Lincoln Books

This book holds the premier position in my book collection. It is a book that looks at how a man's environment and passion for life forces him to separate the right from the wrong, sometimes at personal peril. From the quintessential muckraker to one of the original socialists, Steffens was an independent thinker who shares his mistakes, his disappointments, and his fundamental beliefs in rich and passionate prose. Thought by many to be the greatest autobiography ever written this book, as well as his famous "Shame of the Cities", are considered two of the New York Times' greatest 100 books of the 20th century. And rightfully so. Don't expect dry historical narrative. Rather, be ready to be given insight into turn of the twentieth century life and to be inspired by a man's struggles while exposing and understanding truth and power in every form.

I have read this book 3 times. 1979, 1986, and 1996. This book brings an exciting perspective to a time in history not well known by the average person. As well it gives political insight of corruption and mudslinging that existed well before the 1990's. The book is quite long, but never dull. I read it first right before college, and it influenced me to major in history/PoliSci.

Lincoln Steffens was the Bob Woodward of his day, a pioneer in "muckraking," which later came to be known as investigative reporting and was practiced by reporters such as Woodward and Seymour Hersh.

Steffens begins his tale as a boy on horseback in Sacramento, moves on through his college years, which take him to Europe, and then his start as a reporter in the late 1890s. He stumbles into muckraking as a reporter for McClure's magazine, exposing corruption in city after city. All along, he tries to answer in his own mind what causes corruption. Are the politicians to blame? The businessmen who pay the bribes? Or is it the system?

Throughout, Steffens turns on its head the question of who is good and who is evil. This makes for entertaining reading as you follow while Steffens chews over these questions.

Over time, Steffens spends less time as a journalist and more as a crusading activist who finds himself at the White House talking straight with Theodore Roosevelt, in Russia during the Bolshevik Revolution, in France during the post World War I treaty negotiations and in Italy shortly after Mussolini takes power. All along, ever curious, ever searching for better answers, he tells a remarkable story.

The two-volume autobiography -- a total of 880 pages -- tells the story of the rise of the Progressive Era, of the rise of investigative reporting and of the United States' transition to the world's greatest power. Steffens provides a fascinating look at that era.

Read this book almosts a decade ago, and still remember it vividly. Life in a small and very emphatically segregated Southern town just before WW II (but it might as well be 1890). C. Eric Lincoln is an academic type, and his knowledge of Black history informs the book without turning into a textbook.

How one man's personal fight for freedom helped to start a chain reaction that helped to bring an end to slavery. Show's a relationship between Scott and Lincoln in that they shared the same dream. The universe chooses Dred as a champion to bring an end to the unnatural state of Slavery and how Dred's personal fight for freedom helped Lincoln become president and thus end slavery.

"Did you know

* that the first Negro to land in the New World was the navigator of the Nina, one of Columbus's ships?

* that the first crop of wheat in the New World was planted and harvested by Negro Explorers with Cortez?

* that the founder of Chicago was Negro?

* that 5,000 Negro soldiers served in the Continental Army?

..." -- from the back cover

The walks are well written and there are a number that I have repeated. Salters Road is a good starting point for the experienced walker. Try the Schill its a wonderful adventure and keep your lunch until the Hut. The Usway burn in winter really brings out the beauty of the Cheviots. The border ridge is not for the foolhardy. We started the walk at 0700 and finnished at 1700 and that was without a diversion to the Cheviot. We were well pleased with our effort and a meal in Kirk Yettom sealed the day but needless to say the recovery took a number of days.

A wonderful story for little ones (I enjoyed it too!). I did have one problem with the shipping, however. The first book I received came as French/English as opposed to Polish/English even though the slip cover was correct, but Amazon's return policy is great and they shipped a new book out pronto.

Got a kid...get the book, any child will love it. Want to reinforce your family's culture and language...it is easy to do with the duo languages printed on each page.

As with most Joseph C. Lincoln books, it takes time to get used to how he writes the regional dialect. The story then takes off, describing the classic tale of young love springing from a pair of long feuding families and how that love affects old enemies.

Fans of Bleak House might enjoy this book as it clearly takes inspiration from that Dicken's classic. There is the decades old law suit, the family secrets, the young woman sent to live with her guardian, etc. The Big Mogul though takes these story elements and puts them into 1880s Massachusetts culture.

I went to the library to charge out some books and happened to come across this book. I pre-read it and liked what I was about to read. I charged it out and read it. I liked it and I thought it was a great story. Billy and Belle prevents sibling rivalry because the main characters are prepared for the arrival of their new sibling. Belle knows the right way to give a newborn a bottle and Billy is eager to share his pet hamster with the baby. I did notice that Billy and Belle's family is bi-racial and it shows up more in Belle than in Billy, because Belle's complexion is lighter than Billy's. What's more exciting is that Belle gets to go to school with Billy and the hamster as well because of Pet Day. Belle was very excited about going to school but she was not pleased with the procedure of getting dressed or having her hair combed. Belle did not feel comfortable about going into Billy's class without a pet so Billy told her to get the spider on the floor right by her foot. The teacher put the pets out for some fresh air so the children can remember how many legs their pets had. Belle did not know any better when she let the pets escape because she forgot how many legs her spider had so what can you expect from a small child, she went outside and looked in the boxes of the other children's pets and let them out because she thought her spider would have been in one of those boxes or jars that spider crawled on her as she looked for it and it crawled on her sweater where she could at last see it. She brought her spider back into the classroom and counted how many legs her spider had and drew it. The children did get their pets back and took turns to show their drawings of their pets and tell about them in their own words. School was out and Billy and Belle got the news that they have a new brother named Adam. Billy and Belle were very exicted to see him. That night Billy and Belle saw their new brother for the very first time and Billy's hamster woke up. I think Sarah Garland should write a sequel or an addition to this event where Billy and Belle can watch their baby brother grow and develop.