1864: Lincoln at the Gates of History (Simon & Schuster Lincoln Library)

What a brilliant book I will be reading this one again.

I call this book "brilliant" because it IS brilliant. Imagine reaching back 150 years and presenting the real, live, breathing A. Lincoln. Just try to imagine the amount of reading and research that went into this "simple history" of the year 1864 and Lincoln's year of crisis, triumph & tragedy. It is a fantastic job of writing history --- none better. And I think it puts Gore Vidal's "Lincoln" novel pretty definitely in the shade. But, you must understand, this is also a horrifying book. More Americans died in the Civil War than in all of America's foreign wars put together. It was here, in America, that the horrors of WWI were foreshadowed. Lincoln hated the losses. He wept over them. He told close associates that he simply could not stand them. But, in the dark of the night, when sleep deserted him, he realized that nobody else had a platform which would save the Union. Some advocated immediate surrender, and division of the country; others wanted to punish and persecute the Rebel South. Lincoln, with his uncanny wisdom, avoided both of these extreme traps. What makes the book even more horrifying is to realize the amount of stress Lincoln walked into. The Civil War was the most important item on the agenda, and it was slaughtering boys by the thousands. But wait, there was more. While pursuing the Civil War in 1864, Lincoln was also up for re-election. Since he was a "war President," he was (almost by definition) unpopular. Lincoln needed all of his political cunning to be the Republican nominee. And to win re-election. And of course (details, details) he also had to be President of the United States at the same time. I find it hard to imagine the difficulties and the enormous stress which this rangy man simply HAD to endure. In one of the book's most telling quotes, Lincoln simply says, "I can't quit." He felt his own life (!) draining away, but he just wouldn't quit. And so Lincoln entered the gates of history. He became the most beloved of American Presidents. He freed the slaves. And his reward was to be assassinated, by an ACTOR. This is a really terrific book! Highly recommended! ------ Further thoughts --------------------- This book views Lincoln with sympathy and even love. Other books do not. The novel by Gore Vidal mentioned above basically relies on one running joke: everyone around Lincoln keeps thinking and saying that "In this time of national crisis, we need a dictator --- not this muddleheaded fool." By the end of the book, those critics realized that they were living in the presence of what they wanted: a dictator. After all, Abe Lincoln wrote a new clause into the U.S. Constitution, still unpublished: "No state may secede from this Union against the will of the Federal Government." Did we vote on this issue? No. We fought a huge war over this issue, and Lincoln's side won. There is also "a lot of evidence" that Lincoln didn't care about slavery very much. This pile of evidence seems much less persuasive to me. I suspect that Lincoln was doing as much as he could against slavery, while still being a politician who could win a second term in the White House. What seems beyond doubt is that Abe Lincoln caused a huge revolution in domestic American politics: suddenly the minimalist Federal government envisioned by the Founding Fathers vanished to be replaced by "America the Nation-State." Eventually, the rights of the states dwindled right down to the level of the DMV --- and, yes, it all began with Abe Lincoln. Whether we want to praise this or damn it, it is the current reality...and has been for a century and a half.

Tremendous book. Eye-opening, compelling stories.

I feel that I have learned more about politics, Lincoln, and the civil war reading this one book than 66 years of living has provided me.

1864: Lincoln at the Gates of History is written with a prose that makes the book easy to read, it is easy to find yourself up way past your bedtime. In my opinion, the most impressive aspect of this book is the way the author "blends" the political maneuvering with Lincoln's management of the Civil War. Flood easily moves from one, to the other, seamlessly tying the events together. The author makes a great case for 1864 being one of the most important, if not the most important, single years in our country's history. I highly recommend this book to anyone that has more than a passing interest in our 16th president. For those that have studied Lincoln, this book offers much new material, that will leave you craving more. I had the opportunity to interview Mr. Flood for my blog. Check it out by going to ThisMightyScourge [dot] com and clicking on the "interviews" category in the right menu. Michael Noirot This Mighty Scourge blog St Louis, Missouri July 1, 2010