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milandeep's review against another edition
4.0
Abe by David S. Reynolds shows how Abraham Lincoln was a man of his times - how the times during which he lived made him and how he changed it forever and beyond. It does not follow the path of a typical biography but looks at the cultural aspect of the times and how it shaped his views and actions. The author skims over some over the well-known details of Lincoln's life. But along the way we meet a lot of other characters who are not covered by traditional biographies but had an impact on Lincoln, like John Brown, Elmer Ellsworth and Harriet Beecher Stowe. The numerous pictures in the books very well reflect the popular culture of that time.
Lincoln always thought of himself as belonging to the people. He always enjoyed a good story or a joke, but he generally used his jokes and stories to make a point. He was not much religious but understood the role of religion in bringing people together and used it in his speeches. "He had experienced culture in all its dimensions—from high to low, sacred to profane, conservative to radical, sentimental to subversive.”
Lincoln was astute enough to please the crowds and his colleagues for political gains while always remaining true to his principles. He never wanted to appear too radical or too conservative while he was always anti-slavery and wanted to eradicate it. The book captures well his evolving views on racial equality and the development of his character as a person and as a politician. Even during the war, he did not want the Union to break.
Reynolds does not flinch from criticism of the sixteenth president when warranted. He also shows how the different sides of people reacted to what he said and did. He places Lincoln in the context of his period’s attitudes toward humor, popular culture, law, war, religion, politics and slavery. But where the book shines is where it shows why Lincoln did what he did, and why he did it when he did it.
Lincoln always thought of himself as belonging to the people. He always enjoyed a good story or a joke, but he generally used his jokes and stories to make a point. He was not much religious but understood the role of religion in bringing people together and used it in his speeches. "He had experienced culture in all its dimensions—from high to low, sacred to profane, conservative to radical, sentimental to subversive.”
Lincoln was astute enough to please the crowds and his colleagues for political gains while always remaining true to his principles. He never wanted to appear too radical or too conservative while he was always anti-slavery and wanted to eradicate it. The book captures well his evolving views on racial equality and the development of his character as a person and as a politician. Even during the war, he did not want the Union to break.
Reynolds does not flinch from criticism of the sixteenth president when warranted. He also shows how the different sides of people reacted to what he said and did. He places Lincoln in the context of his period’s attitudes toward humor, popular culture, law, war, religion, politics and slavery. But where the book shines is where it shows why Lincoln did what he did, and why he did it when he did it.
livruther's review
informative
slow-paced
3.25
i wish i would have read a different biography of lincoln. the part about his pre-presidential life was really informative, but i feel like his presidency and the civil war was just pretty glossed over and not that informative. the information that it did provide in that section was very surface level. i also didnt always love the writing, especially the parts that used a lot of superlatives
momey's review against another edition
5.0
I read just the first half--up to the Lincoln -Douglas debates. I really appreciated the context given to Lincoln's early life through the Illinois lawyer days and his early episodes as a representative in Washington. Very helpful stuff both in understanding Lincoln and in understanding subsequent events.
socraticgadfly's review against another edition
3.0
I would have loved to five star this book. And, even with some of the early problems on one issue, I was still leaning that way. But, more problems on that issue meant I couldn’t do it. And, if it weren’t so good otherwise, it risked falling to three stars.
(Update: In hindsight, and seeing James Oakes is peddling some of the same untrue claims about Lincoln abandoning colonization after 1862, and with these claims getting bigger play in Reynolds, I have decided that for this and other reasons noted by myself and mentioned by other reviewers in various places, the rating must be reduced to three stars after all.)
First, the good of what’s billed as the first ever “cultural biography” of Lincoln? Reynolds delivers in spades in many ways.
One area where he really impressed me was on Lincoln’s religiosity. He notes that his parents attended an anti-slavery Baptist church in Kentucky, and were steadfast in their own stance. Beyond that, Reynolds talks about Lincoln’s younger adult deism, and how he soft-peddled that as part of his political rise. At the same time, along with other biographers, especially after the death of son Willie, he shows Lincoln, though still not a churchgoer, moving toward a more fatalistic version of conventional Calvinism.
Reynolds is also good on Lincoln’s legal practice. Many biographers focus on his 1850s railroad cases. Reynolds looks at how many divorce cases the younger Lincoln handled, for women as plaintiffs suing on grounds of desertion. He adds that Illinois was one of the few states that allowed women to file for divorce on desertion as well as abute, and that it was fairly generous, for that day, on what counted as abuse.
Fast forward to the 1850s. Reynolds talks about Lincoln avoiding ‘isms,” a charge Democrats hurled repeatedly at Republicans. He notes that Lincoln was like French tightrope walker Blondin, who had crossed Niagara Falls at this time. He adds how Lincoln sometimes made this modeling conscious, and how many newspaper columns and cartoons in the 1860 election explicitly drew this out.
He also talks about how Abe, not just Mary, was interested in spiritualism, especially after Willie’s death. Again, he puts this in the context of a rising national interest in spiritualism, fueled largely but by no means entirely by the Fox sisters. Among his contempraries, Ben Wade, Josh Giddings and Garrison all had at least some degree of interest. Lincoln conversed with both Robert Edmonds and Robert Dale Owen, the son of utopian Robert Owen, and listened seriously to Owen on matters both within and outside of spiritualism.
(Sidebar: This puts paid to the lie by folks like the Freedom from Religion Foundation that Lincoln was an atheist.)
That’s just a sample.
On the non-cultural side, Reynolds does a good job of recognizing Anna Carroll’s contributions to the war effort. I had read basically nothing about her before.
Several problems with the book, though, and they all center around slavery. Reynolds isn’t quite doing the Spielberg movie version, but ….
First and foremost, no, Lincoln did not stop talking about colonization in 1862. His administration continued discussions with Central American countries well into 1864, and in 1865, Lincoln purportedly said he had only abandoned it at the time for political reasons. Spoons Butler said that Lincoln, the day before his assassination, asked him to continue to look into it. It’s dishonest of Reynolds to not even mention Bernard Kock and the Ile-de-Vache (Vache Island) scheme. More here https://www.essentialcivilwarcurriculum.com/lincoln-and-colonization.html and here https://quod.lib.umich.edu/j/jala/2629860.0014.204/--abraham-lincoln-and-the-politics-of-black-colonization?rgn=main;view=fulltext
It's true that Vache Island wasn't actively promoted after 1862. But, colonizing Belize? That was an activity the Emigration Bureau did promote, under Lincoln's auspices, into 1863. And, per Wiki, Lincoln continued to have at least a background attachment to colonization into 1864, even if he and Butler didn't discuss it in 1865. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln_and_slavery#Colonization
The question is, ultimately, after the war itself started swinging to the US more instead of the Confederacy and 1863 elections went pro-Republican, how much was Lincoln’s diminished public push for colonization his own change of mind and how much was change of politics? That first link, especially, needs reading. Basically, I find Reynolds, given the amount of knowledge he has otherwise, to be intellectually dishonest.
Second, he “sanitizes” some of Lincoln’s somewhat racist comments in the 1840s and 50s. No, they were racist, if not the worst racist for his age, and they weren’t all told in the service of politics.
Third, he claims the republic was strong against the slave trade, citing that the death penality was made a possible punishment in 1820. Reality? The Lincoln Administration’s imposition of it, once, was the ONLY time in the 42 years. More reality? The US refusing to cooperate with Britain in African shore naval policing. MORE reality? Very few cases brought in the US. W.E.B. DuBois may be too high, but, as of the start of the Civil War, I’d estimate 100,000 blacks had either been post-1807 illegally imported (whether from Africa or the post-1832 British Caribbean) or descendants of such people.
In addition, I found a phrase here and there jarring, such as calling Elizabeth Keckley’s son “light complexioned.” Of what relevance is that? None, obviously.
On the 13th Amendment? Lincoln may not have personally handed out favors. (I can’t remember what Speilberg claimed.) But, did he know that Ashley and others WERE? Yes. And, some of the favors being peddled? Federal jobs are executive branch appointments. For instance, only Abe (or Andy Johnson, later) could have named George Yeaman ambassador to Denmark. The movie part about Lincoln personally lobbying Yeaman at the White House is true.
And, again, I know Reynolds knows this. If not, he should
It’s anachronistic to call a Lollard like John Oldcastle a Puritan.
Per reviewers elsewhere, applying labels like "conservative" and "progressive" to the battle over slavery is also anachronistic and serves no purpose.
(Update: In hindsight, and seeing James Oakes is peddling some of the same untrue claims about Lincoln abandoning colonization after 1862, and with these claims getting bigger play in Reynolds, I have decided that for this and other reasons noted by myself and mentioned by other reviewers in various places, the rating must be reduced to three stars after all.)
First, the good of what’s billed as the first ever “cultural biography” of Lincoln? Reynolds delivers in spades in many ways.
One area where he really impressed me was on Lincoln’s religiosity. He notes that his parents attended an anti-slavery Baptist church in Kentucky, and were steadfast in their own stance. Beyond that, Reynolds talks about Lincoln’s younger adult deism, and how he soft-peddled that as part of his political rise. At the same time, along with other biographers, especially after the death of son Willie, he shows Lincoln, though still not a churchgoer, moving toward a more fatalistic version of conventional Calvinism.
Reynolds is also good on Lincoln’s legal practice. Many biographers focus on his 1850s railroad cases. Reynolds looks at how many divorce cases the younger Lincoln handled, for women as plaintiffs suing on grounds of desertion. He adds that Illinois was one of the few states that allowed women to file for divorce on desertion as well as abute, and that it was fairly generous, for that day, on what counted as abuse.
Fast forward to the 1850s. Reynolds talks about Lincoln avoiding ‘isms,” a charge Democrats hurled repeatedly at Republicans. He notes that Lincoln was like French tightrope walker Blondin, who had crossed Niagara Falls at this time. He adds how Lincoln sometimes made this modeling conscious, and how many newspaper columns and cartoons in the 1860 election explicitly drew this out.
He also talks about how Abe, not just Mary, was interested in spiritualism, especially after Willie’s death. Again, he puts this in the context of a rising national interest in spiritualism, fueled largely but by no means entirely by the Fox sisters. Among his contempraries, Ben Wade, Josh Giddings and Garrison all had at least some degree of interest. Lincoln conversed with both Robert Edmonds and Robert Dale Owen, the son of utopian Robert Owen, and listened seriously to Owen on matters both within and outside of spiritualism.
(Sidebar: This puts paid to the lie by folks like the Freedom from Religion Foundation that Lincoln was an atheist.)
That’s just a sample.
On the non-cultural side, Reynolds does a good job of recognizing Anna Carroll’s contributions to the war effort. I had read basically nothing about her before.
Several problems with the book, though, and they all center around slavery. Reynolds isn’t quite doing the Spielberg movie version, but ….
First and foremost, no, Lincoln did not stop talking about colonization in 1862. His administration continued discussions with Central American countries well into 1864, and in 1865, Lincoln purportedly said he had only abandoned it at the time for political reasons. Spoons Butler said that Lincoln, the day before his assassination, asked him to continue to look into it. It’s dishonest of Reynolds to not even mention Bernard Kock and the Ile-de-Vache (Vache Island) scheme. More here https://www.essentialcivilwarcurriculum.com/lincoln-and-colonization.html and here https://quod.lib.umich.edu/j/jala/2629860.0014.204/--abraham-lincoln-and-the-politics-of-black-colonization?rgn=main;view=fulltext
It's true that Vache Island wasn't actively promoted after 1862. But, colonizing Belize? That was an activity the Emigration Bureau did promote, under Lincoln's auspices, into 1863. And, per Wiki, Lincoln continued to have at least a background attachment to colonization into 1864, even if he and Butler didn't discuss it in 1865. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln_and_slavery#Colonization
The question is, ultimately, after the war itself started swinging to the US more instead of the Confederacy and 1863 elections went pro-Republican, how much was Lincoln’s diminished public push for colonization his own change of mind and how much was change of politics? That first link, especially, needs reading. Basically, I find Reynolds, given the amount of knowledge he has otherwise, to be intellectually dishonest.
Second, he “sanitizes” some of Lincoln’s somewhat racist comments in the 1840s and 50s. No, they were racist, if not the worst racist for his age, and they weren’t all told in the service of politics.
Third, he claims the republic was strong against the slave trade, citing that the death penality was made a possible punishment in 1820. Reality? The Lincoln Administration’s imposition of it, once, was the ONLY time in the 42 years. More reality? The US refusing to cooperate with Britain in African shore naval policing. MORE reality? Very few cases brought in the US. W.E.B. DuBois may be too high, but, as of the start of the Civil War, I’d estimate 100,000 blacks had either been post-1807 illegally imported (whether from Africa or the post-1832 British Caribbean) or descendants of such people.
In addition, I found a phrase here and there jarring, such as calling Elizabeth Keckley’s son “light complexioned.” Of what relevance is that? None, obviously.
On the 13th Amendment? Lincoln may not have personally handed out favors. (I can’t remember what Speilberg claimed.) But, did he know that Ashley and others WERE? Yes. And, some of the favors being peddled? Federal jobs are executive branch appointments. For instance, only Abe (or Andy Johnson, later) could have named George Yeaman ambassador to Denmark. The movie part about Lincoln personally lobbying Yeaman at the White House is true.
And, again, I know Reynolds knows this. If not, he should
It’s anachronistic to call a Lollard like John Oldcastle a Puritan.
Per reviewers elsewhere, applying labels like "conservative" and "progressive" to the battle over slavery is also anachronistic and serves no purpose.
ashwise360's review against another edition
challenging
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
5.0
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