Lincoln: A Life of Purpose and Power Book

It seems difficult to believe that after all the Lincoln biographies that have been published, anyone could think of anything new or dynamic to write. But this historian has done exactly that. This is a highly readable biography that focuses on things others tend to ignore.

One of my favorite sections here is the one on the famous Lincoln/Douglas debates. I find myself wishing we had formats more like that these days where reporters are less conspicuous and candidates can truly debate the issues.

I enjoyed the way this was organized, and the discussion on Lincoln's spirituality and the evolution thereof kept me leaning into the book. Interesting, too, was Lincoln's use of volunteer organizations, churches, and individual evangelists to help cement the emancipation proclimation.

Dick Hill did a nice narration here when he wasn't reading actual quotes. For inexplicable reasons, every time he read a quote or even a partial one, his voice would go up half an octive and he would often affect some kind of weird accent. His narration of the straight text was superb; the minute he hit a quote, things went wobbly. But this is far too excellent a biography to allow that to prevent you from reading it. It's well organized, and I assure you you'll learn things about Lincoln you may not have known or at the very least, you'll be intrigued by the particular elements of Lincoln's life this historian chose to focus on.