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 enlarge | Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
Category: EBooks
List Price: $12.99
Buy New: $9.99
You Save: $3.00 (23%)
Avg. Customer Rating:  373 reviews
Sales Rank: 10
Format: Kindle Book
Media: Kindle Edition
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 944
Dewey Decimal Number: 973.7092
ASIN: B000N2HBSO
Publication Date: December 20, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews:
 Data? Yes. Information? No. October 31, 2008
2 out of 14 found this review helpful
This book shows the value of used bookstores because it demonstrates that, if you want the best book on a subject, you may need to go back awhile. Back to the point where the scholarship on that subject reached its peak, when the last really important piece of information had been found yielding an appropriate portrait of the situation. You can find these perfect books (and cheap!) with some patience and they'll look classy on your shelves to boot. Think Joseph Quincy Adams' 1923 `Life of William Shakespeare'. What comes AFTER this point are the silly alternate theories or painfully focused studies of certain components of the story or, as in this case, the assembly of facts which had never been reported before because they lie outside the sphere of relevance. These books are written and published for the same reason new versions of computer programs are released - there's an industry that still needs to be fed after you no longer need anything from it. As with Conrad Black's FDR, you can find out in this book what song might have been playing when someone who was never really a factor in our hero's life danced with someone who lived in the town next to the famous figure's sister's birthplace. Data? Yes. Information? No. On a positive note, Goodwin doesn't seem to have stolen it from anyone this time and, if you know someone who loves all things Lincoln there is value here. Your friend had better be obsessed however or this book will just get tiresome.
 An inside view of the Lincoln whitehouse October 26, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Great read. I have long admired Lincoln and I came out of this book with newfound respect for one of our greatest presidents. This extremely well-researched account of Lincoln's road to the White House and his time as president gives amazing insights into the obstacles he faced and his personal struggles. You sometimes forget that past leaders were subject to the same political maneuverings, scandals and infighting that we read about daily among our current leaders and, at a time when the national was literally being pulled apart, Lincoln skillfully navigated a very uncertain path. That the country made it through this crisis intact is due to the tireless efforts of not only Lincoln himself, but several other candidates that epitomize what it means to be a public servant. All in all, a facinating account of Lincoln, both the man and the politician.
You Can be a Fly on the Wall! October 24, 2008
For anyone who ever wished to travel back in time to experience the life and times of those who shaped our country, this is the book for you. Doris Kearns Goodwin submerges us in the intimate details of the lives the of the political rivals and their families and the very volatile issues of slavery. Her research is exhaustive and much could only have been gleaned from the beautifully written prose contained in private jounals, intimate letters, and political speeches. Some sections contained way more information than I was interested in, but for those craving all the details, they are all here.
This book makes you realize the importance of recording our histories for future posterity!
 Warm and easily read October 17, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Doris Kearns Goodwin has written a warm and engaging history of Lincoln's early political career and rise to the presidency. She weaves together the stories of his cabinet and their parallel lives to give a more nuanced, textual view of Lincoln's administration than more narrowly focused biographies.
On the other hand, trying to provide meaningful insight into so many complex lives leaves the book with a sometimes disjointed and even superficial feel. There's enough depth to really get you interested, but not enough to sate your curiosity. That's pardonable, though--to have done otherwise the book would have had to have been six times as long.
There's little in the book that you won't find in other biographies, but juxtaposing them all together has an original and dynamic effect. Goodwin's use of personality reminds me of the brilliance, insight, and warmth of America's other great historian-for-the-masses, Barbara Tuchman.
Goodwin's love and admiration for Lincoln rubbed off so effectively that it was impossible to finish the book without concluding that he was the greatest man in history. This is a well written book that you will enjoy and learn from. Goodwin's inclusion of Lincoln's acceptance of Chase's resignation contains a line that qualifies as the finest, most diplomatic firing ever done in the English language: "Of all I have said in commendation of your ability and fidelity, I have nothing to unsay."
It's a very good read, especially on a Kindle.
Required Reading October 15, 2008
This book should be required reading for every US Citizen. It combines together information on not just Lincoln, but his 4 main rivals, the process by which he came to be elected, the inner workings of his White House, the dynamics going on in every day life in the United States during that period and the overall fight to abolish slavery during that time -- all packaged in a wonderfully easy to read book. I learned more by reading this one book than I did in all of my high school and college history classes combined. I suspect you will too. Happy reading....
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