such a rich and extended publishing history. Here's a quote from my faded copy of LR, a touch of wisdom for our parlous times: "...Lincoln knew that there were limits rational human activity, and that there was no virtue in irritably seeking to perform the impossible. As President, he could only do his best to handle problems as they arose and have a patient trusdt that popular support for his solutions would be forthcoming. But the ultimate decision was beyond his, or any man's, control. 'Now at the end of three years struggle,' he said, 'the nation's condition is not what either party, or any man, devised, or expected. God alone can claim it.'" Page after page runs like this, and virtually every theme connected to the Civil War gets enough discussion to stimulate and edify.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lincoln and his time, August 23, 2007

By 

Barrie W. Bracken "Researcher" (Daytona Beach, FL) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

For the mpost part any book by David Donald is worth the time and effort to read. This book offers fresh insights into the perception of Lincoln. Belongs on the shelf of every person interested in 19th century America.

1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lincoln in a new light, March 21, 2008

By 

David Brockert "constant reader" (Madison, Wisconsin) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lincoln Reconsidered: Essays on the Civil War Era (Paperback)

"Lincoln Reconsidered" by David Donald ©1961

History has always been an interest for me. This takes a bit of time and expands on it very nicely. It starts out with a nice introdution about Lincoln and his times, the people he knew and worked with, then goes onto the politics and war. It had some anecdotes that you never see anywhere else. It turns out that Linoln was not a rabid emancipationist, but a pratical president who did things as needed to be done. I wondered before why he only freed the slaves in the states in rebellion: it was because he did not want to alienate the slaveholders in Kentucky and Maryland. I am still mystified as to the reason for the war of northern aggression: slavery does not seem to be the all inclusive answer that mythology makes it out to be, and this book shows some altenative reasons, but does not take a stand, after it is only a collection of essays.