5 comments about Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer (P.S.).

1. The book MANHUNT, the 12 Days of Chasing Lincoln's Killers was fasinating. This book opened my eyes as to how the manhunt for John Wilkes Booth took place and how it was ended. This is a must for any Lincoln reader.



2. Bought this book for my father and he really enjoyed it- he's a big big history buff, generally the only books he prefers so, his outlook on any book is a very high review.



3. Saw this book at the Newsmuseum in DC. This is an excellent reading to any historian and Lincoln buff. Easy reading and hard to put down until the end. Reading this book fits in as a good supplement to Team of Rivals and also stirs interest to those who know the haunts of DC. I've learned a lot of historical facts tha I never heard of before. The price was right from Amazon.com.



4. For everything historians know about Lincoln and that history teachers teach us about the President, seldom is said in the classroom about Booth. This book is amazing and really details the chase of Booth. I really enjoyed it and recommend it highly for anyone who is interested in Lincoln.



5. Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer was published in 2006 by James L. Swanson, and became a bestseller. Not only did it capture the imagination of Abraham Lincoln fans, but that of the general public as well.
   
   Manhunt has been a phenomenal success for its author, James L. Swanson, a practicing attorney in Washington DC and a long time collector of Lincoln memorabilia. In Manhunt he traces the path of John Wilkes Booth, then a well known actor and now the notorious assassin of Abraham Lincoln. The book takes us on a fascinating journey from the final preparations and carrying out of the assassination, through the escape from Washington DC, the travails of moving and hiding on a leg broken in the leap to the stage, and Booth's eventual cornering and killing 12 days later. Swanson writes brilliantly and the book reads like a novel as we see and hear the characters that assisted Booth and his accomplish Herold, from the famous Dr. Mudd to the lesser know Thomas Jones. Excerpts from Booths diary fill in the thoughts of the assassin himself.
   
   I highly recommend it. Watch for the movie to be released in 2011, and a follow up book on the chase for Jefferson Davis coming up April of this year.

5 comments about Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln.

1. Received item in a very timely manner...would certainly recommend this seller to others...keep up the good work! God's blessings and prosperity to you!



2. Doris Kearns Goodwin has shown again why she is one of the greatest historians of this generation. I understand the scandals that have arisen about possible plagiarism, but Kearns Goodwin writes great history. In this book, she not only gives detailed stories of the lives of these great men and their families. She also probes the motivation of the men who are the characters in the book and the issues that controlled the political climate of the period from 1840 to 1860.
   But Kearns Goodwin gives us much more even than this. She takes you to the era about which she writes. She tells you what clothes were being worn, what was for sale in the stores, how influential newspapers of the time were and how dirty train rides were.
   Pick up this book and take yourself back to the 1850s and live the lives these great men lived.



3. 
   After Reading Gore Vidal's Lincoln, for the second time, I yearned to read more. I wanted to read more on Lincoln's Presidency including some of the people around him especially, Salmon Chase, William Seward,Edwin Stanton and lessor known characters as Kate Chase,John Hay and John Nicolay.
   
   I found Team of Rivals a brilliant read on the Presidency and had no trouble in devouring the whole book.
   
   The characteristic that impressed me the most, was Lincoln's refusal to carry grudges against those who opposed him and in many cases won them over to his side to help him achieve his goals in carrying him all the way to the Presidency.
   
   Lincoln had a very strong belief in himself that allowed him to pick the very best men for his cabinet, to withstand the pressures of a divided political party and to carry on a war that for a very long time contained one reversal after another, and not least of all a wife that didnot know when to stop spending, and with all of this a death of a beloved son.
   
   I found the details in the book were very informative and enteresting and were not a hinderance as some have suggested. Highly reccomended



4. A pantheon such as Abraham Lincoln and his presidential term(s) have been scrutinized and considered in uncountable written and spoken works. The trick then for any author wishing to undertake a new study is to find a fresh angle or (at best) unearth previously undiscovered and revelatory documents. Doris Kearns Goodwin chooses the former as she expertly exposes the Lincoln presidency as one which had a politically savvy, but initially overly antagonistic cabinet, which Lincoln must then manage while exhorting his administration to follow his leadership. In fact, the overriding point with this superb narrative is Goodwin extoling the seemingly limitless political acumen of Lincoln while he oversees a time in American history as crucial as any before or since.
   
   Crucial members of his administration are profiled here, providing the reader with a unique, sort of "back-door" look at the Lincoln presidency. We see how the personalities of Edward Bates (Attorney General), Simon Cameron (Secretary of War), William Seward (Secretary of State), Gideon Wells (Secretary of the Navy) and Salmon Chase (Secretary of the Treasury) are generally elitist in nature and condescending to Lincoln in particular while initially being astounded that such a seemingly torpid character could become president. Asked to then participate in the administration in cabinet level positions, they almost collectively see their role as administering and reigning over the government while Lincoln serves largely as a figurehead. Goodwin's mastery here is showing the slow evolvement of Lincoln's ability to form a cohesive advisory body while applying his heretofore unseen political prowess in managing the government in an ever broadening crisis that threatens separation of the Union.
   
   He takes office and is immediately faced with increasing southern secessionism and forced to take action to maintain the Union. The start of and subsequent prosecution of the Civil War absorbs his administration...Goodwin provides a dissecting view of the war from the government's perspective and shows again and again how Lincoln is adept at taking and managing one crisis after another. Topics such as his inserting himself into the war strategic effort where he recognizes the ineffectiveness of George McClellan, the dismissal of Cameron as Secretary of War with the brilliant decision to insert Edwin Stanton in his place and his administering of domestic policy to meet the war effort are given a fascinating review by Goodwin that goes far in further amplifying Lincoln's stature as a great executive. He finds an obscure general in Ulysses Grant and inserts him as commander of the war effort... another prescient decision that accelerates the conclusion of the war. All this while continuing to build strong and ever growing loyalties among his partisans forcing them (with the exception of Chase who continues to vehemently disagree and disparage Lincoln) to reconsider their initial perceptions of him and his leadership capabilities. Goodwin is overwhelmingly illustrative of the forming of these ties and the deep personal affection that each cabinet member thus renders.
   
   The denouement of the war and Lincoln's assassination with the subsequent actions of the government, particularly Stanton, are the highlights of the book. We see the heart wrenching outpouring of affection and respect from the American public and the administration as all recognize that a great leader is no longer among us. The disarray that follows Lincoln's death is certified when Andrew Johnson takes office and we see how his southern leaning tendencies is the arbiter of a long and unnecessarily drawn out reconstruction effort...Goodwin compares this with how Lincoln may have handled reconstruction and determines that a much more compassionate and reasoned effort would have most assuredly ensued.
   
   There are a surprising number of authors of historical biographies that are criticized for deification of their subject...and true, some of these paint their character study in an unreasonable light, but not so with this magnificent investigation of the Lincoln presidency by Doris Goodwin. An estimable scrutiny of his political faculty integrated with a marvelous historical narrative, Goodwin makes Lincoln "hero worship" chic while dispassionate at the same time, a tough combination. Highest recommendation. .



5. Team of Rivals is a sparkling history by anecdote. Kearns is a masterful writer, and the book puts the breath of life into her subjects.
   
   Her theme is best summed up by the remarks of Lincoln's contemporaries, quoted on page 572 of the hardback edition:
   
   "Herein, Swett concluded, lay the secret to Lincoln's gifted leadership. 'It was by ignoring men, and ignoring all small causes, but by closely calculating the tendencies of events and the great forces which were producing logical results.' John Forney of the Washington Daily Chronical observed the same intuitive judgment and timing, arguing that Lincoln was 'the most progressive man of the age, not waiting to be dragged by the force of events or wasting strength in premature struggles with them.'"
   
   As far as the story of a man always guided by principle--in Lincoln's last battle, to ramrod the Thirteenth Amendment through Congress--Kearns shows Lincoln twisting arms, dangling emollients and largess before its opponents, and dissembling if not outright lying--to successfully obtain its passage. Clearly Lincoln could be savagely expedient, despite being guided by an unswerving moral compass.
   
   But although she is always eager to burnish Honest Abe's reputation when it is clearly earned--Kearns is strangely silent on this account. This is not to dismiss the book as hagiography, but simply to point out that it is not entirely even in its judgments.

5 comments about The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family.

1. This book tells the story of the slave family of the early American President, Thomas Jefferson. It was very interesting reading and it is surprising that this family were so successfully hidden from common knowledge for so long! The book is well researched and very readable. It doesn't become too dry and factual, and is written in such a way that it tells the story of the Hemingses from the start of their captivity as slaves, right through to the aftermath of Thomas Jefferson's death.



2. There are many interesting insights but they are overwhelmed by the author's speculations about how the characters felt and actions So long winded with page after page of unfounded conclusions.



3. I am fascinated the person Thomas Jefferson. Sally Hemings must have been also an extraordinary woman, having kept the affection and quasi-wedding with such a high spirited statesman.
   Puzzling is the position of slave/master/lover/mother, as well as Jefferson's ambiguity concerning slavery within the context of the Revolution.
   My only reservation about the book is its length, due to a lot of details, some of which are speculative.
   A great contribution to history of America.
   Michel Debost



4. This book reads, in many places, like a legal brief, with the author making a case for why James and Sally made their choices. The book serves to put the reader into the period of history, and encourages one to imagine what it might have been like to be one of Jefferson's slaves. Jefferson himself comes out as very much a product of his times and culture, and he is seen as a man of contradictions. On the one hand, he is an extravagant dandy, enamored of the good life. On the other hand, he is trying to put into practice great principles in a world that is very entrenched in the status quo. It is a tide that ultimately he cannot wholely swim against, and in the end, goes with the flow. What I wish had been in the book was what happened to Sally and Jefferson's children? Their fates are alluded to, but there is no development of this in any great detail. The author infers as to the quality of the relationship of the parents, but little is said of what happened to the family later. For instance, where are their descendants today? Perhaps that would violate someone's privacy. In any case, this is an exhaustive study, and should serve the serious student of history well.



5. I found this book to be a disappointment. The author's style suggested that she wrote this book as her treatise (did she?) and gave us "just the facts, m'am" in a very dry, pedantic manner. On the other hand, this could be true except for the fact that she speculates and draws conclusions from general truths at the time stating over and over that there are no written records to support what she has concluded. I knew that anthropologists and archaeologists have do this when they are researching so perhaps what I have learned from enduring this book is that historians have to do the same thing. This must be true for why else would she have won a Pulitzer prize for it? "You got me.'

No comments about Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address Illustrated.

5 comments about U. S. Grant: American Hero, American Myth (Civil War America).

1. This quasi-bio is especially valuable in breaking down the reasons for Grant's puzzling departure from American historical fame and fanfare to revisionist obscurity. Fortunately author Waugh is amongst the wave of "re"revisionist biographers reinforcing the implications of "why" set forth by others like Smith and Simpson. The book is somewhat fragmented, not caring to be a sprawling biography but rather a treatise on certain issues, principles and events. In particular, Grant's death and subsequent funeral, and, the history of Grant's Tomb are greatly detailed and alone make the book worth reading for devotees and doubters alike.
   
   richard guida



2. This book is more about memory than it is about Grant himself. Ronald Reagen, it might be said, is an example of a President whose stock has gone up since he died -- the collapse of communism confirmed a key view of his presidency, and the publication of his letters revealed a thoughtful and articulate human side. Joan Waugh's book on Grant reveals a President whose reputation collapsed after his death. This would have been very hard to predict. The writing of his memoirs as he lay dying created a best-seller and induced sympathetic feelings. The Union general who won the war by risking the lives of his troop was mourned at his funeral by veterans from the Confederacy. His personal weaknesses were well-known and were forgiven. Memorials were built in the form of his tomb in New York and his monument on in Washington, D.C. More than anything, it seems, his reputation was overshadowed by the myth of the South as a lost cause and by the apotheosis of Robert E. Lee as a kind of saint. Will the record correct itself? This excellent book may help, but I wouldn't bet the ranch on it. The best-known movie portraying the Civil War remains Gone with the Wind. Subsequent events have made us harsher on corruption in presidential administrations. Grant's incomplete efforts at Reconstruction probably will be remembered not for their good intentions but for their missed opportunities. One point to remember: as we read Douglas Brinkley's very complete portrayal of Teddy Roosevelt as an environmentalist, let's not forget that it was U.S. Grant in 1872 who created the first national park -- Yellowstone.



3. I absolutely love the Grant biography. The book caused me to visit Grant's tomb recently - a European quietly paying homage to a fine man and a great writer. I purchased it on impulse after reading the introduction. I am currently reading it for a second time. The authors writing style is remarkable; it reminds me of another one of my favorite writers namely Alison Weir. I wholeheartedly recommend this book for any student of history, any lover of research and any person who aspires to inspire an interest in learning. Background - I will confess to being European with only limited knowledge of American history. Ms. Waugh brings color to Grant; she brings depth; she makes me feel grateful that such men existed. She makes me feel like I know the man like a neighbor. She makes me feel optimistic that men of the stature of Grant despite some flaws emerge from obscurity to save a nation. It is a truly great book.



4. I enjoyed this fresh look at the history and legacy of U.S. Grant. I had accepted the popular view that Grant was a drunkard as General in charge of the Union Army, and a corrupt politician as President. Ms. Waugh completely revised my view. According to her he was a brilliant General who was able to destroy the Confederate Army under Robert E. Lee, and a politician who sought to unite the two sections of the country without foresaking the recently freed blacks. Unfortunately his underlings were not always as honest as he was, thus his reputation for overseeing a corrupt administration. Well into the first two decades of the 20th century he was revered by Americans, and frequently mentioned along with Washington and Lincoln. I would recommend this book for anyone interested in a fresh look at Grant and his role as commander of the Union Army, and as the 18th President of the United States.



5. The general consensus today of Ulysses S. Grant is that he was a great general but a mediocre president. Yet, at the time of his death, he was considered an American hero and the most popular man in America. What happened between then and now? UCLA history professor, Joan Waugh, sets out to explore the answer to this question in U.S. Grant: American Hero, American Myth.
   
   Waugh divides her book into two halves. The first half is an abbreviated biography. She covers everything from his humble beginnings to his post-presidential years, but she doesn't spend much time on any one period of his life. I was most interested in his presidential years. Grant was surrounded by corrupt friends and sometimes showed poor judgment. Yet, he also accomplished good thing during his two terms in office. He was a man who grew into the job. He believed in fiscal responsibility including paying down the war debt and cutting expenses. He sponsored Native American reform and established the first National Park, Yellowstone. He encouraged the expansion of the Western Territories and the building of railroads and canals. He also worked toward rebuilding the South while fighting for rights for blacks. Perhaps his biggest failure was Reconstruction, and he later admitted that he should have kept a military presence in the former Confederate states for 10 years after the Civil War. But it has been suggested that perhaps no president could have succeeded during this difficult time in our history.
   
   The second of half of this book deals with Grant's legacy, and includes his final illness, the writing of his memoirs, his death, funeral and the building of the General Grant Memorial Monument. When he died, Grant was considered to be one of America's greatest leaders, behind only Washington and Lincoln. His funeral was a unifying occasion for North and South in a great outpouring of grief. Confederate Generals Joe Johnston and Simon Buckner were pallbearers. Robert E. Lee's nephew, Confederate General Fitzhugh Lee, was an honored guest. Black and white Union and Confederate veterans marched in his funeral procession, including the famous Stonewall Brigade. At the time of his death, Grant was not just a successful soldier, but also a symbol of unity and reconciliation, a statesman, a peacemaker, and a historian. Unfortunately, Grant's stature took a fall with the dying off of Civil War veterans and the revising of Civil War history that promoted Robert E. Lee to near-sainthood and revered the romanticism of the Confederate Lost Cause. Nowhere was this change more evident than in the way his resting place was allowed to become a national disgrace--which Waugh recounts in great detail.
   
   Although U.S. Grant: American Hero, American Myth is not a comprehensive biography, it will hopefully encourage Americans to reevaluate Grant's greatness and his contributions to our country. And I can think of no better time for this to take place than on the eve of the sesquicentennial of the Civil War. Also, while I enjoyed this book, I have to admit that I found a number of typos and errors distracting.

5 comments about The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Civil War (The Politically Incorrect Guides).

1. History is written by the victors so it is refreshing to view events from a different perspective.The events and personalities are presented in sufficient detail to provide an informative read.



2. This book is better than all the politically correct treatises on the Civil War I have read over the years. Students are not taught the truth in schools any more about Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis, and the Confederate Constitution. For example, Lincoln would have sent the blacks out of the United States and Robert E. Lee did not even believe in slavery. There are a lot of surprises in this book and it makes for some fun, enlightening reading. I highly recommend it to anyone who can take the unbridled truth about the Civil War, the players, and the reasons it came about in the first place.



3. I found this book very informative in details that most history books leave out. Almost all say that the cause of the Civil War was slavery, but that was not the case. The schools should use this book as a teaching resource instead of the slanted history books they use today.



4. What a brave and chivalrous gentleman Harry Crocker III is! It is so rare to find such truth in such a readable book about the Civil War (aka. the War Between the States or The War of Northern Aggression.) Not that he doesn't say many good things about some Union officers as well. His take on General Custer is so refreshing and SO politically incorrect. Read this book. The revisionist history that we are taught in school needs to be corrected. Thank you Harry Crocker III.



5. Love all the input. Now I wouldn't buy this rag on a bet. My luck someone may give it to me for Christmas

5 comments about The Real Lincoln: A New Look at Abraham Lincoln, His Agenda, and an Unnecessary War.

1. I grew up literally in view of the Jefferson Davis Memorial Monument in western Kentucky and less than a hundred miles from Abraham Lincoln's birthplace, also in western Kentucky. Even as a young child, I had a keen awareness of sharing a native state with the presidents of both sides in the Civil War. Yet, I always had greater interest, greater admiration and greater appreciation for Abraham Lincoln. Other than Jesus Christ himself, there was no historical figure I admired more. That continued throughout my growing up, my teaching career and earning my PhD at Ohio State University.
   
   One book has changed that.
   
   I still regard Lincoln as a man of great courage and determination. But Prof. DiLorenzo's abundant use of historical documents, rhetorical analysis and clear presentation of rational persuasion provides something way beyond southern resentment in this review of the actual actions in a historical context often ignored. He provides copious documentation of the racism of the northern states, the extensive support of the right of secession, also in the north, and probes the rejected alternatives open to Lincoln and the Union forces, both in regard to the issue of emancipation and of the way in which the war was conducted in violation of long accepted principles of "civilized warfare," an oxymoron if ever there was one.
   
   Having seen first hand how assassination completely altered the perception and analysis of John F. Kennedy, I should have been suspicious that some of that same phenomenon had colored historical treatment of Mr. Lincoln. Conspicously absent from the history books of my public schooling, even throughout college, are any mentions of the sixteenth president's suspension of civil liberty, imprisonments without habeus corpus, suppression of dissenting views and measured contradiction of nearly a century of constitutional interpretation. DiLorenzo points out that slavery was ended peacefully in nearly every other nation on the face of the planet and that the war was not about slavery, anyway. This, I already knew. I already knew about the increasing economic disadvantage various tariffs had worked against the South and to the advantage of the North. I knew that Lincoln by his own very clear statements subjected emancipation to the greater goal of federal supremacy, "If freeing the slaves would preserve the Union, I would free every one of them. If keeping them slaves would preserve the Union, I would not free a one of them." In fact, one of his own powerful allies stated, regarding the Emancipation Proclamation, "We have declared the slaves free in the areas where we have no capacity to make them free and have kept them slaves in every place where we have the power to make them free." I did not know about several of the other key points, and strangely, knowing that Lincoln maintained very close management of the war effort, I had never connected his obvious approval for Sherman's approach to war nor how Lincoln must have also condoned the same barbaric management of the extermination of the Plains Indians.
   
   I highly recommend this book for anyone having the courage to look beneath the burial shroud of perhaps the most revered individual in the history of our nation. If we believe that "the truth shall make you free," perhaps it is time that our nation began to emancipate itself from one of the strongest and most persistent delusions of interpreting its own past.



2. This book should be required reading for every history class starting in junior high school.



3. My dealings with modern conservatives, anti-intellectual people who would make William F Buckley spin in his grave, is that they are very superficial and one dimensional. This is well demonstrated in this book as well as many of the posted comments from neo-confederates. Most of the detailed criticism of the horrible scholarship, or lack thereof, by this Jerome Corsi of Civil War studies, is well covered by other reviewers.
   Let's just hit a few highlights that I think have been missing.
   
   The Constitution, Article I, Section 9, allows the suspension of the writ of Habeas Corpus during times of rebellion and insurrection. Jefferson Davis also suspended the writ on numerous occasions, so don't hand out this crap about violation of the constitution.
   The Constitution is also explicit in how elections are conducted - despite the ignoring of this by the Supreme Court in 2000. If you lose an election, that does not give you the right to take your ball and go home. That is exactly what happened after the election of Lincoln. If Lincoln had allowed the Southern fire eaters to do this, it would have been the death of any republican form of government in the United States and probably for the future in other areas of the world that have looked to us for inspiration. As McKinley Kantor wrote in his book "If the South Had Won the Civil War", Texas surely would have seceded from the Confederacy - and who knows who else later. The British and French aristocrats and monarchists were hoping for just such an occurrence. It was just after the Civil War that Britain passed a most comprehensive voting reform act. Lloyd George kept a picture of Lincoln in his office.
   
   Democracy? The South already had more votes than they were entitled to with the 3/5 rule where blacks counted as 3/5 of a person while not being entitled to vote. After the failure of the Republican spine in 1876, blacks counted as a whole person and of course still could not vote, giving Southern segregationists (sorry, we call them Southern Social Conservatives today, don't we) even more power than they deserved. The South since the mid colonial period through to the 1970s and early 1980s has been a police state for those opposed to the entrenched elite. Slave patrols kept people in line. During the Civil War no one could travel without a pass, white or black. (see "Rebel Watchdog: The Confederate States Army Provost Guard"). Good view of this in the movie "Cold Mountain". I would also recommend "At the Hands of Persons Unknown" about the history of lynching and "American Mobbing" about the history of political violence.
   
   Terror against civilians? The hard hand of war is just that, it is not some romantic view of chivalry and never was even during our own Revolution. What systematic killings of Southern civilians went on? You mean like Quantrill in Lawrence Kansas? Killing of prisoners? You mean like Ft Pillow and Saltville or the killing of USCT wagon guards by the 9th VA Cavalry during the Overland Campaign?
   
   The war was about slavery. Period. William C. Davis, Mississippi born Civil War historian - a real historian not a economist turned polemicist, says in his book about the writing of the Confederate Constitution "A Government of Our Own" that all of the issues came to the same root - slavery. Davis has written several other excellent books some of the readers of this book should look at especially his series of essays called "The Cause Lost" and his biography of the founder of the modern Republican Party, Jefferson Davis. I have had "discussions" with neo confederates who say the war was not about slavery. "What was it about?" "States Rights" "What States Right?" "well", and they would get all flustered, "slavery". bingo. States Rights was a euphamism for slavery and while I was growing up for segregation.
   
   The Myth of the Lost Cause is just that, a myth. But it sure gets the teary eyed like Dilorenzo all worked up.



4. This book, if read through unbiased eyes, will change your whole view of Lincoln the God, and transform him into what he really was: Lincoln the corrupt, evil, racist and power hungry lawyer, turned political opportunist. Far from being a "liberator of slaves", "savior of the nation", or man of peace, Lincoln is exposed as the Grandfather of Wilson and FDR, on a far more horrible internal level. Even as a child in government school, I used to wonder why Lincoln didn't vigorously sue for peace throughout the war. Now we know why. He started it, continued it, micromanaged it, and ironically, had the hero Booth not killed him, would have ethnically cleansed the country.
   How different would the USA be now if this monster had lived?
   
   One thing is certain, the Leviathan State starts with this evil man, and continues to this day, ever growing.



5. 
   While the use of "Real" in the title sends shivers up my philosophical spine - too much language analysis ruins the use of "real"- this is a great book to immerse one in the vocabulary that treats Lincoln from an adversarial point of view. Here the focus is on Americanism versus the "real" intention of the Constitution and States Rights. It emphasizes the texts of Lincoln's that are clearly contrary to the myth propounded by the protagonist point of view where he stands as the Great Emancipator and hero of the Union.

5 comments about Abraham Lincoln.

1. More a long essay than a book, "Abraham Lincoln" surveys the life of the 16th president from birth to his fateful night when he was shot. In straightforward English, McPherson lays out Lincoln's life in easy prose and emulates the style of Lincoln himself: concise, eloquent, and profound.
   
   The book makes a great gift for a Lincoln fan or a student of history.



2. Before this short book I had never read anything dedicated specifically to Lincoln, though I have read a good deal on the Civil War itself. I was attracted to this particular work because of its author, James McPherson (Battle Cry of Freedom being a favorite of mine), and because of its length--I was hesitant to dive headlong into the vast sea of competing Lincoln biographies. McPherson's writing in this biography is great, as always, but it can't help but feel limited. By the end of the book, which I finished in just a few hours, I was hungry for more. Each phase of Lincoln's life feels in some ways skipped over; the facts are there, but the brevity of the text is such that those facts can't be fleshed out with the detail that makes them sink in.
   
   With that said, I can't help but look back fondly at the book, and that's why I'm giving it four stars. I think it's served its purpose, which is, in this 200th year since Lincoln's birth, to serve as gateway to the overwhelming wealth of scholarship on our 16th President.



3. This is a fine small introductory volume on the life and work of Lincoln. It clearly outlines Lincoln's major achievements as President, preserving the Union, outlawing Slavery, providing the world a model of a democratic republic which could serve as inspiration.. However being small its contains little of the writing and thought of Lincoln himself, somehow does not provide the 'flavor' of Lincoln in a full enough way.



4. This is a great first book about Abraham Lincoln. When I was 5 or 6, this would be the kind of book I would want my Mother to read to me. I loved history even then thanks to "You Are There!" All the basics are here, and they are easy to read. I would say for reading to yourself, it would be best to wait until you were 11 or 12. It's an excellent book for any age.



5. James M. McPherson's short biography of Abraham Lincoln, written and released to coincide with the Lincoln Bicentennial, is a great book that, while brief, gives great insight into the life of America's sixteenth President. If you're interested in learning more about Lincoln, this is a great introduction to the man who will be forever known as "the Great Emancipator."
   Grade: A

5 comments about Jack Hinson's One-Man War, A Civil War Sniper.

1. Great book and very well written! I have never read a civil war history book but I think I will read more now! I often drive through the "between the lakes" area and sparked my interest in this book. I am almost done with the book and can NOT put it down! I could easily see a movie made of this book!



2. Mckenney's book is an interesting departure from the Hollywood view of the Civil War. The ordinary people of the South suffered very badly, both during and after the war, at the hands of the Unionists. Atrocities were widespread against southern civilians so that it is not surprising that there was low scale guerrilla warfare against the Yankee occupation forces. The work is interesting in that the author doesn't seem to have an agenda. He relates the facts as far as he knows them and intelligently interpolates where data is missing. Hinson himself is an absorbing man and typifies that tough, independent frontier character that created America and that was the anthitisis of the types of people to be found in Washington now, and indeed in Lincoln's time.
   When we think of snipers WWII or Vietnam spring to mind. Yet, Hinson was as skilled a sniper as could be found in any age. To make a kill at 500 yards or greater is still an impressive shot with a high power rifle today, nevermind with the type of weapon available to him a hundred and fifty years ago. Tyrants should pay attention. There are still some potential Jack Hinsons out there and if they are pushed hard enough they may react much more effectively than expected.
   My only criticism is that McKenney tends to repeat himself a bit, both about the qualities of characters and about events that happened. Otherwise, it is a useful addition to the history of the period and an intriguing story.



3. This was recommended to me by a friend. I can hardly put it down! The best I have seen on the subject of snipper shooting during the Civil War. Very well written and well worth the money it cost.



4. Very enlightening. Due to the brutality of the Union soldiers I feel this man was justified in what he did.



5. Let me start out this review by stating emphatically that it is a travesty and an absolute shame that more detailed information about Jack Hinson didn't survive the deaths of a lot of the Hinson family whom, for various reasons known to them, didn't pass that so important and historical significant information down to their ancestors, and also didn't write it down to preserve this amazing piece of American History. Jack Hinson was first and foremost; a true man, husband, and father, secondly; a proud and loyal American, and thirdly; a true hero in every sense of the word.
   
   As the famous western author Louis L'Amour would have put it, "A man to ride the river with." He surely had to have had Jack Hinson in mind when he said those words.
   
   Sadly, this book doesn't have as much information as I had hoped concerning Jack Hinson and his one-man crusade not so much against the Union, but against the evil men that murdered and butchered his sons for no viable reason other than they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. I was really taken aback by the horrible atrocities that were perpetrated on not only the civilian population during the Civil War, but also what the soldiers did to each other that fell way outside the boundaries of acceptable behavior even during times of war. Although when you study the various wars that took place throughout history, nothing really changed. Just the tools and the men that fought them. The atrocities remain the same.
   
   The author gives you as much information that he can concerning the actual life and events that took place before, during, and after Jack Hinson's one-man sniping crusade, but sadly is is very limited due to the fact that the vast amount of that information was taken to the grave with those few people that actually knew the entire story. He does however give you an abundant amount of information on the people and events that took place during this time period and the effects it had on Jack Hinson and his family.
   
   I highly recommend this book along with the following books on snipers.
   
   Marine Sniper: 93 Confirmed Kills
   
   Silent Warrior: The Marine Sniper's Story Vietnam Continues
   
   Shooter: The Autobiography of the Top-Ranked Marine Sniper
   
   13 Cent Killers: The 5th Marine Snipers in Vietnam
   
   And that is just to name a few of the wonderful books available on the subject. Here are a few of the technical books I would recommend on sniping.
   
   Ultimate Sniper 2006 : An Advanced Training Manual for Military and Police Snipers (Ultimate Sniper, 2006 New and Updated!)
   
   The Military and Police Sniper: Advanced Precision Shooting for Combat and Law Enforcement
   
   Death From Afar Vol. I
   
   Shawn Kovacich
   Author of the Achieving Kicking Excellence series.

5 comments about Lincoln's Melancholy: How Depression Challenged a President and Fueled His Greatness.

1. I think this book would probably appeal to a certain type of person, but that type of person, not being me. I started reading this book well over a year ago- and gave up after the 4th chapter. I bought it expecting history interwoven with Lincoln's disposition. BUT- the first 4 chapters seemed to be psychological references interwoven with Lincoln's disposition. It was a bit depressing- and a little too much on the emotional side for my taste.
   
   Recently, I decided I would do my best to finish the book. I got through chapter 6 and almost gave up again. I drudged through to chapter 7- and this is when the book finally started picking up for me. It was quite a pleasant read from chapter 7 until the end.
   
   I don't like giving the book a 3 star rating because it seems that Mr. Shenk really did his Lincoln homework. It just wasn't the biography I was expecting. I would have enjoyed more history and fewer references to authors of psychiatric books. This would probably be more enjoyable for people that have an interest in psychology first, and Lincoln second.



2. Joshua Wolfe Shenk is an amazing author when it comes to Lincoln. I enjoyed this book. The author looks at Lincoln's melancholy, or depressive, state and tries to find the cause. Great book.



3. Let me start by saying that this book does not attempt to present a complete history or biography of Lincoln's life. Ideally, the reader should already be familiar with Lincoln's biography (David Herbert Donald's "Lincoln" would be a great preface). That having been said, this book approaches Lincoln's life and character from a new perspective and provides insight and well-considered re-examination of facts that cannot be found elsewhere. Wolf Shenk's scholarship is absolutely first rate, and his understanding of the subject matter - both Abraham Lincoln and the psychology of depression - is intimate and accurate. The afterword, "What Everybody Knows" is one of the most interesting parts of the book- don't skip over it. A groundbreaking, first rate piece of work which is also an engaging read.
   Bravo, Joshua Wolf Shenk!



4. This book provides a fascinating perspective on Lincoln. Shenk draws upon letters, diaries and first person accounts to fill in the contours of Lincoln's depressive state of mind and how it influenced his thinking and approach to the challenges of his day. As such, it gives us a useful corrective to the simplistic notions of the range of human emotions. In this day and age, where anything other than a rosy outlook is suspect, the author reminds us, through Lincoln's example, that it is possible to be deeply affected by tragic events and to draw upon these experiences as sources of genuine strength. Overall, an engaging and inspiring read.



5. A bit dry reading which is as expected. It's very interesting and his insights regarding historical events are intriguing. The author covered his statements with a prohibitive number of quotes and footnotes - which must've taken years to compile - which lent authority.
   
   Overall a very good scholastic essay. It's meaningful to read, in detail, that one of our greatest presidents, if not the greatest, struggled with his own inner demons even as he broke and rejoined a nation for a principle.