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Title: With Malice Toward None : Life of Abraham Lincoln, The by Stephen B. Oates ISBN: 0-06-092471-3 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 05 January, 1994 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $17.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.62 (29 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: An excellent biography of an incredibly complex man.
Comment: "With Malice Towards None" is a very creditable work and a fine attempt to explain the author's view of Abraham Lincoln. Oates views Lincoln as a genuinely good man, highly ambitious, self-made, and first and foremost: a politician. Like all politicians who are heads of state, Lincoln had to grapple with the issues of his day. In his day, however, the issues were unusually intractable, difficult, and complex, such that the nation was unable to solve them through established institutions. It took an actual Civil War to decide whether slavery in America must go, whether America is first and foremost a union of united States, or whether it was a Union of essentially sovereign single states. These were and are great issues, and the greatness of Lincoln is that he stood in the center of these issues, spent his entire presidency grappling with them, and ultimately, it was his unswerving leadership, not perfect but great, that ultimately led America to resolution of these issues.
Oates shows us that Lincoln was a politician. He wheedled, compromised, and was carried by great events as often as he shaped them. This does nothing to take away from the man who, along with Washington, ranks as doubtless one of our two greatest presidents. While opposing slavery, Lincoln was ready to compromise with it, at least sometimes to some extent. Oates does a good job of explaining this in a non-revisionist way that shows respect to Lincoln and to history.
Oates' writing is clear, and his research thorough. This is not a perfect book in that it is not a complete view of Lincoln. No 400 or so page book about this complicated man could achieve that. On the other hand, Oates portrays Lincoln brilliantly, and with insight, as a gifted leader and politician in an incredibly difficult time.
I would have enjoyed more discussion of some of Lincoln's more extreme actions, his bending (some would say breaking) of the Constitution, and the extremes to which he went to achieve ultimate military victory for the North. Oates does touch on this, but more would have been welcome.
An excellent book about a difficult and complex subject. Recommended.
Rating: 3
Summary: A decent portrayal of Lincoln, but not a great one
Comment: Abraham Lincoln is one of the most written-about men in history. There are scores of biographies, profiles, analyses, everything to do with this great man. Because of this, it is difficult to find a good, comprehensive work that details his life adequately and faithfully. In this book, Stephen B. Oates gives a good representation of Lincoln, giving a pretty good account of his life and not trying to raise the man to deity (as others have done). Despite this, however, there are several flaws in this book that make it only of average quality.
Oates commits what I consider to be the unpardonable sin in biography--he attempts to get inside Lincoln's head. One of the necessary qualities of a good biographer is that he or she should not try to psychoanalyze the subject, should not assume he knows what was going on inside the subject's head, and should certainly not embellish the account with a bunch of supposed conversations and feelings which are more the fabrication of the author than the feelings of the subject. Oates breaks all of these rules.
The most annoying thing about the book is that Oates will paraphrase what he thinks Lincoln said. He may give a short quotation, but then he closes the quote and proceeds to adlib what he assumes Lincoln would say, speaking in the first person as though he were the President himself. He uses the pronoun 'I' in his own narrative, when he should be using 'he.' If you can get over Oates pretending to speak for Lincoln himself throughout most of the book, the rest of the account is pretty decent. But I had a hard time getting past that.
For a 400 or so page biography, this book covers the subject moderately well, though not excellently. Many men, such as Jefferson Davis, Stonewall Jackson, or Admiral Farragut, are barely mentioned, as if Lincoln had nothing to do with them at all. It would have added greatly to the account to have a more detailed description of the Civil War, and about Lincoln's counterparts in the South (such as Davis). Still, this is a pretty good book, though far from definitive in any way. With the mountains of work available on this great man, there's got to be something better out there.
Rating: 5
Summary: BEAUTIFUL PAINTING OF AN AMAZING AMERICAN
Comment: I'm always amazed at the reasons given for poor reviews of histories and especially, biographies. The prevailing consensus is always that the author was trying to present an otherwise inaccurate portrayal of the subject - or at least inaccurate as they view the subject. Such is the case with Jefferson, and now, apparently Lincoln. Historians such as Oates interpret the "facts" in no different manner than the reader does - albeit the reader should (if interested in balance) read multiple sources before they condemn any one source.
Mr. Oates does an amazing job of chronicling Lincoln's humble beginnings to the Presidency. What makes this special is the emotional detail Mr. Oates does in weaving the multiple personal and professional difficulties he had - all while trying to win a war. General McClellan, assassination plots, Mary's emotional imbalance, a tempestuous cabinet, and frequent bouts of depression all make his story even more amazing.
Another reviewer mentioned that this book reads like a novel & they're right - a true accomplishment and very good place to start if want to really learn about someone who was much much more than just the 16th President.
Enjoy!
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Title: LINCOLN by David Herbert Donald ISBN: 068482535X Publisher: Simon & Schuster Pub. Date: 05 November, 1996 List Price(USD): $18.00 |
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Title: Lincoln's Virtues: An Ethical Biography by William Lee Miller ISBN: 037540158X Publisher: Knopf Pub. Date: 15 January, 2002 List Price(USD): $32.50 |
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Title: Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era by James M. McPherson ISBN: 0345359429 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 21 January, 1989 List Price(USD): $18.00 |
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Title: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave: Written by Himself by Frederick Douglass, John W. Blassingame, John R. McKivigan, Peter P. Hinks, Gerald Fulkerson ISBN: 0300087012 Publisher: Yale Univ Pr Pub. Date: 01 March, 2001 List Price(USD): $7.95 |
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Title: Abigail Adams: An American Woman (2nd Edition) by Charles W. Akers ISBN: 0321043707 Publisher: Pearson Longman Pub. Date: 21 July, 1999 List Price(USD): $24.67 |
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