Lincoln: The Biography of a Writer

A Different View

I received this book for Christmas and immediately began reading it. I found it to be very insightful and captivating. The writer gives a new perspective on Abraham Lincoln. This is not so much a biography as it is a study of his writings and speeches at several stages in his life. The reader is shown how his personality and beliefs develop in those stages. You see him mature and he becomes a true individual to you as you read his personal, private, and public writings. This book is a definite read for anyone who enjoys reading about Lincoln as well as any student of history.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Disappointed

This book was supposed to be about Lincoln as a writer, but it seems to be more about his life or his proposed philosophy. The author sounds as if he knew what Lincoln FELT, as if he were there with him. That turns into biased writing unless the author includes a primary source from which to base his opinion.
The author is trying to show Lincoln as an Enlightenment man who really did not believe in God or the Bible (revelation as truth) as much as we would think from his writing and that his decisions were based on "reality," as the author would put it, and Lincoln did not depend on his faith in God to make the important decisions of his presidency.

I would tend to think that a non-believer would not have spent as much time reading the Bible or quoting it as Lincoln did if he did not believe in it. A better book to read about Lincoln's writing is The Eloquent President: A Portrait of Lincoln Through His Words, by Ronald White, Jr.

0 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

LLincoln as a writer

excellent new insight on Abraham Lincoln. In particular how he believed how important good writing is to all humanity. Through his writing he strived to be terse but yet use the right words and structure to get his ideas across with the result he was a tremondous influence on the country and as a result a great leader and president

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