Joshua Wolf Shenk

This is such a beautiful coffee table book that I was hesitant to highlight passages, although I very much wanted to mark favorite parts that jumped out at me. I did not venture to make any highlights until the last day of reading it. This book is a delight glimpse into Lincoln’s character.

This book is not just original documents and their transcription; each document is accompanied by a commentary by a different author who selected that document for inclusion in this book. 43 Distinguished Americans contributed to this book. Sometimes I read the transcription first; sometimes I read the commentary first. Occasionally I read the image of his writing. The pictures and reproductions gave another insight into the tenor of the times.

Both of his inaugural addresses were typewritten and have additional changes that Lincoln wrote in. My curiosity caused me to look up when the typewriter was invented.

Lincoln is such a valuable study that I have added a few more books to my to-read list:
[b:The Sword of Lincoln: The Army of the Potomac|1508764|The Sword of Lincoln The Army of the Potomac|Jeffry D. Wert|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1184450012s/1508764.jpg|1500327]
[b:Lincoln's Sword: The Presidency and the Power of Words|106592|Lincoln's Sword The Presidency and the Power of Words|Douglas L. Wilson|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171565733s/106592.jpg|102742]
[b:Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln|2199|Team of Rivals The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln|Doris Kearns Goodwin|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1160801826s/2199.jpg|2861004].
So much for the idea that by reading 2 books a week I could whittle down my to-read list. Sigh, but I am enjoying the increased learning I get through reading more. So, although I am not excited that my to-read list continues to grow, yet my understanding is growing too, and I like that part.
… (mais)

Having just read "Lincoln: Biography of a Writer" by Fred Kaplan, I found that a lot of the information contained in this book was also contained in Kaplan's book. In fact they even used most of the same historical quotes throughout the books. And I sense I felt like I was reading the same book just with a different directive approach, this one being focused on Lincoln's depression instead of his reading and writing.
It's not a bad but by any means in fact it's very good book. I just kind of wish that I would have read them separately instead of back to back.
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone with interest in the subjects of Abraham Lincoln, mental illness, an American history.… (mais)