Posted on Sun, Feb. 10, 2008

Four score and 14,000 books

By Cheryl Truman

CTRUMAN@ HERALD-LEADER.COM

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Experts recommend Lincoln books

Excerpts from Lincoln books

“More books have been written about Abraham Lincoln than about any other American — nearly 14,000 in all — and at least half of those books begin by saying that more books have been written about Abraham Lincoln than about any other American.”
from Land of Lincoln
By Andrew Ferguson

So many Lincoln books, so many Lincoln readers.

The market for books about Abraham Lincoln appears limitless, especially as we approach the bicentennial of Lincoln’s birth.

How do you pick?

We took an informal survey of history buffs and Lincoln experts to get some suggestions. Here they are.

Lincoln for fun: A favorite of many of those surveyed is Land of Lincoln by Andrew Ferguson. It’s a light-hearted recounting of the Lincoln industry as it is practiced throughout America.

William Herndon’s biography, Herndon’s Lincoln, shows Lincoln as portrayed by his law partner.

Shiny new Lincoln tomes: President Lincoln: The Duty of a Statesman by William Lee Miller is the second part of Miller’s “ethical biography” of Lincoln, the first being Lincoln’s Virtues.

Did Lincoln Own Slaves? And Other Frequently Asked Questions About Abraham Lincoln by Gerald J. Prokopowicz is a sort of question-based Lincoln Book of Lists, from “Did he write his school lessons on the back of a shovel, using a piece or charcoal?” to “Did he ever make bad speeches?”

There’s also One Man Great Enough: Abraham Lincoln’s Road to Civil War by John C. Waugh, and Abraham Lincoln, a Man of Faith and Courage: Stories of Our Most Admired President by Joe Wheeler, which focuses on Lincoln’s spiritual side.

Lincoln for the un-Lincolned: For the general or time-starved reader, scholar Douglas Wilson — author of last year’s Lincoln’s Sword: The Presidency and the Power of Words, about Lincoln’s use of language — recommends Prokopowicz’s Did Lincoln Own Slaves? to address curiosities about Lincoln.

For a basic, concise book about Lincoln and the Civil War, he recommends Abraham Lincoln and Civil War America by William E. Genapp. “Useful to people who say, ‘I don’t have a lot of time but I’d like to have something that’s a compact, reliable book about Lincoln and his importance in the Civil War,’” he says.

Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin appears on many lists of those we surveyed. Of Lincoln volumes published in recent years, it’s the most often mentioned — and the only one being produced as a movie (directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Liam Neeson, it’s due in 2009). Goodwin’s book is uncannily good as a description of the Civil War era and that trait that elevates Lincoln above, say, the Bickersons inhabiting today’s presidential primaries: Lincoln saw talent among his enemies and cultivated it for the good of the country. That sounds like one-minute manager stuff, but the way Goodwin writes it sounds like great statesmanship and the height of personal generosity.

Of Garry Wills’ Lincoln at Gettysburg, Wilson says, “It’s a classic by now, but it really deserves to be a classic.”

Reach Cheryl Truman at (859) 231-3202 or 1-800-950-6397, Ext. 3202, or CTRUMAN@ HERALD-LEADER.COM.