Jan

11

One of the recent Book Club selections we went through was O'Reilly's Killing Lincoln. It was a fast read with many interesting facts and quite a few questionable assumptions. Overall, Lincoln is depicted as a wonderful, caring man– as most of the reviews (almost all raves) attest. However, as a companion piece, I would recommend Lincoln Uncensored by Jospeh Fallon. The book is neither history nor commentary, but a compilation of Lincoln's views, taken from his speeches and written documents. They reveal a man of conflicting positions on important issues. Whether these "changes of heart" were a result of maturity, events, or circumstances is left to the reader. Whether the issue is slavery, religion, the constitution, states rights, or many of the other issues of the day, you can almost be sure to find that Lincoln, at one time or another, came down firmly on both sides.

P.S. I have been told that several organizations that typically carry all books on Lincoln have taken a pass on O'Reilly's effort (due to "many" inaccuracies). I have not checked up on this but the woman who informed me of it has rarely been incorrect (she is a retired history teacher, so this is more than a passing interest to her).


Comments

Name

Email

Website

Speak your mind

1 Comment so far

  1. Steve on January 11, 2013 2:47 pm

    Try Lincoln Unmasked: What You’re Not Supposed to Know About Dishonest Abe

Archives

Resources & Links

Search