Engrossing and lucid, Mr. Klingaman has written a superb book on a subject that is given little scrutiny. Filled with anecdotes and witticisms this book should be read by those who are sick of the usual fat best sellers.

Klingaman's book concentrates on President Lincoln's issuance of the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation of September 22, 1862, and the Final Emancipation Proclamation of January 1, 1863. On a closely-related subject, the book also discusses the Union Army's gradual use of African-American soldiers as a means to winning the Civil War.

Klingaman focuse on the changes in Lincoln's attitude towards emancipation and his gradual assumption of a strong leadership role. He also points out that many of Lincoln's decisions were forced upon him by the political and military circumstances of the War. Thus, Klingaman describes how Lincoln's original goal in the War was the preservation of the Union. He resisted pressure from the Abolitionists and from the Radical Republicans to emancipate the slaves in order to avoid antagonizing the border states and those in the North who would not have fought a war to free the slaves. As political pressures changed, and as the North suffered setbacks in the Virginia theatre of the war, the pressures on Lincoln changed. Although the seeds of the Emancipation had been planted earlier, as Klingaman shows, Lincoln used the end Lee's invasion of the North at Antietam as the fulcrum to issue the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation and followed it up with the Proclamation of January 1, 1863. Klingaman explains well how the issuance of the Proclamation helped change the momentum of the War, militarily, politically, and internationally.

This book is not a work of new scholarship but it is valuable and worth reading nonetheless. Klingaman does a good job of emphasizing both the military and political aspects of the War, while many books concentrate on one or the other. I thought the book had particularly good insights to offer on Lincoln's relationship with Union General George McClellan.

Klingaman's Lincoln is primarily a politician and a pragmatist more than a political theorist. Lincoln's backwoods humor comes through well in the book as does his depression and sadness resulting from the heavy weight of his public and private trials. There are effective descriptions of pre-war Washington, D.C. which are followed by further descriptions of the way the city and our nation changed with the industrialization wrought by the War.

There are good textual discussions of both the Prelimary and Final Emancipation Proclamations which emphasize the compromises Lincoln had to make to politics rather than the role of ideas.
Finally, the book briefly discusses Emancipation following the conclusion of the War and points out eloquently how much remained and still remains to be done to bring about racial equality.

This book is a balanced and thoughtful history of the Emancipation for the reader interested in a seminal moment of our Nation's history.

William Klingaman's book, "Abraham Lincoln and the Road to Emancipation" traces the personal and social development of emancipation in the the 1860s in a refreshing and enlightening way.

By blending both historical events, with the inner turmoil of Lincoln, Klingaman sheds new light on the processes that lead to the historical proclaimation. The Lincoln in this book is torn between his desire to do what is right vs. what he perceives his Constitutional duties. Klingaman doesn't shy away from the reality that Lincoln initially didn't favor emancipation over saving the union, but embraces his struggle and his eventual turn around. This allows for a more dynamic, interesting Lincoln to shine through. Lincoln would finally do the right thing, which we come to understand the depth and complexity of his decision.

For Lincoln fans, for people with a casual interest, I highly recommend this book for a new view on an incredible man during incredible times.

This reference is a nice piece, although to me, it falls a bit short of Sol Taylor's Complete Guide to the Lincoln Cent. The book has very good photographic reproduction, and has some interesting information on die varieties and RPMs. It also reveals a lot about some key issues such as the 1909S VDB and 1922 Plain!

So where does it fall short? To me, it reads a little too much like a reference. Aside from a few key dates, many of the date listings give very little information on the quality of the coins produced for that issue. This is where Taylor's book seems better suited, as it very often describes the colors, die states, and strikes of virtually every issue.

If this is addressed in later editions, than I think this title holds the potential to really achieve a legacy among Lincoln Cent collectors!

This is an interesting book for Lincoln cent collectors. Overall, the book appears to contain a lot of information about varieties. This is no doubt the result of a great deal of background research. There are, however, at least two areas that I puzzled over.

The first area is related to the description of blistering. On page 18 in the second paragraph of "Wrong or improperly mixed alloys", it is stated that blistering is caused by residual chemicals left on the planchet after plating. I'm a little puzzled as to how blistering can be caused in this manner, unless the copper is compromised and a contaminant attacks the zinc. A majority of blisters that I've observed using a 30x stereoscope appear to be between the zinc material and the copper plating with no apparent penetration or compromising of the copper plating. The conclusion that I've arrived at after examining the later type of blisters is as follows: 1) The zinc material is not being cleaned properly before the plating process. 2) The plating process traps a contaminant between the zinc material and the copper plating. 3) The contaminant reacts with the zinc, thereby resulting in a blistering effect of the copper. The blistering phenomenon should have been explained in greater detail.

The second area has to do with the descriptions and pictures of the 1909S VDB die varieties. Specifically, the description of the Die No 2 variety (page 40) would tend to indicate that the mintmark, while being level with the bottoms of the 9s, would have the same relative position between the 9 and 0 as the Die No 1 variety. The description for the Die No 2 variety seems to be vague on this point. In addition, the picture that is provided for the Die No 2 variety seems to match the description and the picture for the Die No 3 variety. It's obvious that these two pictures are of different coins, but the variety appears to be the same. This leads me to question the picture representation of the Die No 2 variety, a better description would have helped (or maybe the correct picture).

I would have liked to ask the author about these to points rather than writing a review, but no e-mail address was provided at Amzazon.com.

One more point of frustration - The grading section could have easily included pictures and did not.

This is an excellent book for anyone collecting Lincoln cents - It lists EVERY known variety of the entire series from 1909! It's great for finding valuable coins you didn't know you had.

Weisman does a good job review the creation of the income tax and an even better job pointing out the form of taxation that came before. This was mainly tariffs on imported goods that served to increase the prices of goods for everyone. It was surprising to read that before the income tax, up to 40% of an average person's income could have went for Federal Taxes because of the prices he had to pay for basic goods such as farm equipment, coffee, sugar, & other items.

The original income tax was actually a tax cut for many Americans, which may be surprising to modern day anti-tax crusaders. Where Weismann falls flat is examining specifics of how the tax code functioned in the early days and attempting to assess its impact. He seems to devote more energy into providing historical overviews of the period from the Civil War until around the time of the Great Depression (in the end he runs through major changes in the code until the present).

The strongest chapter is probably the review of the the Confederate experiments with various tax schemes and their desperate attempts to keep some financial solvency to their short lived government.

For the price, this book truly is a bargain.

The author starts off very strong with the historical presentation of Lincoln, but there are many places where it flagged -- the author lost focus and went on tangents about other, seemingly unrelated historical things, often for "miles and miles" of pages. I'm sure he faced a tough decision in what to include and what not to include, as is the case for any history book because to put it into true perspective you want to include everything -- but you can't. There should have been more judicious cutting here.

The editorial review is also correct: the author didn't ask many important questions in his book, whether overtly or in a more subtle manner. In fact, I kept waiting for the history lesson to end and some more of the author's personality and thoughts to come through, but it didn't happen after the first 1/3 of the book.

Reading this book was quite a lot like watching a (historical re-enactment-style) movie, to be honest, which is good if you just want to know what happened but not if you're looking for an intellectual discussion of "why?" It was a good history lesson, but I will look for other books with a more discussion-oriented bent to round out my newly developed knowledge.

This book was reviewed in Time magazine by Lance Morrow in the November 04, 2002 issue. Mr. Morrow usually writes essays but occasionally writes about books and when he does they are usually worth looking into.

This book proved no exception. Though the subject matter may seem dull (the writer's children evidently thought so), Weisman does an excellent job at making the story lively and engaging. Though perhaps not an exacting historical text, the book paints a broad overall picture of the government's role in the development of the economic framework of the United States.

I personally enjoyed learning how the government was financed through the years, how government policy changed with the thoughts of the public, and the ensuing battles in Washington. As I read the book and watched the welfare state begin to emerge it made me a little more sympathetic for the ideas of conservatism. The welfare state we enjoy today, with its genesis in the progressive era, is a wonderful achievement; yet I can see that we need to constantly re-examine its aspects to insure we are not needlessly spending the taxpayer's money.

If you are interested in finance or history this book should prove enjoyable.

Many people are inclined to think that someone who describes himself as a Nazi has nothing worthwhile to say. That mistake was made once before with horrific consequences so we diss a well-articulated vision at our peril. When I read White Power, I thought to myself that while there are not many Americans who would describe themselves as Nazis, there are an awful lot of them who feel the way Rockwell did. I meet them all the time and from all walks of life. The reader must approach this book dispassionately and without prejudice. Rockwell believed the sight of a swastika caused his political enemies to behave irrationally and thus into his hands. Don't let such irrationality grip you. If you are Jewish, you should read this book just to find out why Rockwell developed such antipathy toward "The Jews". Though you probably despise him, such a read can be very instructive. As usual, it turns out that the actions of a few color the view of the many. The book starts slowly as Rockwell recounts anecdotes about Blacks, Jews, and the degeneration of America then explains his theory of their pivotal roles in American life couched in a metaphorical story of gangs of "shipwreckers" of old and the treachery and connivings of many groups it took to bring a ship up on the rocks so that it could be looted. The problem with Rockwell's vision is that those he considers to be modern "shipwreckers" in America are that way naturally because they are Black, Jewish, or what have you. Any whites involved can only be race traitors; he sees the Jews as ringleaders and the Blacks as their obedient lackeys. What he doesn't see is that these people he despises could be anything. Some just happen to be Black, Jewish etc. Many he names are White! We ALL have to be something. While White Power offers much food for thought, America's problems will never be solved by going after a racial or religious group. They will be solved when good people of all races, religions, and nationalities agree to do away with the bad irrespective of the race, creed, or nationality of the malefactors.

This is one of the most important books of the 20th century outlining many of the keys to our future. The fact that it was never published by a major publisher speaks volumes about the political times we find ourselves in. The author was a decorated WW2 veteran, who came home after the war and had an "awakening" in the basement of a library reading things most folks do not follow up on... After I also woke up from being lied to and forced to maintain that the "emperor has clothes" through an undergraduate and graduate psychology and neuroscience degrees, books like this stood out in relief as the true power behind the first amendment.

Sometimes the truth is very unpopular for political and economic reasons combining like the weather. The first amendment is recognition of this fact. In this case, the truth is about the differences between racial groups we have all been bullied, cajoled, and "educated" into ignoring. there is no doubt that the Jews are controlling this "weather" here in America and across the globe via subtle and not-so-subtle pushes from many different angles (see Kevin Macdonalds excellent and scholarly books on this topic--such as "The Culture of Critique"). The Jews capitalize on our emotions meant for our children and women for example--confusing us and diffusing our resolve to fight them. They make a movie appealing to our heroic ideals and make the heroes do things aligned with Jewish agendas. They make movies with emotional race-mixing scenarios etc.--knowing full well that extremely high intelligence is necessary to see what they are doing at all. Blacks are on average 20 points behind us in IQ (in pure form--most are mixed with white already bringing this to about 15 points in the USA). Blacks are also MUCH more emotionally reactive and violent according to all the information we have--including US Justice Department statistics on crime. The Jews want an easy-to control, highly emotional, and less intelligent populace to make the world safe for them and their patterns--to which truth and intellect are definite threats. In the process, they are destroying everything that made us great and principled creative peoples with beautiful civilizations. The book shows this clearly. What could be more valuable than a book opening the curtains on pure evil which now withers in the sunlight?

If you read this book, you will realize that the Jews must do it without consciously thinking in many cases--based on their emotional propensities and values from living amongst and stealing the cultures, religions, and other ideas of various peoples for so many years. These are patterns taking place past the timescales of individual lives and so they are very hard to detect. As long as they are the underdogs, they stay ingratiating and acting in accordance with the subject populations to a great extent. They reap what information is emotionally significant to the populations they want to control, then feed it back to them adding in their own twisted agenda in barely detectable form--just enough to cause weakening and destruction of those who would oppose them, and any patterns which lock them out. They lie and pit our own people against their own leaders. They promote patterns and programs which stop our love of truth and send us toward the ashheap of history. This is how they slip the knife silently into our vital organs and knock us off the path to our destiny in civilization. Their enemy is the truth. They use our own truths as a delivery vehicle for their disease like AIDs uses the blood to spread destruction throughout a body. How valuable is a cure to AIDs? You must buy this book!

There is evidence that their pattern is a result of certain vulnerabilities in civilizations and that they have been resposible for the destructions of many civilizations in the past. What could be more important than seeing this ultimate threat to our future? This book does an excellent job of showing these patterns and these effects in the groups in question. That is why I say it is one of the most important books of the 20th century. The first part of the book has some examples and ideas which look pretty stereotypically racist, but then the book becomes simply awesome--a truth hammer comes out and smashes away the chaff laid into our brains like the foreign DNA of AIDs laid into and enslaving an immune system cell. The information in this book allows our immune sytem to recover so that we can clearly see this diguised and intellectually hidden predator in the Jew. This book is life. This book is the future or we will have no future. Every white person should be reading this in high school--it should be required reading.

This book shows clearly that the different races have different vectors dictated by their emotional propensities just like water flows to the lowest point in nature. The Jews are very smart, but that intellect is like the intellect of Lex Luthor in the Superman comics--the greatest CRIMINAL minds of their time! Emotional propensities and patterns inherent in the collective choices made by a people are everything. The word "Justice" means different things to the different races, for example. The book talks about "malapropisms" of language in blacks who use our words wrong because they really don't know what they mean emotionally. They are not like us and on average they are ALSO 20-points lower on the IQ scale. Combine these two factors and you realize that skin color is NOT important at all--it is the things that go with it. In light of current events (terrorism, the war in Iraq) caused by Israel and their influences in this country, you must buy this book--it is a life-or-death decision you realy can't put off any longer.

George Lincoln Rockwell was a colorful figure who provoked controversy and loved a fight. He started his adult life as a Navy pilot fighting Adolf Hitler and the Nazis. Later, while trying to prove an acquaintance wrong about the Jewish control of the media, his research showed him that his friend had been right: the Jews DO control the media. He continued his investigations and learned that the man he had fought and helped to destroy in World War 2 was none other than Western Civilization's would-have-been savior. Rockwell dedicated his life to sharing the information he had discovered, and WHITE POWER is his major contribution to that understanding.

Rockwell explains why different races should each have their separate homelands, and why each country should have only one race in it. He exposes the Jews' games with the banks, with the media, with their phony "civil rights" organizations. He names the real names of famous Jews, such as Milton Berle and Pearl Buck, and explains why Jews attempt to blend in with the natives when they go nation-wrecking. Very cogently, Rockwell argues that racism is produced by racial mixing, and that race wars aren't primarily caused by "hate" but by a natural competition for survival and living space.

Keneally may not be as exalted a writer as others who have written about our greatest President, but he does a good job summarizing Abraham Lincoln. At approximately 150 pages, the reader learns about Lincoln's early heritage and the political and military battles of his Presidency. This is basic stuff, so if a reader needs more details, consult some of the other fine books on Lincoln.
I find some of the info about Lincoln somewhat in doubt. First Keneally states Lincoln may have had a sexual disease. I have read some on Lincoln, but I never found that in other references. Perhaps I missed that somewhere. Also in doubt is Lincoln's paternity where Tom Lincoln was not the father of Abraham. Keneally dismisses that but should we include that in a short biography of this famous man.
Overall a good concise read on our most famous President. Readers who desire the basics on this man will do well to read this book.

This was my favorite in the series so far. Of course it shortchanges the war years--but then Sandburg wrote four thick volumes on those years and even he didn't cover everything. Where this book excels is in humanizing a man who is known to most Americans mostly as an icon. It's particularly vivid on his early years. When I grew up (I was born in the 1950s), Lincoln's formative years were the stuff of legend and lore--the log cabin, the rail-splitting, the feats of strength, all that hagiography stuff. Keneally does a nice job of making those years real again, and that's what I enjoyed most.

Keneally is a nice discovery too--I'd never read anything of his before, and this book was so nicely written that I think I'll look for other things by him.

I'm really enamored of the Penguin lives series. For years biographies just got longer, and longer, and longer, until they got virtually impossible for non-specialists to read (I mean, has Dumas Malone reached the end of his Jefferson bio yet? Is it still ongoing? What is it by now, 26, 27 volumes? I had to quit after three). I'm not saying there isn't a place for that sort of biography--of course there is--but these "shorties" fill a real need too. With them, I can revisit old favorites, and also read bios of people I've never had a great deal of interest in. For instance, I just read Bobbie Ann Mason's bio of Elvis. It's virtually the first thing about Elvis I've ever read, and if it had been 300 pages there would have been no way I would have picked it up.

So, bravo to Penguin. And bravo to Keneally for this entertaining and humanizing view of Lincoln as a real person. Don't be put off by reviewers who will (inevitably) dispute the details of Keneally's portrait; this isn't the last word on Lincoln, and it isn't meant to be. It's a good read nonetheless.

This can serve as a primer in Lincoln and Civil War history. In a concise, easy to read and suspenseful tale one learns how Lincoln, coming from the most common of backgrounds, lifted himself up in the best of entrepreneurial spirit, and by a fluke of events was catapulted from country lawyer and orator, a one-term Congressman who just a year earlier had lost an attempt to become Senator from Illinois, to become President of the United States of America. His inauguration took place as the Southern States had already formed a Confederacy, the Union was falling apart, and Washington,D.C. was at threat to be overrun by Rebel forces.

The course of the great Civil War is retold with Lincoln's input to his field generals well documented and retold. One learns of the great turning point battles of this bloody and painful contest. Lincoln's relationships to his family and colleagues are insightful to the character and make-up of this both humble and brave leader. The modern economy of greenbacks and taxes was born, too, and documented herein. In such a small book the scope of its tale is quite surprising.

Of course the end is abrupt. On the heels of his winning a 2nd term and of Lee's surrender of the Army of Virginia, Lincoln is gunned down at the Ford Theater. The book aptly ends with a quote from his Cabinet member Stanton: "Now he belongs to the ages". And the author Keneally adds:" he had become the bloodied nation incarnate".

Burlingame's book is misnamed in my view - it is not 'The Inner World' as much as how Lincoln reacted to the outer world. The reader is left to judge ultimately for himself what Lincoln thought. This is a testament to Burlingame's restraint as a historian. He could have pounded away at all sorts of psychological concepts and explanations, but he does'nt Instead, except for some references to Carl Jung in the beginning of the book and a sprikling of psychological explanations throughout the chapters, he presents in a matter-of-fact way Lincoln's relationships with his wife, his sons, his generals, and discusses his temper, ambition, and parenting, with some, but not excessive, 'patient on the couch' pontificating.

The longest, and by far the most powerful, is the chapter on Lincoln's marriage. If only half, or even a quarter of what Burlingame recounts was true, then the potato-throwing, screaming, spendthrift Mary Lincoln must have been the worst wife on earth. In Springfield, Lincoln would often rush out the backdoor during Mary's 'episodes' - whisking his sons up with him and spending the night in his office, on a couch specially installed that was long enough to handle his tall frame. He was often beaten - a broom being Mary's weapon of choice. My God, the poor man needed his own Emancipation Proclamation!

The chapter on Lincoln's depression details how low this man could get. It was probably his Gloomy Gus outlook that saved Lincoln from completely cracking up; only a person familiar with depression and how to go on under difficult circumstances could withstand the strain of a war that killed 628,000 fellow citizens in four years. I am not a Lincoln scholar so I can't testify to the veracity of all that is in this book. But, reading it will provide you with a sense of how many trials this strange, ambitious, and great man endured - at home and in politics.

Burlingame does a great service with this book. He delves into Lincoln's psyche in a way that has perhaps never been done. This is not vain guessing on his part. He offers a virtual avalanche of sources throughout the book.

His Mary Todd Lincoln chapter is a welcome antidote to the "politically correct" version that somehow turns an emotionally and at times even physically abusive MTL into an endearing person.

Finally a work comes out that eschews the sugar-coated lies we have been spoon fed since grammar school regarding the fairy tale life of our 16th President. Mary Todd Lincoln is spared all revisionist attempts at painting her neuroses in a charming, adorable light and she is revealed for what she really was - a monstrous, chilidish, shrew of a woman! Great work, and I shall introduce it to my students as the defining truth of the Lincoln marriage and White House.

Christine Lincoln's debut novel, Sap Rising, is rooted in the mystical, rural Grandville where the tales of its townspeople are captured in 12 intertwining short stories. The sagas are told from varying viewpoints: fathers, grandmothers, young boys, nosey neighbors, teenaged girls, etc. and are rooted in themes of self-discovery, escapism, and hope.

All of the stories are symbolic and appealing, but a few that really struck this reviewer were the title story, 'Sap Rising' and 'A Very Close Conspiracy'. In 'Sap Rising', we meet a very restless young woman, Ebbie Pinder, who runs away from the mediocrity of life as a homemaker in Grandville to the bright lights of the big city. She returns home alone and with her child, Pontella, in 'Like Dove Wings' and Pontella's plight is recounted in 'A Hook Will Sometimes Keep You'. In 'A Very Close Conspiracy', we meet the town drunk, Hiron Fuller, who retraces his life, loves, and views as a black man as he succumbs to a fatal injury.

The author demonstrates her depth and range of character development by taking the reader deep inside the psyches of Hiron, a man worn down by racism and poverty, the self-doubting Pontella who was abandoned by her mother, Ebbie, and the painful episodes of Boag's and Cinny's coming-of-age transformation. She paints a picture of the human condition and adds insight and emotion into each story. Ms. Lincoln is a great storyteller with a style akin to J. California Cooper's yet distinctively her own. She has made her mark with a successful debut ' I am looking forward to her next release.

Reviewed by Phyllis
APOOO BookClub, The Nubian Circle Book Club

I saw the author for this book on a local t.v. program and decided to give it try and I am very glad that I did. Sap Rising is a series of short stories surrounding the people in Grandville, Maryland. The stories are very interesting, poetic and vivid. Lincoln's style sort of reminds you of J. California Cooper. Each character holds a different significance and importance to the next story. The characters share they hopes and fears on racism, class, status, family positions, friendship, dreams and the ever changing world. I think we will see a lot more of Ms. Lincoln. Congratulations!!

Peace and Blessings!!

Date Reviewed: April 1, 2003

A new voice in literature is screaming to be heard, as I learned from reading SAP RISING by Christine Lincoln. A collection of short stories reminiscent of Maxine Clair's Rattlebone, SAP RISING incites a hunger in the reader that is satisfied only by turning page after page.

The stories center around characters living in the South during a post World War II America, but their voices are even more resonant than the setting. In these pieces, whose names flow poetically with their storylines, events take place that make you suck in your breath in wonderment, and, at times, heartbreak.

Rather than tell you about each story, its plot, and the key players, I will tell you that if you enjoy fierce writing and in-your-face characters, this is a book you will want to read.

Reviewed by CandaceK
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

While I enjoyed this book, I felt the title was deceptive. The author, T. Harry Williams, trys to convince us, that Lincoln was a master strategist, and it basically was his strategy that helped win the war. ( I HAD thought this book would be about Union Generals, as Douglass Freemans- Lee's Lt's was about his. That may have been my fault, for misunderstanding)

I read this book with an open mind, yet with a good knowledge of the Civil War, and of McClellen, Meade, Grant, Hooker, Burnside, Pope and McDowell. McClellen stated many times, that Lincoln could not hold on to a secret, and that was his reason for not keeping him informed. Also, many of the plans McClellen devised, were later used by Grant. Hooker built the Union Military up, and did a fantastic job of organization, from the bottom ranks up. Meade, did much of the work, that we give Grant credit for, ( though Meade did make the newspapers mad at him, and refused to name him)

Lincoln is a very interesting man, but I feel it is a stretch to call him a master military strategist.

If you enjoy reading someone elses view, or opinion of the Civil War, this is a really nice book. But, that is why I can only give it three stars, it is good, but too much of the authors opinion.

Williams notes in the preface of my 1952 edition that it is not about the Generals of the Union, but rather about Lincoln and his problems with the Union military commanders. While much of the text is dry details about this letter or that between Lincoln and his generals, the Williams does interject some bits of interesting facts and educated theories on why Lincoln often acted as he did. This is a well researched book, with most pages having between about 3 footnotes, and it is very helpful in understanding the political climate of the American Civil War.

This book is a wonderful look at Lincoln and his relationship with his generals and why he went through so many prior to finally appointing Grant, he just couldn't find one that would not when under pressure find all the reason they could not to attack.
The book also does an excellent job of detailing Lincoln's involvement in strategic policy for the Union armies. Surprisingly for a man who'd never held a high military rank, Lincoln displayed an incredible grasp of strategy and frequently understood things generals such as Meade did not. Williams also expands into how upon the appointment of Grant to general in chief, the Union high command evolved into a modern military command, the first of its kind in the world, even more advanced than anything seen in Europe until Moltke the Elder, with the Union army high command consisiting of Commander in Cheif, General in Chief, and a new office designed for Halleck and to keep Grant from having to be in Washington, Chief of Staff. Williams also makes clear the different military culture of the 19th century, in stark contrast to most instances today, a general who disagreed with Lincoln or thought his plan to have dissatisfied the president or simply disliked somone they were told to collaborate with in a battle, instead of trying to work out differences, asked to be relieved of command.
The one major drawback to this book is its lack of maps. There are no maps to follow the action along, so its advisable to have a Civil War atlas at hand in order to be able to place some of the places the battles take place. Also, if you're looking for a detailed "what happend" in the many battles, in most cases you won't get it with this book. This book is purely about the command and control structure of the Union army and how the players interacted with each other. My one final and biggest grip with Williams is that he at many points assumes too much in my opinion. There are many instances where the documentary record when he wrote the book did not state what happend, so Williams assumes that things "must have" or "certainly happend" a certain way without in some cases anything approaching a clear reason why he draws this conclusion.
Other than these few gripes, this is a wonderful book and should be read by anyone wishing to understand why Lincoln went through so many generals.

This book is almost a case study of paranoia, if indeed the
author really believes what he says, which I doubt. Evidence
is of a nature that virtually anything can be proven about anything. Don't waste your money on this piece of utter nonsense.
As to JFK, the fact is that Oswald was aiming at Connelly, not Kennedy, but wasn't experienced at leading his target. Case closed.

Well researched and documented writing that takes the phony "mask" off many of our elected and non elected leaders. THere is a truth that is hidden behind the major news events of our era but it requires searching for. This book simply makes sense out of the murders of the Kennedys and MLK- motive/ who's who, and the those with the power to cover up the killings.

This book is EXPLOSIVE and chock full of information you NEVER knew before about all these assassinations. When you see the players that were in Dallas the day JFK was shot, you'll never believe that one man theory again. AWESOME.

This book perpetuates the out and out LIES surrounding the Gettysburg address.

This quote says it all...

"The Gettysburg speech was at once the shortest and the most famous oration in American history... the highest emotion reduced to a few poetical phrases. Lincoln himself never even remotely approached it. It is genuinely stupendous. But let us not forget that it is poetry, not logic; beauty, not sense. Think of the argument in it.

Put it into the cold words of everyday.

The doctrine is simply this: that the Union soldiers who died at Gettysburg sacrificed their lives to the cause of self-determination -- that government of the people, by the people, for the people, should not perish from the earth.

It is difficult to imagine anything more untrue.

The Union soldiers in the battle actually fought *against* self-determination; it was the Confederates who fought for the right of their people to govern themselves."--

As Gary Willis tries to indicate in his introduction to this illustrated edition of Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address," the reason it is the most important speech in American History is because until Lincoln made his few choice "remarks" at the dedication of the National Cemetery at Gettysburg, Americans did not believe the principle that "all men are created equal" that is enshrined in the Declaration of Independence. So while this is a sense that the Union Troops did not fight for self-determination, or to free the slaves for that matter, we now believe that they did and we do so because of what Lincoln said at Gettysburg (Willis develops this argument more comprehensively in his Pulitzer Prize-winning book, "Lincoln at Gettysburg"). This is what historicans mean when they talk about how Lincoln elevated the war to a higher level.

The speech is only 272 words long and is illustrated with a dozen marvelously detailed etchings by Michael McCurdy (he calls them drawings in his afterword, but since they are white on black I think of them as "etchings"). McCurdy depicts not only Lincoln speaking at Gettysburg, but also the actual battle and Lincoln's idealized vision of America. If students do not have the opportunity to hear "The Gettysburg Address" read out loud the first time they encounter it, then this book is a reasonable substitute for the experience.

I read this book aloud to my children. The text is simply the Gettysburg address, broken into phrases with an illustration for each thought. Two-thirds of the way through the book, I found myself weeping. The combination of Lincoln's eloquence and the illustrations touched me. I would recommend using this book to introduce students of any age to Lincoln's famous speech and the history associated with it.