Lincoln Books

I bought Libra for my six-year-old grandson. I thought I'd read a few pages. Well, I read the whole book! I was very surprised to see that the story unfolds beautifully and logically for us adult readers as well as creating an adventurous children's tale.

The 25-song CD enclosed with the book tells the story in song form. It is very good. My grandson plays it frequently.

If you have a child in your life, this book will bring you both closer together. I read a chapter for my grandson every day after school. It's our quality time together.
Grampa Mark

Love that liberated kitty! This is a tail firmly arch. I had to wait six weeks to get my copy of Libra from Amazon.com, but it was well worth the wait. Now I have ordered four more for birthday presents for cat lovers and sci fi buffs. What a great yarn-- Californian to the core, with delicious musings on redwoods and sushi. And for those who like an undercurrent of intellectual challenge with their froth, there are heartfelt subtexts on nonconformity, eccentricity, and the role of science in society.

Fun, charming - keeps the attention of kids as well as adults! For the cat lover, the sci-fi lover, the fairy tale lover...

A wonderful child's/young adult science fiction novel that even adults will enjoy.

Libra: The Cat Who Saved Silicon Valley
by Lincoln Taiz, Lee Taiz
Paperback: 326 pages
Publisher: Amsea Group Publishing, Inc.; (December 15, 2002)
ISBN: 0972304401

Libra The Cat Who Saved Silicon Valley is not your ordinary young adult book, nor is it your ordinary science fiction book, nor is it your ordinary learning book, but with a combination of them all, this book is a one of a kind read that will keep the reader interested long after the book is finished.

It is the story of a cat from the planet Gatos (gato is the Spanish word for cat) meets alien cats and tries to figure out who or what they are. Their adventure leads them to a "battle" with Silicon Valley Computers.
Ultimately, Libra goes back to Gatos but her adventure on Earth will never be forgotten, nor will the friendships she made.

The book is a twist of learning and play on words that children can understand and adults will enjoy. The sci-fi fan will love the language, information, and adventures in this story and the young reader will learn more about reading and language than they expected.

The book comes with a CD of music featuring Amanda Shelby. The 25 songs are fun to sing and listen to. And it is an added bonus that makes this book a real deal.

Before writing this review, I had my 5th grade son also read the book. He loved it. He enjoyed the play on words and the story line. He has since taken the book to school and has shared it with his friends. It is truly a book for all ages.

I'm a history junkie and I admit it. And this book feeds my habit superbly. Drake Hokanson has done an excellent job of documenting the birth of the concept of a national road across the United States. It was the dawn of the motor age and the car makers realized that the future of their business depended on more than just regional travel. The visionaries of the Lincoln Highway saw their concept as unifying the continent, much as the transcontinental railroad had done 50 years before. The job of selling an idea, the politics of route locations, the romanticism and danger involved in striking out across no man's land to "see the country" and the techniques of keeping people motivated are all part of a well-woven story. His narrative mastery in describing what it felt like when he camped out where others had camped in the past had me feeling like I was right there with him. I love it when writing pulls me into the flow. In addition, Hokanson includes some beautiful archival photos from the University of Michigan as well as some he himself shot during research trips for the book. I wound up a little sad when I got to the last chapter because it was soon to be over. I think that's the mark of a good writer.

American children grow up learning about the first transcontinental railroad and the Pony Express, and rightly so given their role in binding the adolescent United States together. Few, however, learn about the nation's first transcontinental highway, the Lincoln, or Pacific, Highway. This was the road that launched automotive travel as adventure, in a nation that would link its lifestyle to the automobile. The irony is that while we all learn about the Pony Express and Transcontinental Railroad, neither is much more than legend to us today. But automotive travel, especially as adventure, is very much part of the American way of life. Yet few of us know much about the highway that made early 20th century Americans see the adventure in motor vehicle travel. This book, with its outstanding collection of historical and contemporary photos and well-researched and readable text, recounts the great, though forgotten, place the Lincoln Highway had in America at the time. From Times Square to Lincoln Park in San Francisco, the Lincoln Highway carried the most adventuresome motorists across some of the most settled, and most wild, landscapes in the country. In places, like central Utah's Great Basin, it wasn't much more than a two-track trail. Even today, one can drive a long, remote and spectacular unpaved segment of it across Utah, the same route followed by the Pony Express and Overland Stage. When I drove the route, which includes the ruins of Pony Express and stagecoach stations, this book helped me relive one of the most exciting and memorable, yet least remembered, chapters in American motoring history. No, I didn't write it. I just loved it. If you're a fool for driving and for personally reliving Western history, this is the guide to take you there

Long before Route 66, there was the Lincoln Highway -- a transcontinental road connecting Times Square to San Francisco, marked and promoted by private interests.

The Lincoln Highway and its brethren (the Dixie Highway, Victory Highway, National Old Trails Road, and dozens more) were replaced by the U.S. Route system almost 75 years ago, but many stretches of the old Lincoln are still part of major auto routes. The most scenic and historic stretches include US 30 through Pennsylvania and western Nebraska and US 50 across central Nevada (the "Loneliest Road").

Drake Hokanson brings the Lincoln Highway era back to life with a combination of modern observations, quotes from pioneer motorists, and well-chosen illustrations. Anyone who's ever driven, or thought about driving, Route 66 should look also at the Lincoln: it's longer, more historic, more scenic, and less tied to the world of the Interstates. Drake Hokanson's book is the perfect introduction to the world of the Lincoln Highway.

The outstanding aspect of this book is that it gives a detailed history of the conception, implementation, and fight to save the Lincoln Highway. Upon completion, one has a thorough knowledge of the people and politics of the highway. But there is more. It gives a summary of the different sections of the Lincoln as it exists in the late 1980s. While not a complete travel guide, it makes for an excellent companion for anyone thinking of retracing the old highway. After reading this book, I wanted to resign my job and drive this road. The author has taken no short cuts here.

What many of us know about Lincoln's assasination is probably limited to the following: he was killed by John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theater while attending a play. This book enlarges that knowledge from the point of view of Judge Advocate Joseph Holt, who made it his personal mission to bring anyone involved in the assasination to justice. In addition, Holt's goal was also to bring the highest leaders of the Confederacy to justice, including former Confederate President Jefferson Davis. Professor Leonard also places the events following assasination, especially the trial of the first eight, and subsequent attempts to bring others to justice, in the context of Reconstruction and the division among the victorius Union about how to effect it, particularly whether to do so punitively or with mercy. The reader has a clear sense of all the forces at play and how they interacted and influenced events in such a way to impact US political and racial developments for a long time to come.

The personal stories are gripping, not only of Holt but especially that of Mary Surrat, one of the eight co-conspirators tried and one of the four who was executed by hanging. The details of the story leave one wondering whether Mary Surrat was ultimately guilty or not, and to Leonard's credit, she presents only the historical evidence, without attempting to sway the reader one way or another.

If you want to learn more about this pivotal event in American history, this is a good book with which to start.

This book definitely adds new information to the usual renditions of the Lincoln assassination, by focusing on the conspirators' trial and especially Joseph Holt's role in that event. The book is well researched, objective, and good at placing events within the context of the 19th-century mindset and values that prevailed in the wake of Lincoln's death.

The shock and deep mourning our nation went into in April 1865 is something we have never really gotten over. The first presidential assassination, that of Abraham Lincoln, has prompted countless books ever since, and endless questions of what our nation would have been like had he lived. It might be thought that all the details have been covered, but Elizabeth D. Leonard, a professor of history at Colby College, has found a flawed hero who supervised the hunt and prosecution of the conspirators that killed Lincoln; his story is told in her book _Lincoln's Avengers: Justice, Revenge, and Reunion after the Civil War_ (Norton). Of course the plotters' dirty work is covered here, and their prosecution and sentencing; it may be familiar, but it is told with vivid detail. What is different in Leonard's book is that she shows how the political and national mood after the Civil War changed the outcome of those proceedings, which in turn had effects on Reconstruction itself.

Leonard tells this story by examining the life and work of Judge Advocate General Joseph Holt, a former slaveholder who during the civil war was in charge of thousands of military commissions to prosecute both soldiers and civilians. The day after Lincoln's assassination, Holt took charge of the detection of the conspirators and their prosecution. It was only a matter of months before the military commission tried the conspirators, found all of them guilty, hanged four (including Mary Surratt, the first woman executed by the federal government) and imprisoned the others. Many histories of these events end there, but Holt thought he was just getting started. He had concluded that the assassination plot was instigated by Confederate leaders, including Jefferson Davis, and he was eager to pursue military commissions against them as well. However, his support from President Johnson waned. Setting up conflicts that would eventually get him impeached, Johnson pardoned thousands of Confederate leaders, and having declared the war officially over, removed any possibility that military commissions could continue. He transferred Davis from military to civilian custody in Virginia, where he was released on bail. The Supreme Court, in the famous _Ex Parte Milligan_ decision, overturned the military commission's conviction of civilian Confederate sympathizers. Davis would never be brought before Holt's military commission.

There was the possibility that Davis might be tried in a civilian court, but Holt never got the hard evidence that would have been needed for a conviction. Holt was led to bad judgements such as reliance on dubious, venal witnesses. After a couple of years, Davis was completely free. In 1867, Holt had a chance for a conviction (in civilian court) of Mary Surratt's son who had been captured overseas, but the divided jury, reflecting the divisions of the nation, did not convict. Holt's further vengeance would never come, but his efforts, as written about by Leonard in this well-researched volume, will be satisfying reading for anyone interested in the Civil War and the troubling era of Reconstruction thereafter.

Elizabeth D. Leonard's Lincoln's Avengers is a different sort of Lincoln murder book. It does have all the usual suspects and covers all of their details adequately, particulary the issues surrounding Mary Surratt. The book's strength, however, is to look at the events through the eyes of Judge Advocate General Joseph Holt as a way to see the tragedy not so much as the last gasp of the Civil War but as the first shot in the battle over Reconstruction. If nothing else, and there is much else, it gives the reader a chance to clearly glimpse a lesser known figure of history in Holt. The most riveting sections of the book involve his determinatin to avenge the murder, as well as all the other injustices he saw from the civil war, as Andrew Johnson devises an entirely different plan for the South. A powerful and important addition to books on the this fascinating period of time.

I have read a number of books on the Civil War in Washington...Fine as those books are, they do not accomplish two things that are splendid contributions of your book on the weekend home that the Lincolns made of their cottage at the Soldiers' Home.

First, we often forget the huge personal burden that the war place on Lincoln and his belief, strong in the summer of 1864, that he would be defeated in the next election and that the gains in the war would slip back into Southern control. We can see in your book how his days and nights in the cottage helped Lincoln to hold on to and expand what he had until victory in the 1864 election was assured.

The other is the loving relationship of the President with his wife, Mary Lincoln. We often hear of her oddities and running up of debts. What we do not hear of, and what admirably is stressed in your book, is what you describe as "the mutual affection and mutual dependence" that always linked them despite their great differences in character. Respect for Mary Lincoln, and her contributions to the greatness of Abraham Lincoln, is something we could use more of in writing American history.

I will not go on expect to say that I think I have already indicated the greatness of your book, and my hope that librarians and readers everywhere will have an opportunity to benefit from its revelations and the new light it brings on the life of one of our very greatest Presidents.

The author has done a wonderful job showing what a real human being that Lincoln was. A friend of mine borrowed my book and liked it so well that
she went out and immediately bought 5 more to give as Christmas presents. It is just the right size for a gift book and so well written anyone will be proud to own it. I have also bought 6 more copies to give all my family for Christmas. Everyone should read it, everyone will enjoy it. written by Malcolm Kelly, a Kentuckian proud or both Mr and Mrs Lincoln who were born in this state.

I especially enjoyed the fresh approach to Lincoln and to his wife Mary Todd, who comes across in this new book as an elegant, urbane, and gracious `Republican Queen.' The account of the Lincolns' marriage and their home life at the White House and the Soldiers' Home, from observers such as the Union Army soldiers who guarded him for three years, is fascinating. The book is based on extensive research and is enriched by fresh anecdotes about Lincoln, by Whitman's and abolitionist Longfellow's poetry, and letters and memoirs of the diverse personalities with whom Lincoln interacted, particularly his generals and cabinet members.

It must be difficult-given the plethora of books on Lincoln-to shed new light on an old subject. However, Elizabeth Brownstein does. Through careful and thorough research, Ms. Brownstein addresses issues hitherto unexplored. Lincoln's summer home...provides a suitable setting to describe Lincoln's activities outside the White House. One learns, for instance, that the first draft of the Emancipation Proclamation was completed here. One also learns that, far from being a retreat from the hustle and bustle of Pennsylvania Avenue, the home facilitated Lincoln's open-mindedness about receiving virtual strangers at virtually any hour of the day or night and resulted in serious sleep deprivation.

However, it was in the other topics addressed in the book that Lincoln's character is at its most illuminating. His fascination with weaponry, his patience in his dealings with his wife, and his ability to establish collegial relationship with people of vastly differing temperaments are all thoughtfully explored...The characters highlighted are dispassionately analyzed in such a way as to enable the reader to be part of the scene at all times. For instance, Lincoln's wife, so often pilloried...is given a fair hearing and is properly depicted as a courageous soul confronted by agonizing choices and exaggerated expectations of the First Lady's performance as a suitable consort of the most admired President in American History...Mrs. Brownstein provides a valuable service for readers interested in the less dramatic, but no less insightful, clues about Lincoln the President, confronted, as he was, by the unprecedented challenges associated with his era.

This book provides new information about Lincoln and his family, which is highly unusual for someone as researched as Lincoln. Based on letters and recollections of the people who saw him there, this book gives a picture of Lincoln in robe and slippers away from the chaos of the war time White House. A definate addition to what is known about Lincoln.

This is a well written book and very timely as action is being taken to renovate the Lincoln Cottage. I reside on the grounds of the Soldiers' Home where the cottage is located and know the value of the cottage in our history. The facility is now known as the Armed Forces Retirement Home-Washington. The cottage has always been known as the Anderson Cottage.

This book was a wonderful find. I read it in two days on a business trip and found the writing style enjoyable, the research accurate and detailed while not at all overbearing, and the information very interesting. There are still very little details of the Lincoln's day to day activities at the Soldier's Home. None of the Lincoln's kept diaries and official documentation of purchases, visitors, and happenings were very casual compared to the entourage and details which follow a modern day president on vacation. But the author uncovered letters and diaries of the soldiers and visitors who were around the Lincoln's at this time and from these sources has discovered a wealth of information. The book parallels each of the decisive war time decisions made by Lincoln, and shows how his daily commute to the Soldiers Home from the White House and back, and the relaxing time spent with his family during summer nights and weekends, helped to shape some of his actions and achievements.

I recommend this book to anyone who wants to know more about Lincoln the person, with an interest in his politics and Civil War presidency. This book is a wonderful addition to the new writings on the Sixteenth President.

In each of the years he served as President of the United
States (minus the 11 southern states which seceded launching the Civil War!) President Abraham Lincoln, his wife Mary and family would journey to the Soldiers Retirement Home about 4 miles from the White House. Son Robert would visit on his trips home from Harvard. Youngest Lincoln son Tad enjoyed the Soldiers' Home where he had a menagerie of pets; got to know the guard troops from Pennsylvania, New York and Ohio stationed there. Wife Mary was often vacationing in New England or shopping in New York.
In this atmosphere Lincoln enjoyed the camaraderie of soldiers; received visitors and enjoyed the company of Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton living in a nearby cottage.
It was in this location that the President agonized over his decision to issue the Emancipation Proclamation; decided to fire
George B. McClellan and help plan the 1864 presidential campaign.
Every day Lincoln would ride a horse to the White House surrounded by mounted cavalryman. His wife Mary fell from her carriage in July, 1863 while traveling to the home. She was seriously injured .
Pinsker tells us of plots against Lincoln's life. He may have even been fired upon by an unknown assassin according to a soldier who reported this incident in his postwar memoirs.
Matthew Pinsker has written an outstanding book adding to our knowledge of the heretofore little known Lincoln residence at the Soldiers Home. The Home is now a National Landmark and is being renovated and opened for the public. One can imagine how awed poet Walt Whitman was as he saw Lincoln on his daily ride from the White House to the Soldiers Home.
Pinsker draws on a vast array of first person accounts, letters,memoirs and can be complimented on adding to our knowledge of the Lincoln presidency.
The book is well illustated with maps and is an outstanding addition to anyone interested in the Civil War and the Lincoln presidency. Well recommended!

This is a great historical resource. I found it to be a great source for insight into the man and the beliefs of Abraham Lincoln. I highly recommend this book.

I have started reading & relaying information to reinactments I have on tape. Really accurate so far. Worth the buy.

The series of debates in Illinois between Stephen Douglas and Abraham Lincoln during the 1858 campaign for the U.S. Senate are one of those legendary political encounters of which everyone has heard but few have gone back and actually read. However, since Lincoln never kept any of his papers prior to winning the Presidency, we do not have autograph copies of his Cooper Union or House Divided speeches, let alone his handwritten notes of the great debates. The claim made by Harold Holzer for his edition is that this is the first complete, unexpurgated text of the debates to be published. Holzer notes that what we have relied upon previously for debate transcripts were copies taken down by stenographers for intensely partisan newspapers. Holzer's hypothesis is that the editors and transcribers for these newspapers would improve the remarks by their own candidates while leaving those of his opponent alone. Supporting his idea are the unedited texts of the debate he uncovered. Of course, Holzer provides his own useful additions to the texts of the seven debates in the form of extensive notes (often covering the audience reactions as detailed by various papers). As a two-time winner of the Lincoln/Barondess Award of the Lincoln Round Table and the first Award of Achievement given by the Abraham Lincoln Association for his hundreds of articles and books on Lincoln, Holzer is certainly in a position to make such judgments.

You should be warned that reading these debates will both exhilarate and depress you. These debates lasted three hours and forced the candidates to develop comprehensive proposals and to respond in detail to the attacks of their opponent. The thought of Bore or Gush trying to talk from notes for even fifteen minutes is enough to make you laugh, cry or bang you head against the wall. Reading the Lincoln-Douglas debates, in this or any other edition, will certainly give you more of a feel for the issue of Slavery circa 1858 than you will ever get from a history book from which you may get a few choice quotes (what the back cover would call "volleys"). For those of us who want access to primary documents, who read court decisions rather than let talking heads on the tube tell us what they think things might possibly mean, books like this are a great joy. For those who admire Lincoln, the right man in the right place at the right time at the worst moment in our country's history, the Lincoln in these debates who is speaking extemporaneously from notes rather than reading from a carefully crafted and fine tuned text is arguably the closest we get to the real man.

The Lincoln-Douglas Debates have justly been celebrated in American history as one of the milestones in Abraham Lincoln's rise to the presidency. However, Lincoln's own well-meaning assembling of the received text of these debates used only transcripts from papers friendly to either candidate--transcripts which, Harold Holzer argues, were smoothed over and revised by reporters eager to make "their" candidate look good. Holzer insists that we must go to the transcripts of Lincoln's speeches by the pro-Douglas paper, and vice-versa, to get a true sense of what was said off the cuff by the debaters. His edition portrays vividly not only the high-sounding rhetoric of Douglas and the noble ideals of Lincoln, but also the hesitations and mis-speakings of both men. In this way, the reader gets a better sense of what it was like to be in the crowd listening as history was being made

It's wonderful to see this back in print again. The LITTLE TIM books are all wonderful stories to read aloud, and Edward Ardizzone's loose and casual-seeming line and watercolor paintings are prefect. Don't miss this treasure!!!! Share it with a child.

This is a picture book in the classic tradition. It is for older "little ones", probably five to eight years. Tim has wonderful adventures and learns a lot from the captain, who is an admirable hero.

As a kid this was the book I wanted to read again and again !

This is one of the best children's books I've read in a long time! My son and I were spellbound by the adventures of Tim, who wants to be a sailor. Both words and pictures create such a nautical feeling, you can almost smell the sea air as you read! Very exciting story, too! I think every little boy will want to go to sea after reading Little Tim and the Brave Sea Captain!

An absolutely captivating story. I knew the basics before but the detail by James Swanson and the wonderful performance by Richard Thomas made the story come alive. I have listened to many books on CD but this is the first one I have written a review on because it deserves it. Anyone interested in American History should listen to this book.

Hard to believe that a story so well known to every American school child can be so riveting. Historically entertaining and educationally engaging this CD is a must listen.

From the opening minute until the closing segment of this audio book is one that will keep your interest. The author writes a story that makes you feel like he was really there observing the entire adventure. Richard Thomas who is the narrator adds great depth to the story by his wonderful reading voice. In addition, this story is a great way to learn a little history of the Civil War time period while enjoying the audio book.

You'll learn many fascinating facts about the conspiracy to assassinate Lincoln (and others) in this fast-paced, well written book. From Dr. Mudd's actual involvement with Booth, to the escape route, to Secretary of War Stanton's actions after the death of Lincoln.

A must for non-fiction readers.

I'm very happy with this book. It is a comprehensive review of dyeing methods and of dye formulas.

This book provides valuable information for anyone wanting to dye wool. While it is geared toward rug hooking, the dyeing information is valuable for any craft. To use the book you only need to buy five different colors of dye.

Maryanne Lincoln's Comprehensive Dying Guide is a must have book for the beginner or expert--It teaches the beginner how to dye and encourages the expert to experiment with the dyes.

It also shows how to get all the colors of wool you would ever need using just 4 dyes.

Anyone involved in rug hooking or wool work will find learning to dye wool is the next logical step to producing unique results - and one of the most essential parts of making finished products outstanding. Colorist Maryanne Lincoln has written articles on dyeing for over 10 years: her lesson formulas appeared bi-monthly for over 10 years in Rug Hooking magazine, and are gathered here in a reference explaining each step. Any involved in wool dyeing should consider the Comprehensive Dyeing Guide to be an essential reference which is packed with color images and coverage of a wide variety of methods.

Natalia Lincoln is a new and exciting voice in dark fantasy/sf. I read this book straight through. I went through a "vampire stage" several years ago reading all the stuff by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro and Anne Rice until I burned out. This rekindled my appreciation of the genre - it grabbed me with its new twists and excellent writing. The characters are compelling and tortured, the plot advances at breakneck speed and the ending delivers. I read and write historical fiction and Lincoln did her homework in the Medieval sections. The historical and modern detail is vivid and accurate, making the brooding castles of Eastern Europe and the gritty streets of modern New York characters in their own right. Highly recommend this book.

Remember when the words "East Village" used to strike terror in your average suburban American? Conversely, the semi-apocalyptic landscape of Alphabet City, Tompkins Square Park and CBGBs was a magnet for fringe artists, punk rockers, goths and other members of 1980s and early 90s counter-culture; it's precisely this twilight world of music, art and the forbidden and esoteric where Natalia Lincoln's tale of vampires, fate, and redemption unfolds.

Lincoln's characters are all living on some sort of edge -- marginal, overlooked figures by the standards of mainstream society. When prophecy, music, magic and bloodlust catalyse a reaction between these very different New York City misfits (Miercurea, a centuries-old vampire and ruthless killer -- Mari, a sensitive and passionate student of classical music and history -- and Slain, a teenage goth beginning to explore the Manhattan deathrock underworld as he comes of age) we're taken on an unforgettable ride through the New York of the 80s and 90s and further to medieval Eastern Europe and beyond.

"Vampire books" are often plagued by overly-pretentious purple prose which reads more like bad romance pulp than historical fantasy, but there's none of that here. Lincoln's language is immediate, forceful, and visceral -- like sex that's just rough enough to be exciting, while passionate and sincere enough to keep you coming back for more.

From the first line I was hooked. I'm a pretty fast reader....when the book is good. I actually had finished the first four Harry Potter books in relatively 4-5 days. Well, I tore through this one. Lincoln has a way of writing that makes you see the scene she's painting, not the words on the page. Her language and plot devices are best compared to a decadent gourmet meal with many layers. Each stands fine on its own, but when all the flavors are combined together, it's an explosion of ecstasy for the senses. I savored each "bite" and upon finishing, found myself wanting more.

One of the most interesting elements of this book is the span of time it covers. It starts in modern day New York City and moves back and forth between there and Medieval Hungary. For a lot of us, I do believe this is getting the best of both worlds! The two storylines inevitably gravitate towards one another, the tension mounting as the hidden connections come revealed.

Of course, there are your typical elements that make a great dark fantasy: swords, vampires, epic battles against rivaling kingdoms....but Lincoln throws in a dash of dark Faerie Tale that could have been dug out of a Brother's Grimm volume.

I greatly enjoyed this novel and have read it twice already. It comes highly recommended by me.

I loved this book! Finally a different kind of vampire story where the victim is empowered. Surprises wait here. And suspense. There's more to the victim in the book. The descriptions and writing fills the senses. Great ride.