Lincoln Books

At school my whole class read this book for read aloud! It was a very good book. Frida was very good at art. She had five sisters but it seamed like they didn't pay attention to her! She was always lonely and she was bored.But atleast she had Imaginary friends to comfort her. One day she got in a horrible bus accident! Read this book to find out how Frida turned out after her pain. Reccomended for people who may want to learn how to turn pain into beauty.

I own the Spanish version of this book, and I love it. So do all my students - I teach Preschool Spanish (ages 3-6). My 5 year old daughter is an artist and she loves the vivid colors and imaginative characters that follow Frida through her life. The children I teach do not know Spanish, but they are able to look at the pictures and understand the story. They regularly request this book and enjoy looking for the 'spooky' characters.

My son and daughter could really relate to another person's life thanks to this well-written and cleverly illustrated book. Frida was, as they are now, someone who wasn't always able to have her mother's attention. She lived out fantasies in her mind, just as they do. She used her imagination even when she was unable to move her body, just like they do before they fall asleep at night. Frida's quotidian and extraordinary experiences spring to life thanks to the inventive illustrations and sympathetic writing.

More than once, creating art saved Frida Kahlo's life. Even though she had five sisters, she was almost always lonely and sad. When she was infected with polio and she was very sick, even her imaginary friends couldn't cheer her up, but painting and drawing rescued her. Most of her life, she was in heart-breaking pain after being in a horrible bus accident. Read this book to find out how art saved her once more. Recommended for people who want to learn how Frida Kahlo turned terrible pain into beautiful masterpieces.

My mom read me this book and I saw that art is important and special, it can save you and allow you to express your imagination even when times are tough

One reason I am a life-long Civil War buff is because of the pleasant memories I have as a teenager reading several of Mr. Catton's books. Just recently I bought some used ones at a flea market and have decided to read them again. This book is the first one I have reread.

Rereading this book reminded me why Catton is one of the best writers on comprehensive or themed Civil War histories. He was not known for many titles on individual battles but instead focused on particular themes (US Grant taking command of the Army of the Potomac in 1864, a comprehensive history of the Army of the Potomac, etc.).

Mr. Lincoln's Army covers the time from Bull Run to the Battle of Antietam, mainly from the Union perspective. Yes, the folks who like a histories on the Confederacy may like not the perspective, but the book is fair in evaluating the leaders of the Army of the Potomac. The book also has Catton's unique writing style - excellent descriptions of troop movements, battles, and personalities.

The only reason I did not give the book 5 stars was not the content or style of the text but the maps. The maps were few and were of okay quality. To be fair, the book was written in the 1950s, so one should not expect the quality of maps one sees in newer titles.

Complaint aside, read the book and enjoy what is in my humble opinion one of the best histories of the Army of the Potomac.

Recommended.

Around the time of the Civil War's Centennial celebration, Bruce Catton dominated Civil War writing in this country. His books still speak to the reader in a literary style that brings the feeling of the war and its participants very much alive.

"Mr. Lincoln's Army" is the first of his three-part trilogy on the Army of the Potomac. Catton traces the tragic evolution of this army -- always a superb fighting force in the ranks -- from a misused and abused weapon to the anvil that finally broke the rebellion.

In this book, Catton focuses on one of America's few men of Destiny -- at least until he had the opportunity to confront destiny in the face -- General George B. McClellan. McClellan picked up the pieces of the Army of the Potomac twice. First, after its inauspicious start at the First Battle of Bull Run and again after the army's route following the second tussle with the Confederacy near that same small battlefield.

McClellan was good at everything in which a general had to excel except fighting. An outstanding organizer and moral builder, "Little Mac" trained the army to a professional level and instilled in it an esprit de corps that helped sustain it through disappointment and disaster.

The one thing McClellan could not do, as Catton illustrates through his focus on the Peninsula Campaign and the Battle of Antietam, was use this superbly honed weapon decisively in battle. Always thinking he was outnumbered when in fact he held the advantage in forces, and lacking the inner confidence to take even good battle risks, he wasted multiple opportunities to end the war (or at least the existence of the Army of Northern Virginia) and save years of conflict and hundreds of thousands of lives. McClellan ends up as the ultimate in tragic figures, outwardly seeming so perfect for the job and bearing the loftiest of expectations as a savior, but inwardly cowed by fears and suspicions that he wasn't up to it.

This book is a wonderful and evocative portrait of the spirit of the Army of the Potomac in the McClellan era. Catton's great strength is the use of anecdotes to draw the big picture and sniff out "what was in the air" at different points in time. Thus his books are not exhaustive campaign and battle portraits and are short on troop movements and deployments of particular units. He seeks to demonstrate what was actually happening when all the personalities and actors of a moment are factored together. It is a big picture look at his subject buttressed by observations, iconic stories and the unusual that allows the reader to understand the feeling that surrounded events.

Thus, Catton focuses mightily on the relationship between McClellan and Lincoln's administration, his relationship and the performance of senior officers and in deciphering the motives, mindsets and chess game that seemed to envelope significant figures in the Army of the Potomac to a much greater degree than any other Union or Confederate army engaged in the conflict.

As all of Catton's writings on the Civil War are, this one is a classic.

This is the second of Bruce Catton's "army of the Potomac" books that I have read. I have the whole series but let them sit on my shelf for years until I discovered Catton's genius for communicating history while reading "Glory Road". Some historical books are written by persons adept at research but short on writing skills. Others are adept at writing but short on research skills. A good book is when you find someone good at both. Catton EXCELS at both. His ability to show us the Civil War through the eyes of the participants is quite impressive. It's even more impressive when realizing that he takes us across a lot of ground in a mere 339 pages yet never lets us feel that we missed anything nor that we were bogged down in anything. He gives us his philosophy yet seems to try and give us enough leeway to decide for ourselves on a number of issues such as the merits of McClellan as commanding general.

"Mr. Lincoln's Army" covers the war from post First Bull Run with emphasis on the Penninsula Campaign and Antietam. Along the way we get a lot of insight into the politics that had many a politican exasperated with McClellan while the majority of soldiers worshipped him. As we explore the book, we frequently come across many a sideline subject. For example, he covers in this vollume the food that the common soldier had to eat. It was surprizing how thorough he covered the subject in far fewer pages that I encountered in other books.

I've read plenty of fiction that wasn't written as well as Catton writes. Given the fascinating subject matter, this book was a pleasure to read. I can't wait to read "A Stillness at Appomattox".

When it comes to writing, Catton's style is nearly impeccable. When reading Catton's book, you get the feeling that this is a great writer writing about the Civil War, not a great Civil War historian who is writing.

Catton paints with broad strokes regarding the campaigns of the Army of the Potomoc up to November 1862. People who are interested in the Civil War will definitely want to read more detailed histories of the individual campaigns, but for those who have already done so, reading Catton is great because he ties them all together and really gets into the psyche of the soldiers and the army as a whole.

Much of the book focuses of course on McClellan, who is persona non grata in most histories being written these days. But Catton is able to evoke some sympathy for McClellan's odd position in the power struggle between the military commanders and the Administration's politics, let alone the power struggle within the Administration itself.

All in all, this is a great book for people who have read about the Civil War in depth and are looking for enjoyable reading.

What a wonderful book. I was so lucky to be able to pick up a great condition trilogy of the AOP (Mr. Lincoln's Army, Glory Road, and Stillness at Appomatox).

Catton's style is so amazing. You get the broad strokes of tactical movement, political wranglings, down in the ditch tales, camp life, and of course the human equation.

Excellent. Excellent. Excellent.

I must say, I'm glad I had a little working knowledge of the ACW before reading. He does have a tendency to just start up. For instance, Lincoln's Army starts in the middle of 2nd Manassas, then kind of works back into a flash back and fills in some of the bios. This may be a little confusing for an un-informed reader. You may want to read a very general, one volume sort of history before moving on to Catton.

The good thing though is the book is suitable for a beginner and yet I think the more you know about the ACW, the more you will enjoy it. There are so many great little stories about politicians, soldiers, officers, etc.

Highly recommended.

This book is fantastic. Not only is the story itself great, but it is also great for bringing up a multitude of topics for discussion with your child; bullying, prejudice, intolerance, low self esteem, fairness, etc...

My children both loved this book. While the book carries a message, it is not dry or hard to read. On the contrary, the book flows beautifully and whether or not you choose to make the book a discussion piece, it is well worth reading just for the wonderful book that it is.

This book is about a bad kid and he is a bulie and a teacher whow show's him
to be a good person. This book is realy amosama it will keep you thinking
all day will that really hapen to me or someone ellsa.

Ms. Spinger's Fourth Grade Class

Mr. Lincoln is a nice and playful principal. There is a bully in the school who doesn't like the principal, children and teachers. Eugene is the bully; he likes birds. If you read this book, you won't end up like Eugene. Mr. Lincoln was helpful to Eugene by helping him be nice to other people.

Mr. Lincoln was the greatest principle ever. He dressed cool and he acted cool. He would do all sorts of things with his students. He seemed to really light up his school. Well not so much to mean gene. Gene is mean and he is not afraid to show it. He doesn't like people that are different from him. He picks on them and even calls them mean names. All the teachers felt as if they have had enough of old gene. Well Mr Lincoln thinks different of this kid. He brings him under his wing and soon Gene is a normal nice kid again. He introduces him to the atruim that needed new birds in it and it opens up a new world for Gene. He just needed to be shown that all people are different but we all share many things also.
WOW!! I have never read a book like this. Race was a big issue to this kid Gene. He went home and his father would tell him mean things about other races and he would come back to school and say them out loud to all his fellow classmates. I was so amazed at the way Mr. Lincoln handeled this situation. He slowly turned Gene onto other things that he liked and got away from the race issue. Gene was not a bad kid he just was copying what his parent told him. All kids do this everyday. I was so shocked to read this book. I have never read a book like this in elementary school. I feel left out in a way. Like my teachers tried to shield me from the bad books and give me only the good ones. I really liked this book a lot. It was GREAT!! It told the truth, made the characters come to life and had it's own twist. This book had great qualities that make up a GREAT book. There are many ways that you could use this book. If you wanted to talk about discrimination you could use this book. You could bring up many topics on discrimination with this book. If you wanted to talk about differences you could use this book also.You could have your whole class draw or paint somebody of a different race that they really admire. You could have you students come up with all the mean words that they have heard from other people and put them on a big piece of paper in front of the room. Then you could tell them that these words will no longer be used in my classroom or by any of my students. This book had it all lessons, great pictures, and a great read. Mrs. Polacco just like Eleanora Tate, and Christopher Paul Curtis, and Mildred Taylor all write books about change and people's differences. This book was great and it will help all students to see race and people in a new light.

My teacher read this book to us in class. It was the usual case of a white person disrespecting people of color and the people of color being peaceful and understanding. I'm so sick of reading books about how mean white people still can receive love and understanding. Why aren't white people nice to blacks if they're mean. It's just one more book telling people of color to continue to let whites walk all over them.

This book is a great example of rational thinking. The way Paley states his argument is flawless, and he uses all the resources available by his time. His arguments, of course, are no longer useful to creationists, this book was written way before Darwin and Wallace structure their theory, but at his time this was a must read. Even Darwin and Wallace read the book lots of years later, when they were students, and this book imprint (at least as I'm concern) a great prejudice Darwin had to surpass to establish his theory. It is so well written, and, again, so well founded, that dismiss it was quite a task. Recently Dawkins wrote a book "The blind Watchmaker" that was inspired by Paley's "Natural Theology", and solidly refutes his arguments (irrefutable in Paley's time, since no scientific evidence or theory had been powerfully establish as to do so). This is a classic book, it is incredibly interesting from a lot of different perspectives, I highly recommend it.

This book is a great example of rational thinking. The way Paley states his argument is flawless, and he uses all the resources available by his time. His arguments, of course, are no longer useful to creationists, this book was written way before Darwin and Wallace structure their theory, but at his time this was a must read. Even Darwin and Wallace read the book lots of years later, when they were students, and this book imprint (at least as I'm concern) a great prejudice Darwin had to surpass to establish his theory. It is so well written, and, again, so well founded, that dismiss it was quite a task. Recently Dawkins wrote a book "The blind Watchmaker" that was inspired by Paley's "Natural Theology", and solidly refutes his arguments (irrefutable in Paley's time, since no scientific evidence or theory had been powerfully establish as to do so). This is a classic book, it is incredibly interesting from a lot of different perspectives, I highly recommend it.

This book is a great example of rational thinking. The way Paley states his argument is flawless, and he uses all the resources available by his time. His arguments, of course, are no longer useful to creationists, this book was written way before Darwin and Wallace structure their theory, but at his time this was a must read. Even Darwin and Wallace read the book lots of years later, when they were students, and this book imprint (at least as I'm concern) a great prejudice Darwin had to surpass to establish his theory. It is so well written, and, again, so well founded, that dismiss it was quite a task. Recently Dawkins wrote a book "The blind Watchmaker" that was inspired by Paley's "Natural Theology", and solidly refutes his arguments (irrefutable in Paley's time, since no scientific evidence or theory had been powerfully establish as to do so). This is a classic book, it is incredibly interesting from a lot of different perspectives, I highly recommend it.

This book is a great example of rational thinking. The way Paley states his argument is flawless, and he uses all the resources available by his time. His arguments, of course, are no longer useful to creationists, this book was written way before Darwin and Wallace structure their theory, but at his time this was a must read. Even Darwin and Wallace read the book lots of years later, when they were students, and this book imprint (at least as I'm concern) a great prejudice Darwin had to surpass to establish his theory. It is so well written, and, again, so well founded, that dismiss it was quite a task. Recently Dawkins wrote a book "The blind Watchmaker" that was inspired by Paley's "Natural Theology", and solidly refutes his arguments (irrefutable in Paley's time, since no scientific evidence or theory had been powerfully establish as to do so). This is a classic book, it is incredibly interesting from a lot of different perspectives, I highly recommend it.

William Paley's "Natural Theology" was written over two hundred years ago. But it is by no means an historical curiosity, for two reasons. The first is that no author, before or since, ever presented the Argument from Design in a fuller, clearer, or more persuasive form. The prose is elegant, the examples and arguments well crafted, the conclusions precisely stated, and all without either the pious condescension or angry threats typical of much religious apologetics. Paley engages the reader with his sympathetic tone, startling analogies, and shining sincerity. The second reason is that this is one of the most influential books ever written. Every subsequent writer on the Theory of Evolution, from Charles Darwin to Richard Dawkins, stands consciously in the shadow of this masterpiece. Read it yourselves, and find out why.

Stephen Mitchell's translation is a great intro to the Tao. Simple, a little convoluted at times and yet somehow straight to the point. I bought this illustrated hardcopy as a gift and keep a text version as my guide.

I have come to have a fondness and deep appreciation for Mitchell's work and choices of subjects. I bought this translation because of high praise for it hidden in one of Jim Harrison's poems. This version is, perhaps, the most readable of all I have encountered. Many people find it inspiring and that must be why it is such an acclaimed translation. Having dealt with a dozen or so translations and the texts behind them, I do note that Mitchell takes some liberties. His is a very idiomatic translation, which often reads better than word-for-word literalness, the latter often proving too wooden to be enjoyable or clear. And Mitchell might even omit a few phrases or add one here or there. But the spirit is all Lao Tzu. Also, the volume is full of the most exquisite ancient Chinese illustrations, making it the most beautiful of any of my Tao Te Chings.

In this version, Peg Streep edits James Legge's 19th century translation. The editing is a major bonus, as it adds something
to the overall flow of the work. Here is an example of the poetry of the words: "Abstinence from speech marks him who obeys the spontaneity of his nature." Whereas countless other translations are well worth the read, the text in this edition offers something every bit as beautiful as the artwork that accompanies it.

If every philosophy or religion had a book like this, it would be much easier to appreciate and perhaps even enjoy the diversity of belief among humankind. Mitchell captures the simplicity and straightforwardness of the text, and what we get is a incredibly beautiful book of verse. Some scriptures and cornerstone philosophy texts try to argue their way into your head; the Tao, especially as translated by Mitchell and coupled with stunning artwork, effortlessly works to seduce its way into the core of your being.

When you put the book down, you may disagree with many components of the Tao's underlying philosphy. But during the short time you live between the book's covers, it is a joy to enter the rhythmic flow of the Tao and put skepticism on hold.

Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching (The Book of the Way) has long been referenced by those who seek to understand the Eastern philosophy of the harmony of the universe. In simple, eloquent verse this collection of poems (though there are those who would object to the 'poem' label) the secrets to shedding the self with its attendant judgment, desire, and critique provide the guide for finding oneness with the cosmos.

Steven Mitchell is the translator of these ancient texts and his sensitivity to the poetic flow of the concepts and instructions enhance this version of the TAO TE CHING. And as if that weren't sufficient reason to make this your access to these ageless meditations, this book is an 'illustrated version', tastefully combined with old Chinese drawings and paintings that allow the eye to roam while digesting the moments of beauty of the words.

This book becomes a constant companion for those who look to make sense of the world and its chaos. If ever there were the perfect gift for the friends in your life, this elegant little book is surely one of the best. Grady Harp, March 05.

My 6 year has a ton of books and takes out a ton of books out of the libary. As a result, his bar is pretty high for books that wow him. After I bought this book, he asked me to read it to him every day for 2 weeks and it's still a favorite!

Big and small are fascinating themes for him and this book has an innovative approach to this concept.

Additionally, the actual size challenge is fabulous. Kids are fascinating by giant squids and tiny insects etc. It's wonderful to see some element of their size depicted in true size on the page. Very creative approach.

Has also inspired my son to think about biodiversity since so many \extra large or extra small outliers of species are depicted.

Great book.

My daughter loves this book and so do I!!!! I highly recommend it to anyone with kids, and you yourself wil love it!!

Holy cow, do my kids love this book. We bought it for our 3 year old son, thinking it would be too simplistic for our 5 year old, but both kids are fascinated with the pictures and love to compare their own body parts to the animals featured in the book. For example, they like to put their hands on the gorilla hand, measure their heads against the eye of the giant squid, put their toes on the elephant's toes...it's just a lot of fun to read this book to them because they get so engaged in the contents. Highly, highly recommended.

This is a wonderful book for any classroom (Pre-school to Middle School). It's a great tool to motivate students to investigate on their own and explore other animal facts. Awards this book has won: 2005 NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book; 2004 The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (BCCB) Blue Ribbon Nonfiction Award. (Many of Steve Jenkins' books have won several awards and honors.) He's on my "author watch" list.

Between the paper-cut collage, the huge pages, the factual information done in a fun way and just the overall style of the book makes this one of my favorites I've reviewed so far. Children and adults will love to measure themselves up to the 3 foot giant gippsland earthworm and find out that the giant squid's eyeball is bigger than their head. There is even an open out middle page of the world's largest frog and a crocodile that can chew your arm off in one bite. Steve Jenkins, author and illustrator, did an amazing job with this book and I believe it is enjoyable for all ages.

Harold Holzer has put forward a masterpiece into the study of the mind set of Abraham Lincoln. I am not to be regarded as a Civil War expert. I do not read everything on the happenings of the American Civil War. My understanding of these times of American History reside at the College Survey level.
I learned much of the mind set of Mr. Lincoln in his speech in New York City on February, 1860. Lincoln was truly a great politician. His speech at Cooper Union was the ultimate sitting on the fence appeasement speech. Neville Chamberlain should be ashamed! At this time in American history, this is what America wanted. Being the shrewd politician that he was he continued this process and ultimately won the Presidential election.
One thing I took from this book is that Lincoln wrote all his speeches. He was very careful in the words he crafted. As the years went by he carefully changed his position on Slavery and the meanings of a unified government. In all Lincoln got what both he and the majority of Americans wanted. That being a United States of America. Good read!! Five Stars!!!

Lincoln at Cooper Union: The Speech That Made Abraham Lincoln President (Simon & Schuster Lincoln Library) The book does a good job of documenting the impact of the speech and provides a copy of it. I consider the book to have given me thoughtful insights to Lincoln that are incidental to the speech but greatly enhance my understanding of him as a human being. It is very elegantly written. I appreciate the author's truely first rate descriptive abilities.

There are so many books written on Lincoln and many different prespectives on his life and presidency. Holzer looks at the Cooper Union Speech and shows how Lincoln, the master politician used the speech and his trip East to get the 1860 nomination. Many historians assert that the speech made Lincoln. However, Holzer shows a unique view of the trip and the speech and how Lincoln used the opportunity to campaign in the East before he was officially a candidate. Ironically, Holzer points out that Salmon Chase turned down the opportunity to speak at Cooper Union demonstrating just one more ocassion when Chase blew an opportunity to get to the White House.

While dispelling many myths about the speech and Lincoln's trip, Holzer also shows the brillance of Lincoln and the time and effort that he spent in preparation for this speech. He also shows how this speech became Lincoln's stump speech. Once nominated, Lincoln followed the tradition of the time and did not campaign but used the Cooper Union Speech as essentially his platform.

For the person just beginning their interest in Lincoln or the seasoned scholar, this book is well worth the read. To add to that it is a quick and enjoyable read.

For anyone who wants to use the founding fathers as a justification for their belief system should read this speech and this book.

Lincoln in tight, careful reasoning lays out exactly what the founding fathers believed in regard to slavery. Eloquent, exciting and challenging.

This is much needed study to the speeches of Lincoln.

Harold Holzer's book on Abraham Lincoln's speech at Cooper Union gives a clarity to the importance of that speech and how it affected Lincoln as a speaker, politican and future candidate for his Republican Party. While Lincoln was well known among the western states, he wasn't that well regarded along the northeastern seaboard. One of the most important things about the book was how the author explained how this speech gave Lincoln so much creditability among the easterners and how that speech firmly put Lincoln on the political map national wide. This helped pave the way for Lincoln's nomination when others were looking for alternative choices beside William Seward who was at that time, the leading Republican front runner.

The book proves to be quite informative. Abraham Lincoln is obviously one person you cannot judge by your first impression. The author throughly explained the mannerism of Lincoln's speech skills and the way it contrast to his physical appearances which often led to initial misgiving by the audience before they roared in their approval at the end of the speech.

Its pretty clear that Mr. Holzer have complete command of his subject matter which is reflected on the superb writing and ease of reading material that only an expert can do to any subject. The book appears to be well researched and it was about time that a book on this subject came out (I think the last book about this speech came out before Mr. Holzer was born).

I would considered this book to be a mandatory reading material for anyone interested in Abraham Lincoln and probably a good background material for anyone interested in the coming of the American Civil War.

Have not read this book yet, but I did receive it on time. Very happy about that.

I purchased this book for my daughter so she can read that anything is possible if you truly believe no matter who you are. We are now Big Grace fans !!!

I got the book as a gift for my grand daughter who likes to draw. The vivid colors and expressions on the characters faces should keep her interested for a while. The story line is an added bonus.

I liked this story because Grace can be Peter Pan if she put her mind to it. My favorite part is after the ballet. I would recommend this book to a friend because its about your imaginery. The book is amazing.

By: S.J.
Los Angeles
Age 5

This is a great story with a great message. It tells children there are no limits to what they can be. It tells children not to be deterred by sterotypes or opinions. You can be anything you set your mind to. I bought copies for both my son and my niece.

This is a wonderful book - one of my grandaughters favorites. It's a great one to read aloud.

Great Xmas book for the cat lover, and anyone who loves cat will recognize their cat and the Christmas tree.

author of "Hobo Finds A Home"

Our family sets out A Pussycat's Christmas every year when dressing the house for the holidays. Last year our copy got dropped in a bucket of water. A calamity that required immediate purchase of another copy and express shipping.
It's a charming tale. The illustration is excellent. Especially if you have a "Pussycat" look-a-like as we do this little book will become a part of your Christmas too.

As usual, Margaret Wise Brown is as tuned in to animals as she is with children. She uses a kitten's viewpoint to describe the wonders of Christmas-sights, sounds, smells, and the way cats delight at playing with everything-wrappings, ribbons, ornaments, decorations. A beautiful, descriptive story.

Ann Mortimer's illustrations are outstanding. Margaret's word's capture "cat" PURR-fectly!

I love the way Margaret writes - I have MANY of her books.

For anyone who has a cat and Christmas: "...She went POUNCING around in it... and she ATE some it..." "... she waited for something to fall, ...to crash and to break" SO Cat!

This book is great fun to read outloud with kids listening!

This is an excellent history book. Even though I was had to read the book in many sittings, I never lost the train of thought of the author.

My only criticism is that I really wanted to learn more about Peter the Great and how he built St. Petersburg. I felt the book was lacking in this very important aspect of the history of Russia

Book was very easy reading and well organized. One of the best history books I have read.

if you want to no about the early to last romanov's and russia history this book is for you.this writer leave nothing out.

W. Bruce Lincoln's history of the 300 years of Romanov rule in Russia (1613-1917) is easily his most readable account of Russian history. While Professor Lincoln's research is meticulous as ever, in this volume he has to cover far more ground than in his other more focused histories and thus he avoids some of the digressions that he normally might allow himself. The result is a superb one-volume history of the Tsars and Tsarinas who determined Russia's development from a minor principality into the largest empire on earth.

The Romanovs consists of four parts: Muscovite beginnings (1613-1689), the Rise of an Empire (1689-1796), Empire Triumphant (1796-1894) and the Last Emperor (1894-1917). The first three parts each consist of several chapters, with the first covering biographical details of the Tsars and Tsarinas in that period, followed by chapters on political and cultural changes in that period. There are only two significant problems with what is otherwise a superb presentation: a non-chronological methodology and a lack of a single supporting map of Romanov domains (there are two maps of St Petersburg's layout). In the first case, Lincoln tends to keep coming back to Tsars in subsequent chapters on culture, politics, etc which is very confusing. Indeed, he seems in a rush to plow through the biographies of the Tsars, then revisit their cultural accomplishments, then come back again and discuss their political accomplishments, and then maybe discuss a few scandals or wars. As for the lack of maps, it makes it extremely difficult for the reader to evaluate the territorial expansions of the various Romanov rulers or Russia's growth over three centuries.

Despite these two flaws, the Romanovs is a delightful read for anyone with a scholarly interest in Russian imperial history. Perhaps the three most significant rulers that Lincoln assesses are Peter the Great, Catherine the Great and Nicholas II. Most histories tend to elevate Peter to hero status, but Lincoln's evaluation is more mixed. While Peter gets great credit for pushing Russia to modernize, the costs he incurred may have been too great. In particular, Lincoln questions Peter's obsession with building his capital on totally unsuitable terrain; the fact that the Russians were able to eventually succeed in constructing Peter's dream capital often disguises the fact that the human and financial losses were exorbitantly wasteful. The reader will be left to ponder the question that if Peter had built his capital elsewhere, Russia's development might have been much less painful. As for Catherine, Lincoln prefers to minimize the scandal and corruption associated with her court and view this as the golden age of Russian cultural development. Finally, Nicholas II appears as even more of a fatalistic dolt bent on self-destruction than he did in Lincoln's previous books. In sum, The Romanovs provides a solid and very readable account of Russia's development under the Tsars and Tsarinas.

A genuinely great book. Lincoln certainly could write, and make
all those old Russians seem really interesting. As Lincoln's
former students (including me) know, his lectures were tediously
boring, so that makes the books all the more remarkable.