Book Description
A major history of Civil War America through the lens of its two towering figures: Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass.
"My husband considered you a dear friend," Mary Todd Lincoln wrote to Frederick Douglass in the weeks after Lincoln's assassination. The frontier lawyer and the former slave, the cautious politician and the fiery reformer, the president and the most famous black man in America—their lives traced different paths that finally met in the bloody landscape of secession, Civil War, and emancipation. Opponents at first, they gradually became allies, each influenced by and attracted to the other. Their three meetings in the White House signaled a profound shift in the direction of the Civil War, and in the fate of the United States. In this first book to draw the two together, James Oakes has written a masterful narrative history. He brings these two iconic figures to life and sheds new light on the central issues of slavery, race, and equality in Civil War America.
Customer Reviews:
Puts the radical ideologist and the political realist in historical perspective.......2007-05-30
One of the easiest things to do, especially on the web, is to take a highly regarded leader of the past, say, Abraham Lincoln, pull a few of his quotes or actions out of their historical context, and supposedly "prove" how horrible that leader actually was. In contrast, author James Oakes explains Lincoln to us postmoderns the way an historian should - by reminding us of Lincoln's circumstances and explaining Lincoln's overarching purposes. Oakes does this without resorting to making Lincoln a saint. According to Oakes' compellingly-supported evidence, Lincoln refused to compromise two essential commitments - to antislavery and to the American political system. Lincoln would not compromise his antislavery position to get more votes, nor would he compromise his oaths to uphold the Constitution to undermine slavery. This dual commitment of Lincoln's goes very far in helping us understand why Lincoln limited his goal to preventing the spread of slavery before he became president, why he didn't just go ahead and free all the slaves when he became president, why he moved slowly towards emancipation during the war, etc. Furthermore, the author's discussion of Lincoln's overwhelming desire to change the hearts and minds of Americans about slavery instead of merely forcing through political change regardless of wider support was especially useful. As the "Republican" in the title, Lincoln wanted a government that represented the will of the people; therefore, the will of the people needed to be converted before the government could make radical change. The fact that Lincoln helped accomplish this more widespread change is quite a testament to his legacy of leadership.
The "Radical" in the title is another great American, Frederick Douglass. Unlike Lincoln's, Douglass' reputation typically is not in dispute. Most of us love Douglass, and for good reason. Oakes doesn't tarnish Douglass' reputation, but he does help us to understand how Douglass' singular commitment to antislavery/antiracism, as compared to Lincoln's dual commitment explained above, often put Douglass at odds with the political process AND caused Douglass to speak out so vehemently against politicians like Lincoln. From Douglass' perspective, only immediate emancipation and egalitarianism would serve justice. Thus, by necessity, Douglass would oppose and criticize Lincoln - that is, until the two men met.
One of the reviewers below critiques Oakes for supposedly overstating the relationship between the two men. I believe this critique is misplaced because Oakes never claimed to be writing primarily about the interpersonal relationship between the two. Instead, he's writing about the interplay of the radical ideology of one, and the antislavery politics of the other. Also, I think that Oakes analyzes the relationship between Brown and Douglass comprehensively, not simplistically, as a reviewer below seems to believe.
As a person who teaches history at the college level, and as a person who enjoys reading history for fun, I would recommend this book. I intend to make it one of my required texts for my survey American history course, alongside Frederick Douglass' autobiography.
What changed Frederick Douglass' mind.......2007-04-24
Author James Oakes tells us this: in 1860 Frederick Douglass wrote of the upcoming presidential election "I cannot support Lincoln." But in 1888, Douglass said he had met no man "possessing a more godlike nature than did Abraham Lincoln." What had happened?
Oakes gives us a quick glance at his hypothesis within the subtitle of his book: the triumph of antislavery politics. As he explains, this doesn't apply to Lincoln. Lincoln was always an anti-slavery politician, although his thinking on how and how fast slavery should be destroyed changed over time. But with regards to the use of politics as the means to abolish slavery, the man whose thinking moved more was Frederick Douglass. And although the two men share the billing in Oakes' title, this is far more a book about Douglass than Lincoln. It is a book about the evolution of the reasoning of Frederick Douglass.
That evolution, as Oakes paints it, began for Douglass from the belief that the issue of slavery transcended politics and the compromises that came with it. Oakes traces how Douglass the reformer began to be drawn into the political arena, alienating the abolitionists who had first supported his career. But still he carried with him that insistence on absolutism. He brooked no delays, no strategic maneuverings. Lincoln and the Republicans were gradualists, and therefore were deemed irresolute and untrustworthy.
After the Civil War began, Douglass found even more reasons for outrage. Lincoln refused to immediately emancipate the slaves. The President even countermanded the Union generals who issued proclamations freeing the slaves in the territories they conquered. Lincoln had not yet issued a retaliation policy against confederates who captured and often executed southern blacks who had joined the Union army. Oakes gives us deft insights into Lincoln's thinking on all these issues. Douglass, who apparently was not himself an acolyte of consistency, bounced back and forth in his electoral attitudes. But he never let up in his pressure on Lincoln nor in his condemnation of the President's lack of strong steps against slave-holding interests.
Then, first in 1863, Lincoln meets with Douglass. About a year later, at Lincoln's request, they meet a second time and Lincoln asks Douglass to draw up a plan to get as many slaves freed under the Emancipation Proclamation as possible. Over that span Douglass' thinking with regards to Lincoln undergoes a dramatic shift. Afterwards, his criticism of Lincoln essentially stops.
Oakes describes these meetings, including a third just after Lincoln's second inaugural address, in as much detail as consistent with the small format of the book. He relies largely on Douglass' own recollections. Oakes also gives us dramatic retellings of other events in Douglass' career that illustrate the development of his thinking, but also the refinement of his skills as a political strategist.
We are still left wondering what exactly was the effect of those meetings with Lincoln. Was Douglass simply overwhelmed, as others were, by the force of Lincoln's understated humaneness and thereby convinced of the President's genuine concern for blacks? Or did Lincoln persuade Douglass that his political methods were the best possible under the evolving circumstances? Or did Lincoln flatter Douglass into acquiescence, especially in enlisting his help during that second meeting?
These possibilities are not mutually exclusive. Oakes in no way downplays the significance of these meetings. But I believe he wants us to see that what happened was entirely consistent with the evolution of Douglass' thinking with regards to politics. As a reformer, he saw it his job to always keep the pressure on. But where and how best to apply that pressure --- that changed in his meetings with Lincoln. And, near the end of Douglass' life, when he raised Lincoln to sainthood, he was still putting the pressure on. But he was using Lincoln's reputation to apply that pressure against the backsliding that the post-Reconstruction era had brought. Douglass had found a way to combine the duties of a reformer with a sophisticated instinct for politics.
"The Radical and the Republican" is not a dramatic retelling of events. It is certainly not a co-biography of its two principals. But it does have drama. That drama comes from taking Douglass' thinking seriously and mapping out its development and growing political sophistication. To do this, it uses comparisons with Lincoln's thinking and the interplay of the two men's principles and actions. But it's not by accident that Douglass comes first in the book's title and its cover. There are many books about Lincoln. This is a book about Frederick Douglass.
The Politician and the Reformer.......2007-03-22
Abraham Lincoln (1809 --1865) and Frederick Douglass (1818 -- 1895)are American heroes with each exemplifying a unique aspect of the American spirit. In his recent study, "The Radical and the Republican: Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, and the Triumph of Antislavery Politics" (2007), Professor James Oakes traces the intersecting careers of both men, pointing out their initial differences and how their goals and visions ultimately converged. Oakes is Graduate School Humanities Professor and Professor of History at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. He has written extensively on the history of slavery in the Old South.
Oakes reminds the reader of how much Lincoln and Douglass originally shared. Lincoln and Douglass were self-made, self-educated, and ambitious, and each rose to success from humble backgrounds. Douglass, of course, was an escaped slave. Douglass certainly and Lincoln most likely detested slavery from his youngest days. But Lincoln from his young manhood was a consummate politican devoted to compromise, consensus-building, moderation and indirection. Douglass was a reformer who spoke and wrote eloquently and with passion for the abolition of slavery and for equal rights for African Americans.
Much of Oakes's book explores the difficult subject of Lincoln's attitude towards civil rights -- as opposed simply to the ending of slavery -- and of how Lincoln's views developed during the Civil War. Oakes uses Douglass as a foil for Lincoln beginning with the Lincoln -- Stephen Douglas debates in Illinois in 1858. Steven Douglas tried hard to link Lincoln to Frederick Douglass and to abolitionism. He claimed that Lincoln favored equal rights for Negroes and raised the spectre of intermarriage between white women and black men. Portions of Lincoln's responses to Stephen Douglas were almost as distressing, as Lincoln carefully avoided supporting civil equality between the races and stressed instead the evil of slavery and the need to stop its expansion. It is not surprising that Douglass the abolitionist was ambivalent and mistrustful of Lincoln in the early years, doubting his committment to the cause of ending slavery.
Douglass continued to distrust President Lincoln. Douglass found the President too quick to temporize and too slow to act towards freeing the slaves. In widely publicized actions, Lincoln had rebuked two of his generals, Freemont and Hunter, who had tried to take aggressive action to free slaves. Lincoln had acted in order to keep on good terms with the border states whose support he deemed necessary to a successful war effort. But Douglass saw Lincoln's actions as weak and waffling.
Douglass's attitude gradually changed with the Emancipation Proclamation and with three meetings between the two men in 1863, 1864, and 1865. Douglass was won over by the President. Lincoln, for his part, seemed to view Douglass with genuine affection and friendship. Douglass gave masterful orations summarizing Lincoln's accomplishments following Lincoln's assassination, in 1876 at the unveiling of the Emancipation Monument in Lincoln Park, Washington, D.C., and throughout the rest of his life. Lincoln had fought slavery with every means at his command, Douglass came to believe, given the difficult political and military situation with which he had to deal.
Douglass' career moved in an opposite direction from that of Lincoln. He began as a reformer and a follower of the abolitionist William Garrison and he initially shared Garrison's contempt for the American political process. Gradually, Douglass found his own voice, and he became convinced the the United States Constitution did not support slavery. He came to conclude that it was possible to work for change through the political process, and this belief eventually allowed a convergence between him and Lincoln. With the conclusion of the Civil War, Douglass became a party man and a stalwart Republican -- perhaps giving up more than he should have of the passion of his early years. While he ultimately saw the failure of Reconstruction, Douglass remained for the rest of his long life firmly within the American political process.
Oakes does an excellent job of comparing and contrasting the work of Lincoln and Douglass. His accounts of the complex events leading to the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation are particuarly lucid. Oakes argues that Lincoln had surreptitiously delivered the death blow to slavery by the end of 1861. As to Douglass, I learned a great deal from Oakes's discussion of his three autobiographies, written in 1845, 1855, and 1881 (editied, 1891) and of how these works document the change of Douglass from reformer to an instance of the American success story. Oakes also describes well and detail a chilling meeting between Douglass and other African American leaders and President Andrew Johnson in which Douglass unsuccessfully tried to persuade Johnson to extend the right to vote to African Americans.
Oakes has written a readable, informed account of the achievements of two great American leaders. The attitudes which they represent -- the politican and the reformer -- and the issues with which they struggled remain with Americans today.
Robin Friedman
Neglected History.......2007-03-08
I enjoyed this book because it showed the civil rights struggle with all its complexities in a very clear and understandable way. The interaction of Douglas and Lincoln was especially interesting because it provided a very human picture of good men trying to deal with the thinking and forces operating during that time.
A spectacular love story.......2007-03-01
Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass long, coy courtship ends in the conjugal bliss of pragmatism. Explosive!
And the cover of the book is AWESOME. The design is great.
Book Description
The Civil War was a major turning point in American religious thought, argues Mark A. Noll. Although Christian believers agreed with one another that the Bible was authoritative and that it should be interpreted through commonsense principles, there was rampant disagreement about what Scripture taught about slavery. Furthermore, most Americans continued to believe that God ruled over the affairs of people and nations, but they were radically divided in their interpretations of what God was doing in and through the war.
In addition to examining what white and black Americans wrote about slavery and race, Noll surveys commentary from foreign observers. Protestants and Catholics in Europe and Canada saw clearly that no matter how much the voluntary reliance on scriptural authority had contributed to the construction of national civilization, if there were no higher religious authority than personal interpretation regarding an issue as contentious as slavery, the resulting public deadlock would amount to a full-blown theological crisis. By highlighting this theological conflict, Noll adds to our understanding of not only the origins but also the intensity of the Civil War.
Customer Reviews:
An important contribution to historical scholarship on the Civil War.......2007-09-30
This book shows how the beliefs and assumptions held by American Christians in 1860 precluded any kind of critical reflection on the Civil War. If you've read Nathan Hatch's Democratization of American Christianity, this serves as an excellent second installment in the saga. Many of the ideals whose development Hatch chronicles played important roles in paving the way for the Civil War ethos. This book is also a nice supplement to Harry S. Stout's Upon the Altar of the Nation. Stout beautifully chronicles Americans' moral ambivalence, but doesn't really go into the root causes to the extent that Noll does. Nor does Stout explore foreign commentary on the war. Noll's exploration of foreign commentary, in fact, was one of the most fascinating aspects of the book. Foreigners seem to have seen fairly clearly what nobody in America could see.
If you're looking for a rousing or moving narrative, this isn't the book for you. But if you'd like to understand why American theology was paralyzed in the face of the slavery crisis, this little book is ideal.
That it's a "little" book is also nice. Noll says a whole lot in only about 160 pages.
must read book from a must read author.......2007-06-09
M. Noll simply is one of the best writers i am currently enamored with, both for his research ability, his writing clarity but most importantly the topics and ideas he writes about. I really could do no better than to return the mountain of partially read library books on my desk, just buy everything he wrote and read it in chronological order. He is that good, important and significant.
I've had an interest, inherited from my mom, concerning the American Civil War. Not so much the battles but the meaning of it all. Not the generals but the theologians of the war, why do men fight? why do they kill brothers? why is there such passion about this most UnCivil War? Since i spent a year working on and delivering a Sunday School class on the History of American Presbyterianism i have been aware of the overarching significance of the Civil War in the history of ideas. It marks the end of one world and the birth of another, the one we live in now. And M. Noll and this short book go a long ways towards filling in some of the blank spots and questions i have about it.
in several important ways it is a continuation of:
chapter 18 "The 'Bible Alone' and a Reformed, Literal Hermeneutic", and
chapter 19 "The Bible and Slavery"
from his _America's God_
there is more both historical and theological work to be done on the issues. as a reviewer wrote earlier the issue at heart is the perspicuity of Scripture.
Helpful focus on rarely discussed dimensions of the Civil War.......2007-01-10
Noll makes an important and accessible contribution to studies on the religious dimensions of the Civil War. Noll demonstrates how views of Biblical interpretation fueled the intensity with which both sides engaged each other over the slavery question. Especially helpful is Noll's analysis on Roman Catholics' views of the War. All around, the book was a great read.
An appenidix.......2006-09-19
This is an outflow of a predominent theme of Noll's work: the invention of an American religion. This is a off shoot of Harold Bloom's book The American religion: The Emergence of the Post-Christian Nation. Since reading his "Is the Reformation Over?" I have found his ideas more in tune with a liberal philosophy as underpinning. The primary thought expressed intially is the rejection of perspicuity of the Bible. It is a hypothesis that the problem of interpretation could not be solved by the Bible alone is not a Protestant idea, but a Catholic one.
The views of the Civil War from abroad as being included and their highlighted relevance seems irrelevant for lots of reasons. I think some of those reasons apply to the current controversy of whether the Supreme Court should reference court decisions and law international in their rulings.
That somehow a mix or confusion of the doctrine of Providence was a problem in being able to sort out the question of slavery is dubious. Providence that God is working in all things has been and will be cited into infinity. Why may not one look at the use of Providence as sited generally by Jefferson and many leaders of our history until the present for undertakings? Or who can leave out the current rage in evangelical circles seeing God's hand divining current trends as forecast in the Tim LaHaye series?
If this was a theological crisis, whose theology? The author does not define these terms or take a stand for a particular theological view. If there is a declension of "theology", what points. Surely, it is not the dumb contention of Providence being misused by both sides. It is the resurgence of a works religion unfolding.
The author does indicate that enlightenment priniciples, their acceptance in hermeneutics and interpretation of scripture, had a affect in confusing orthodox beliefs in strict propagation of the gospel with that of a socialized political gospel. To this day the two are still emeshed with each other to Christianity's detriment. We are still doing God's work in Iraq etc, etc. and whatever else may come down the pike.
Fills a much needed hole in Civil War literature.......2006-09-05
This book covers a much needed gap in the history of Religion during the American Civil War. While focusing on the narrow subject of the theological debates raging during the war (both nationally and internationally), this book is a valued companion to the growing collection of works treating Religion during America's most dividing conflict. (Most notably Harry Stout and Elizabeth Fox-Genovese) While numerous historians have explored the economic, social and racial justifications of slavery, few have explored the surprisingly sophisticated arguments put forth by the Southern theologians. Although modern readers unquestionable find fault in using the Bible to justify slavery, one may be surprised at the intellectual nuance of the arguments given by Southern thinkers. By understanding the ideological mindset of both sides, one gets a fuller insight into this period of our past. And that is what history is all about.
Another novel aspect of the work is that it dives into European sources in search of Continental reactions to the war from European religious thinkers. This aspect helps readers to understand that the problem of race and slavery was not unique to American clergy alone but something that leaders in all corners of Christendom had to deal with. This book is highly recommended for four readers: 1) Someone looking for a highly specialized book on the theological battles that took place during the Civil War 2) Someone who is interested in the history of Christian responses to violence and/or war 3) Someone interested in the connections between slavery and Christianity and 4) The armchair historian who reads everything about the Civil War and is looking for a fresh angle on their favorite subject.
Happy Reading.
Book Description
Lincoln at Cooper Union explores Lincoln's most influential and widely reported pre-presidential address -- an extraordinary appeal by the western politician to the eastern elite that propelled him toward the Republican nomination for president. Delivered in New York in February 1860, the Cooper Union speech dispelled doubts about Lincoln's suitability for the presidency, and reassured conservatives of his moderation while reaffirming his opposition to slavery to Republican progressives.
Award-winning Lincoln scholar Harold Holzer places Lincoln and his speech in the context of the times -- an era of racism, politicized journalism, and public oratory as entertainment -- and shows how the candidate framed the speech as an opportunity to continue his famous "debates" with his archrival Democrat Stephen A. Douglas on the question of slavery.
The Cooper Union speech, which was carefully researched by Lincoln and refers often to the Founders and authors of the Constitution, is an antislavery lecture, capped by a ringing warning to would-be secessionists in the South. It reaches its climax with the assurance that "right makes might." Long held, inaccurately, to be an appeal to the conservatives, Holzer presents Lincoln's speech as a masterly combination of scholarship, a brief for equality and democracy, and a rallying cry to the country and the Republican party.
Holzer describes the enormous risk Lincoln took by appearing in New York, where he exposed himself to the country's most critical audience and took on Republican senator William Henry Seward of New York, the front-runner, in his own backyard. Then he recounts the brilliant and innovative public relations campaign, as Lincoln took the speech "on the road" in his successful quest for the presidency.
Customer Reviews:
How Lincoln got creditable...........2007-02-17
Harold Holzer's book on Abraham Lincoln's speech at Cooper Union gives a clarity to the importance of that speech and how it affected Lincoln as a speaker, politican and future candidate for his Republican Party. While Lincoln was well known among the western states, he wasn't that well regarded along the northeastern seaboard. One of the most important things about the book was how the author explained how this speech gave Lincoln so much creditability among the easterners and how that speech firmly put Lincoln on the political map national wide. This helped pave the way for Lincoln's nomination when others were looking for alternative choices beside William Seward who was at that time, the leading Republican front runner.
The book proves to be quite informative. Abraham Lincoln is obviously one person you cannot judge by your first impression. The author throughly explained the mannerism of Lincoln's speech skills and the way it contrast to his physical appearances which often led to initial misgiving by the audience before they roared in their approval at the end of the speech.
Its pretty clear that Mr. Holzer have complete command of his subject matter which is reflected on the superb writing and ease of reading material that only an expert can do to any subject. The book appears to be well researched and it was about time that a book on this subject came out (I think the last book about this speech came out before Mr. Holzer was born).
I would considered this book to be a mandatory reading material for anyone interested in Abraham Lincoln and probably a good background material for anyone interested in the coming of the American Civil War.
Another side of Lincoln.......2007-01-05
There are so many books written on Lincoln and many different prespectives on his life and presidency. Holzer looks at the Cooper Union Speech and shows how Lincoln, the master politician used the speech and his trip East to get the 1860 nomination. Many historians assert that the speech made Lincoln. However, Holzer shows a unique view of the trip and the speech and how Lincoln used the opportunity to campaign in the East before he was officially a candidate. Ironically, Holzer points out that Salmon Chase turned down the opportunity to speak at Cooper Union demonstrating just one more ocassion when Chase blew an opportunity to get to the White House.
While dispelling many myths about the speech and Lincoln's trip, Holzer also shows the brillance of Lincoln and the time and effort that he spent in preparation for this speech. He also shows how this speech became Lincoln's stump speech. Once nominated, Lincoln followed the tradition of the time and did not campaign but used the Cooper Union Speech as essentially his platform.
For the person just beginning their interest in Lincoln or the seasoned scholar, this book is well worth the read. To add to that it is a quick and enjoyable read.
"The Founding Fathers said . . .".......2006-02-24
For anyone who wants to use the founding fathers as a justification for their belief system should read this speech and this book.
Lincoln in tight, careful reasoning lays out exactly what the founding fathers believed in regard to slavery. Eloquent, exciting and challenging.
This is much needed study to the speeches of Lincoln.
Democracy in 1860.......2006-01-30
I enjoyed this book immensely and now look forward to reading more from Holzer about this period. It answered so many questions I had about the messy circumstances surrounding slavery and the formation of the country. What I had always thought of as such hypocrisy was, as I now understand it, an incredible lesson in the human tension between reality and ideals -- such a Christian tension and so true to life, and on such a grand and significant scale. Rather than merely acknowledging the "stain", as indeed it was, the focus today should be on the triumph of overcoming it.
In his highly detailed telling, Holzer over and over exposes Linclon myths surrounding the event and that are, in themselves so revealing of human tendencies. While deflating so many of these myths, in the doing he does so much to explain the likely origins -- often humourous, sometimes self serving, but always understandable and enriching to his story.
And not just myths. One I found particularly poignant was repeated on occasion by son Robert who was at Exeter at the time of the speech. While it had been only about 4 months since they had seen each other, a visit to Robert was one of Lincoln's excuses for taking the time and incurring the expense of going East to speak. Lincoln ultimately made about 10 subsequent stops to speak in New England on his return trip to and from Exeter before heading home. While these speeches laid the foundation for his calculating father's ultimate nomination and election, Robert steadfastly maintained the purpose of the trip was to see him. I found that very touching -- it's one thing to be a father to your country, but still another to be so to your son.
At the heart of it all was the speech itself and the eager ears, eventually eyes, which took it in. While Lincoln's personality was a factor, the power of his words was what carried he day. I found this revealing and a tonic to today's politics -- an altogether different America then.
This was democracy at its best. There is clearly, to me at least, no ideal political system, as all can be manipulated. Now with Hamas the victors in Palestine, I guess even the current administration might be thinking this.
I could go on, but won't other than to quote the following recollection attributed to Lincoln and which might best be read with the thought of current schooling in mind:
I remember how, when a mere child, I used to get irritated when any body talked to me in a way I could not understand. I don't think I ever got angry at anything else in my life . . . I can remember going to my little bedroom, after hearing the neighbors talk of an evening with my father, and spending no small part of the night walking up and down, and trying to make out what was the exact meaning of some of their, to me, dark sayings. I could not sleep, though I often tried to, when I got on such a hunt after an idea, until I had caught it; and when I thought I had got it, I was not satisfied until I had repeated it over and over, until I had put it in language plain enough, as I thought, for any boy I knew to comprehend. This was a kind of passion with me, and it has stuck by me; for I am never easy now, when I am handling a thought, till I have bounded it North, and bounded it South, and bounded it East, and bounded it West. Perhaps that accounts for the characteristic you observe in my speeches, though I never put the two things together before.
PS As a graduate of Cooper Union, I did find Holzer's account of Cooper's amazing building a bit thin. Plans and photos are available on the web. The stage is on the West, not the North as Holzer says, and there are 18 obstructing columns, not 16. These inaccuracies have not altered my faith in his account. I have inserted a plan of the hall in my copy.
Highly recommended.......2005-08-24
Another wonderful contribution to Lincoln scholarship by Harold Holzer! Like all of his previous contributions to our understanding of the Civil War president, this book is thoroughly researched, gracefully written, and richly informative.
Lincoln spoke on February 27, 1860, to a large crowd in New York's Cooper Union on the great political issue of the day, the extension of slavery into the American territories. The 90-minute speech was carefully researched, logically argued, and powerfully delivered, and, at its conclusion, the audience burst into cheers. The following day, it was printed in full in the major newspapers of New York City. In the weeks and months ahead, it was reprinted and avidly read in all parts of the country (except the slaveholding states of the South).
Holzer argues that the Cooper Union speech was, in a sense, both the first and the last of Lincoln's presidential campaign speeches, for it was the first major address in which he believed that he might actually be elected president, and after he returned to Illinois he never again delivered a campaign address (the custom of the time prohibited presidential candidates from actively seeking the office). But the speech was so warmly received and so widely read by voters from New England to California that it served its purpose over and over again, placing Lincoln's views before the electorate and demonstrating the formidable powers of reason and persuasion that he would bring to the presidency.
Holzer discusses the circumstances that led up to the Cooper Union speech, the time-consuming preparations Lincoln made for it, the effect that it produced (both in New York City and in the broader nation), and its historical significance. I was particularly fascinated by his description of New York in 1860, already the nation's preeminent metropolis, with a seething commercial, political, and journalistic life, and of Lincoln's experiences there, both inside and outside Cooper Union.
Highly recommended.
Average customer rating:
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Lincoln of Kentucky
Lowell H. Harrison
Manufacturer: University Press of Kentucky
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Book Description
Illinois may claim to be the “Land of Lincoln,” but it was Kentucky—the state of this future president's birth—that shaped his personality and continued to affect his life at every stage.
Lincoln spent the first seven years of his life in Kentucky. His wife was from the Bluegrass state, as were each of the women with whom he had romantic relationships. All three of his law partners were Kentuckians, as was his lifelong best friend.
During the Civil War, Lincoln is reputed to have said, “I hope to have God on my side, but I must have Kentucky.” Recognizing Kentucky's importance as the bellwether of the four loyal slave states, Lincoln accepted the commonwealth's illegal neutrality until Unionists secured firm control of the state government.
Yet even loyal supporters disagreed with some policies, most notably his attitude towards slavery. Lincoln urged the commonwealth to adopt a scheme of gradual, compensated emancipation, a position so unpopular that Kentucky voted for George B. McClellan in the 1864 presidential election, one of only three states to do so. It was not until the twentieth century that Kentuckians fully recognized and accepted his greatness.
Written for a general audience, LINCOLN OF KENTUCKY reflects the latest scholarship on Lincoln, Kentucky, and the numerous connections between the two before, during, and after the Civil War.
Book Description
Part slave narrative, part memoir, and part sentimental fiction, Behind the Scenes depicts Elizabeth Keckley's years as a slave and subsequent four years in Abraham Lincoln's White House during the Civil War (1861-1865). As public drama privately experienced, Keckley's work presents Jefferson Davis and his wife, Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd Lincoln, and even Stephen Douglas and "Mrs. Senator Douglas" in the foreground, with the war, and slavery as the issue that precipitated it, in the background. Through the eyes of this black woman--an ex-slave, seamstress, and dressmaker--we see a wide range of historical figures and events of the antebellum South, the Washington of the Civil War years, and the final stages of the war.
Customer Reviews:
Intimate recollections of the Lincoln White House.......2007-09-13
Although this volume comes from the memories of someone familiar with the Lincoln White House and who became a close friend of Mary Todd Lincoln, it must be read cautiously. For example, despite the book's basic authenticity I find its account of Stephen Douglas's love for young Mary Todd and her jilting of Lincoln implausible despite Keckley's claim that she got the story directly from Mary Todd Lincoln and Anson Henry (a close friend of Abraham and Mary, who was a matchmaker encouraging their romance). Possibly some errors might be attributed to one or more literary assistants who helped compile the book. If a reader needs to be certain a about a particular statement, comparison with other sources is wise. Still, the volume will be valuable to anyone interested in firsthand impressions of the Lincoln White House.
Friend and confidant to Mary Lincoln.......2007-03-22
I got this little book so that I could learn more about the Lincolns and their home life at the White House. It does an excellent job of telling the story of Elizabeth and Mary's friendship, which I wish could have continued, but alas, it didn't. I would recommend this book to all readers interested in US history, not matter what their age or gender, so that they can get an intimate view of the Lincoln's family life. Elizabeth was a strong and proud woman with a high moral and ethical character...if she were alive today, she would be swamped with interview requests and book deals!
Not What You'd Expect, But Read It As If You Lived 138 Years Ago.......2006-08-05
In 1868, three years after the War Between the States ended and Abraham Lincoln was murdered, Elizabeth Keckley sat down to write a partial history of her life as a slave and modiste (dressmaker) for Mary Todd Lincoln at the White House. If readers judge "Behind the Scenes" by the standards of modern biographies, they won't do the book justice.
"Lizzie" Keckley was a slave who insisted on buying her freedom, even after being offered it for nothing. In modern terms, she was an "Aunt Tom" for validating the notion that any human being can be bought and sold for a price. By her own standards, she was affirming her value to society. It's impossible to judge such a person in contemporary terms.
Lizzie's dressmaking skill attracted the attention of Mary Todd Lincoln in 1861. Mrs. Lincoln was quite addicted to clothes, and hired "Dear Lizzie" as her private modiste. Their association solidified into a deep friendship after the death in 1862 of Willie Lincoln (in the White House); Lizzie offered warmth and solicitude, badly needed by an erratic First Lady whose intemperate ways and harsh tongue had made her perhaps the most disliked person in Washington. The friendship persisted after Lincoln's assassination, when Lizzie aided Mrs. Lincoln in purging her monstrous debts (she owed $70,000 to department stores) by trying to sell off old dresses and jewelry.
"Behind the Scenes" ended the friendship. After its publication Mary Lincoln, her pride wounded, dropped "Dear Lizzie" and referred to Mrs. Keckley as "that colored historian."
For students of the assassination Mrs. Keckley's reminiscences are especially helpful. Several weeks after April 14, 1865, while Mrs. Lincoln was still in mourning inside the White House, Lizzie told her "the new messenger" (not identified by name in the book, unfortunately) was on watch, he being the same man who had abandoned his post outside Lincoln's box at Ford's Theater. Mrs. Lincoln excoriated the "new messenger" and accused him of complicity in the assassination. The messenger admitted his carelessness but denied complicity, insisting he had simply taken a seat where he could better watch the play.
Except for the ambiguous word "messenger," this account conforms precisely to the convential wisdom that prevailed until about 25 years ago, i.e. that John F. Parker, a Metropolitan Police officer assigned to White House duty, was responsible for guarding Lincoln's box on the night of the assassination, but left his post and allowed John Wilkes Booth clear entry (and how would Booth have known the coast would be clear?). Post-modern historians, possibly seizing on Keckley's use of "messenger" to describe Parker, contrived a theory that Parker's duties never included protecting Lincoln...which idea begs the obvious question, "Why would Mrs. Lincoln have been so angry at someone who wasn't responsible in the first place?" And, since Parker supposedly went on trial for negligence (the records were mysteriously destroyed), "Why would anyone have been put on trial for neglecting Lincoln at Ford's Theater if he had been only a White House functionary all along?"
One person's memior.......2005-04-26
This is a memior written by a woman who started life as a slave, then managed to buy her freedom, and later set up a successful living as a seamstress, eventually going to work for Mrs. Lincoln in the White House. As such, it is a bit rambling. There are two chapters about her early life as a slave, but the author knows that what is most interesting to the readers is her life in the white house, and so she skips ahead to that period, giving us her personal "insider account" of daily vignettes with Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln. These vignettes include an eyewitness account of Lincoln's second inauguration address, the death of Willie Lincoln, and events immediately after Lincoln's assasination. The author then goes on to describe her post-white house associations with Mrs. Lincoln, who became a personal friend, as Mrs. Lincoln deals with post-presidency debts. The book continues with an in-depth account of how Mrs. Keckley assisted Mrs. Lincoln with attempting to sell her personal effects (dresses) to raise money. This must have been of great interest to readers when the book was first published in the 1860's, but has limited appeal to modern readers.
Overall, however, the book is a very interesting glimpse into the daily life of a slave, an independent businesswoman in the 1860's, of someone who worked in the white house during the civil war, and of someone in the close confidence of the Lincolns. It is well-written and engaging.
The Life Of A Slave.......2005-02-18
This is my least favorite book on the Lincolns. It's the story of Elizabeth Keckley, who was a slave. Elizabeth eventaully becomes Mary Todd Lincoln's dressmaker and friend. This is a lot more about slavery than the Lincolns.I don't mind reading about the subject. I just didn't think it was a very well-written book on Elizabeth's part.
Book Description
I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves...are, and henceforward shall be free....
No other words in American history changed the lives of so many Americans as this plain, blunt declaration from Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation. But no other words in American history have been so often passed over or held up to greater suspicion.
Born in the struggle of Lincoln's determination to set slavery on the path to destruction, it has remained a document of struggle, as conflicting interpretations and historical mysteries swirl around it. What were Lincoln's real intentions? Was he the Great Emancipator or just a Great Fixer? What slaves did the Proclamation actually free? Or did the slaves free themselves? Why is the language of the Proclamation so bland, so legalistic, so far from the soaring eloquence of the Gettysburg Address?
Prizewinning Lincoln scholar Allen C. Guelzo presents, for the first time, a full scale study of Lincoln's greatest state paper. Using unpublished letters and documents, little- known accounts from Civil War-era newspapers, and Congressional memoirs and correspondence, Guelzo tells the story of the complicated web of statesmen, judges, slaves, and soldiers who accompanied, and obstructed, Abraham Lincoln on the path to the Proclamation.
The crisis of a White House at war, of plots in Congress and mutiny in the Army, of one man's will to turn the nation's face toward freedom -- all these passionate events come alive in a powerful and moving narrative of Lincoln's, and the Civil War's, greatest moment.
Customer Reviews:
What lincoln really meant!.......2006-04-28
Every one think that lincoln help end slavery! Yea he did but the only reason why he did it because he believed that if slavery would ever end with out his help we would take over the good jobs ane there houses. Lincoln never liked african american people and i can prove it, lincoln's remarks say's he could have never been in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political aquality of the whites and blacks races,that he'll never be in favor of making blacks vorters or jurors or qualifying them to hold office. He thought that there was a physical difference between the whites in blacks. He also believed that blacks was inferior to whites and that whites should have the position of superior. I wouldn't tell a lie about this think about this do your research
Worshipping Father Abraham.......2006-04-22
Just what the world does not need: another enormous book written about one Lincoln speech (or order or whatever). When will this Lincoln idolatry end? We already have built shrines and temples to this man. Should we worship him the way the Romans worshipped their emperors?
He did not die for our sins. He did not rise from the dead. He will not answer our prayers. He did bring about emancipation, but under the worst possible circumstances. One hundred years of awful race relations were the result. Perhaps just one year with no new Lincoln books, or at least no books looking at one document.
Excellent.......2005-09-15
Places Mr. Lincoln and the Proclamation in their correct political, social and historic contexts. For me, this makes the document the result of an act of moral and political courage.
Well written and researched, this book made it easier for me to understand the 16th President, and to get behind the veil that separates us from him, socially and historically.
Interesting look into a pivotal time. Recommended.
Emancipation Proclamation.......2005-07-19
The book was received in a most timely fashion in an outstanding condition as indicated from the time of order. I would order again without hesitation.
Lincoln the Stratgeist.......2005-04-02
Lincoln the Strategist
This is a wonderful book. It paints a portrait of a side of Lincoln rarely discussed, Lincoln the cunning politician and master of strategy. Lincoln by careful political and military maneuvering did what the fiery rhetoric of the abolitionists had failed to; free all slaves everywhere.
The majority of Northern whites were not abolitionists and were not willing to fight a war with the South, strictly to free black slaves. Lincoln knew and understood this, and cast the war in terms of preserving the union. However thru a series of gradual, and seemingly unconnected actions, Lincoln set the die for the eventual abolition of slavery and the equality of all people.
Consider Lincoln's decision to accept southern slaves into the union army. This decision could be easily be justified on the grounds of military expediency. It was common practice for one army to seize the property of the opposing side and then to use that property against it's former owner. When the Union overran a Confederate artillery position, they would seize the cannons and use them against the South. What could be more sensible and non controversial than to use seized southern property(slaves) against the south?
However by training and arming recently freed black slaves and clothing them in the uniform of the U.S. Government, Lincoln seriously eroded the thesis of slavery; that blacks were an inferior race deserving only of slavery and not citizenship. When the war was over these black veterans would be another obstacle to a continuation of the previous precarious, legal status of blacks. It was inconceivable that a slave who had joined the Union army and fought for the Union could later be returned to slavery or denied citizenship.
The Emancipation Proclamation was a conditional document issued by Lincoln pursuant to his powers as commander in chief. The proclamation provided that, in six month if the rebellion was still active then all persons held as slaves where the Union was not in power would be freed. Thus the Emancipation Proclamation could be defended as part and parcel of the war effort and not a special effort to free slaves or improve the status of blacks. If the rebels did not lay down their arms and submit to the Union within the generous period of time of six months, their most useful and valuable property, their slaves would be forfeit. After all, what country at war does not seize the property, either public or private of it's enemy. To this day the United States, like most countries has a "Trading with the Enemy Act" which provides for the seizure of the private property of citizens of a foreign country, which the United States is in conflict with.
By making the Emancipation Proclamation a conditional document Lincoln set the stage for the 13th Amendment(which abolished slavery everywhere): had the war ended with the Emancipation Proclamation still in effect all the slaves of the confederacy would have been free, however thousands of slaves in the border states would remain in bondage. This would be an untenable situation, leaving aside the fact that the war had converted many union soldiers into hard core abolitionists, it would re ignite many of the pre civil war problems, like the fugitive slave issue.
This was the genius of Lincoln. Through a series of small and carefully plotted steps he brought the Country and the body politic, to a place where they had not intended to go, but did so in a manner, that few noticed the change in direction, and fewer still objected.
Book Description
The first major modern edition of the wartime correspondence of General William T. Sherman, this volume features more than 400 letters written between the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860 and the day Sherman bade farewell to his troops in 1865. Together, they trace Sherman's rise from obscurity to become one of the Union's most famous and effective warriors.
Arranged chronologically and grouped into chapters that correspond to significant phases in Sherman's life, the letters—many of which have never before been published—reveal Sherman's thoughts on politics, military operations, slavery and emancipation, the South, and daily life in the Union army, as well as his reactions to such important figures as General Ulysses S. Grant and President Lincoln.
Lively, frank, opinionated, discerning, and occasionally extremely wrong-headed, these letters mirror the colorful personality and complex mentality of the man who wrote them. They offer the reader an invaluable glimpse of the Civil War as Sherman saw it.
Customer Reviews:
A man of war, a man of letters...a magnificent collection of Uncle Billy's writings!!.......2007-07-19
William Tecumseh Sherman was a brilliant military genius and a true eccentric.
A fascinating and complex man, who found his destiny in war. Sherman revelled in war and owed much to it: he began it as an former officer of modest means and ended it hailed as the Union greatest general next to Grant. At the same time he loathed and despised war and was horrified by it. He was shocked by what the war did to his country, his people, his soldiers and to himself. At times he was appalled by his duties as an officer, but he was always highly resolved to perform these duties.
Everybody who has ever read his memoirs knows that Sherman was not only a great general but also a very talented writer. His memoirs are not a dry succession of events and his part in it, but they convey how he lived through the war and how and why he did what he did in it.
Now professor Brooks D. Simpson has edited a big volume of his Sherman's correspondence from the Civil War years. Again it is the quality of the Sherman's writing which catches the eye and pleases the mind. His letters, as are his memoirs, are a joy to read. This book offers an interesting perspective on Sherman and his part in the war. Reading the memoirs is like having Sherman telling his war experiences to you, long after the facts. This is interesting enough but reading his letters is even more so. It feels like being there with him in his tent, in some Union camp during the war, looking over his shoulder while events are shaping. A truly fascinating experience.
He pours his heart out to his brother John, to his wife Ellen, to his friend Grant and to many others.
So many aspects of his personality appear: his quicksilver intelligence, his warmth and humanity, his wicked and dry sense of humour, his fundamental decency and his military capability.
Read this book and look intro Sherman's mind: it is an interesting place.
The book itself is a big b*gger, but once you've started, you'll be grateful that is is so big: you'll hate to finish it. It looks great, which I like in books and it's very nicely turned out, with good quality binding , high grade paper, a pretty typesetting and a nice dust jacket design. Listings and indexes are clear and elaborate, which is useful in a book like this. So here's a big thumbs up to the publisher's (Chapel Hill North Carolina State University Press): very well done, a fine piece of work!!!
I can't recommend this too highly. A must for all those who are interested in history, in the American Civil War and/or in Sherman. Read and enjoy the letters uncle Billy wrote in those four years of war and enjoy the sight and the feel of this beautifully made book.
A great collection of primary documents.......2006-05-16
It's difficult to rate a collection of primary documents such as this one for several reasons. The quality of the documents themselves might be very good but the arrangement or editing of them might be very poor, in which case it becomes a question of whether you should rate the volume well for the documents themselves or poorly for the editing job. Fortunately this collection does not have that issue, as both the primary documents themselves and the editing of them are excellent.
This massive volume contains much of Sherman's correspondence during the war. Surprisingly, these letters are enjoyable to read, and the editors have done a great job of compiling and editing them. Reading these letters, orders, etc of General Sherman can give someone a very unique perspective of the Civil War as Sherman himself saw it, without the bias of authors who have written about it since and without the inevitable coloring of events that happens later when war heroes write about their experiences (and which certainly affected his memoirs, though I do believe they were very honest and straightforward). General Sherman is one of my heroes from the Civil War, and this collection of glimpses into his brilliant mind certainly fed my understanding and fascination of the man.
Wonderful glimpse into the mind of Sherman.......2000-12-31
William T. Sherman was an irascible, unpredictably brilliant man and his letters bring out these myriad traits. He was a fascinating man and his own words illuminate his fiery personality. Sherman's own 1875 memoirs are a mixed bag, marred by an over-abundance of wartime correspondence and ancillary material. This collection of his letters actually makes for more engrossing, instructive reading. We hear his opinions on the major players of the Civil War: Grant, Halleck and Lincoln. We gain an understanding of his tortured relationship with his wife, Ellen, to whom many of the letters are addressed. His visceral hatred of the press and reporters is well represented.
The collection is expertly edited by Brooks Simpson, someone who thoroughly understands both Sherman and the civil war era. The notes are instructive and unobtrusive and the introduction lays the groundwork for appreciating Sherman and his correspondence. This is an outstanding book for anyone who wishes to get to know the erratic and intellectual General who was second only to Ulysses S. Grant in ability and results.
Book Description
In Abraham Lincoln and a New Birth of Freedom, Howard Jones explores the relationship between President Lincoln's wartime diplomacy and his interrelated goals of forming a more perfect Union and abolishing slavery. From the outset of the Civil War, Lincoln's central purpose was to save the Union by defeating the South on the battlefield. No less important was his need to prevent a European intervention that would have facilitated the South's move for independence. Lincoln's goal of preserving the Union, however, soon evolved into an effort to form a more perfect Union, one that rested on the natural rights principles of the Declaration of Independence and thus necessitated emancipation.
Customer Reviews:
Lincoln's moral battle against slavery.......2003-09-10
Howard Jones is University Research Professor in the Department of History at the University of Alabama. He is the author of Mutiny on the Amistad: The Saga of the Slave Revolt And its Impact on American Abolition, Law, and Diplomacy which provided historical basis for the movie Amistad.
Abraham Lincoln believed that slavery was morally wrong but legally protected by the Constitution. This initial stance never changed. He had said in his speeches that a nation half slave and half free cannot endure. He had considered the option of paying for slaves in the South. He had considered moving slaves to another country, as did James Monroe, to Liberia. He said that he would accept some slaves as free and others not - whatever it took to keep the union intact. He believed that slavery would die by stopping its expansion.
Expansion had been stopped by the Missouri Compromise of 1820, but the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which repealed it, and the Dred Scott decision, which declared it unconstitutional, meant that slavery would grow. Lincoln knew that only by ending slavery would the nation endure.
The Emancipation Proclamation, though considered by some to be effete because it did not free all the slaves, placated the western states and urged the slaves to desert the South to join the fight. Some 50,000 did. England now realized that the destruction of slavery was the main issue and recognition of the Confederacy was no longer viable. Without England as an ally, the ambitions of France were doomed.
Historian Allan Nevins said, "No battle, not Gettysburg, not the Wilderness, was more important in the contest waged in the diplomatic arena and the form of public opinion. It
is hardly too much to say that the future of the world as we know it was at stake."
Had Great Britain and France recognized the South, the rest of the world would have followed. Fortunately for the Union, the Anglo-Franco rivalry stopped intervention. While both nations claimed to be anti-slavery, their true intentions were nefarious. For Great Britain, a Confederate nation to the south of the United States and Canada to the north would have left the United States between two non-friendlies and no threat to Great Britain. Napoleon still had designs on Mexico and even the western United States in the establishment of a dictatorship friendly to him in the form of Maximilian. England's Palmerston and France's Napoleon were "...self-appointed keepers old world order...."
Only Russia among the larger nations was in accord with the Union (sound familiar) because of the Czar's tenuous hold.
In Abraham Lincoln and a New Birth Of Freedom, historian Howard Jones focuses intensely on Abraham Lincoln's strong belief that slavery was immoral and must be destroyed for this nation to find "a new birth of freedom" as expressed in the one nation theme of the "Gettysburg Address" and the unfulfilled promise of the Declaration of Independence. This theme repeats throughout the book's 192 pages of text and illustrations (the remainder of book is notes and index) as though Jones were lecturing with pedagogical "foot-stompers". If one comes away with a different idea of Lincoln's beliefs, he or she has missed the point.
In a sense, Jones stretches the theme of diplomacy since it could be stated in a few hundred words. In fact, the entire book could easily be condensed into a standard magazine article or monograph.
That being said, Abraham Lincoln and a New Birth of Freedom is a book that I have heavily underscored, read deliberately, and will keep for re-reading and reference in my library. If one does not have time for the entire book, I suggest they buy it for reference and its pregnant prologue and epilogue.
Mark Witt
Parrish, Florida
A Different Civil War Battle.......2000-06-14
What is the relation between the American Civil War and the Monroe Doctrine? Where's the connection between the Emancipation Proclamation and the Sepoy Rebellion of 1857? Did you know that one of the crucial battles of the Civil War was fought nowhere near the bloody fields of Virginia or Tennessee?
"Abraham Lincoln and a New Birth of Freedom" traces the events surrounding Lincoln's fight to keep the European Powers from intervening on the side of the Confederacy. Without help from abroad the Confederate cause was virtually doomed; the leadership in Richmond compared their fight with that of the Revolutionary War of 1776-81 and the importance then of the active intervention of France. The stumbling block for the leaders of Britain and France in 1862 was slavery in the Southern states. While the upper classes who led these European nations were sympathetic to the South, the middle and working classes were against slavery and thus for the North.
What makes this book interesting is that it goes beyond high school level history and shows the complexities of British politics and French imperial ambitions. What happened was neither straightforward nor obvious. The twists and turns of diplomacy are shown along with the mistakes of ambitious leaders and politicians in stark contrast with the stubborn, steadfast policy of Lincoln himself.
The book has flaws, luckily, not many. The most notable one is the style of the writing. I suspect that Howard Jones, a history professor, is used to writing for his professional colleagues rather than the general public. The result is a bit turgid and does not read easily.
Book Description
Letting Lincoln's eloquent voice speak for itself, editor Michael Johnson has collected more than 180 of the writings and speeches that illuminate Lincoln’s life and career, from his youth to his entry into Republican politics and through his presidency. Classics like the Kansas-Nebraska speech, the Lincoln-Douglas Debates, and the Gettysburg Address, along with less familiar writings — poignant letters to individual voters, notes to generals on military strategy, and stirring public speeches — show the development of Lincoln's thought on free labor, slavery, secession, the Civil War, and emancipation. Johnson provides historical context by weaving an engaging narrative around Lincoln’s own words, making this volume the most accessible collection of Lincoln’s writings available. Also included are 14 illustrations, relevant Civil War maps, a Lincoln chronology, reading questions, a bibliography, and an index.
Customer Reviews:
PAGE TURNER.......2007-03-10
FOR ME THIS WAS A PAGE TURNER. I FELT LIKE I WAS THERE AT THE TIME THESE LETTERS AND SPEECHES WERE WRITTEN. VERY EASY TO GET LOST IN THE TIME PERIOD. IF YOU LOVE THIS SUBJECT, YOU'LL ENJOY THIS BOOK.
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- The Summer of 1787: The Men Who Invented the Constitution
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- Ties That Bind: The Story of an Afro-Cherokee Family in Slavery and Freedom (American Crossroads)
- Vampire : The Masquerade (Revised Edition)
- What Every Manager Should Know About Training: An Insider's Guide to Getting Your Money's Worth From Training.
- What's the Deal
- Yasir Arafat: A Political Biography
- A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier
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