Book Review: The Words of Abraham Lincoln

In honor of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln, the folks at Newmarket Press are about to release The Words of Abraham Lincoln, a collection of speeches and private correspondence from none other than George Washington Abraham Lincoln.  Today also just so happens to be the 144th anniversary of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.  Combine those 2 things with the fact that our current president is the first since Lincoln to hail from Illinois and you start to see why this year was a good year for this book.

Each piece in The Words of Abraham Lincoln is selected by author Larry Shapiro to illustrate the personality of Abraham Lincoln, with a short 1 or 2 sentence explanation to put the piece in context.  Of course, Shapiro includes the Gettysburg Address, Emancipation Proclamation, and both Inaugural Addresses, but he also includes private letters and notes written to friends, family and fellow politicians.  It is through these personal notes, that the reader sees the many sides of Lincoln, such as:

• The self-deprecating side – A writer asked for a short bio to which Lincoln responded, “Herewith is a little sketch, as you requested.  There is not much of it, for the reason, I suppose, that there is not much of me.”
• The humble side – In a letter to General Ulysses Grant in January 1865, Lincoln actually requests a favor of Grant!
• The humorous side – In a telegram to his wife in 1864, Lincolns says, “Tell Tad the goats and father are very well-especially the goats.”

This book is more than just another political history book, and better than an autobiography, as it is the pure, unfiltered words of our 16th president.  I would recommend The Words of Abraham Lincoln to anybody; seriously, anybody can get into this book.  Reading through it, I felt as though I was experiencing Lincoln’s life right alongside him.  Again, I highly recommend this book.

I enjoyed  The Words of Abraham Lincoln so much, that I want to give you a copy.  All you have to do is post an insightful comment about Abraham Lincoln (keyword: insightful!) by Friday 4/17.  The commenter with the best, uh, comment, will win a copy of this book.

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