Abraham Lincoln: The Man Behind the Myths“There is no better introduction to current thinking about Lincoln and his place in history.” —Newsday An essential book for any student of Lincoln and American history, Abraham Lincoln: The Man Behind the Myths is acclaimed Lincoln biographer Stephen B. Oates's unique exploration of America's sixteenth president in reality and memory. In this multifaceted portrait, Oates, "the most popular historical interpreter of Lincoln" (Gabor S. Boritt, New York Times Book Review), exposes the human side of the great and tragic president—including his depression, his difficulties with love, and his troubled and troubling attitudes about slavery—while also confronting the many legends that have arisen around "Honest Abe." Oates throughout raises timely questions about what the Lincoln mythos reveals about the American people. |
From inside the book
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... tion of what Lincoln was like in the days he lived , taking care to discuss him in proper historical context . In specific , Part Two addresses certain themes in Lincoln's personal life - his depres- sion , for example , and his ...
... tion have been different had he lived ? Was there a conspiracy on the part of Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton and the so - called Radical Republicans to have Lincoln assassinated - an allegation enshrined as fact in several books and ...
... tion , Lincoln was a martyr - saint , as pure and perfect a spirit as the Almighty ever created . He was " savior of the republic , emancipa- tor of a race , true Christian , true man . " Sheer nonsense ! thundered William H. Herndon ...
... tion pictures , novels , children's books , school texts , and television shows purveyed Sandburg's Lincoln to a vast American public , until that Lincoln became for most Americans the real historical figure . Yet , ironically enough ...
... tion and declining moral values , and that struggled through the Great Depression of the thirties , the worst crisis of American democracy since the Civil War . Small wonder that Sandburg won near universal acclaim . For poet Stephen ...
Contents
ManyMooded | 31 |
All Conquering Mind | 45 |
Mr Lincoln | 51 |
The Beacon Light of Liberty | 57 |
This Vast Moral Evil | 65 |
My Dissatisfied Fellow Countrymen | 75 |
The Central Idea | 89 |
The Man of Our Redemption | 111 |
Final | 149 |
Aftermath | 164 |
Acknowledgments | 189 |
Index | 215 |