Lincoln Books

There is a lot of interesting nuggets here: how the western states might have broken away as well; the feelings of those doing the fighting and the dying(again and again the Cooperheads failed to understand that the soldiers wanted to fight through to completion and would never support them); and how the Cooperheads never did grasp that the Confederacy wanted not peace but independence. The most interesting chapter with the best writing , "Lincoln's Summer of Discontent" on the summer of 1864 and his belief that all might be lost and its turnaround. The first three or four chapters though have little structure , go on about what we already know, and fail to deliver much scholarship. She makes up for it in the latter half of the book.

Fantastic book and amazing for its relevance today. Even the exact words used by people over a hundred years ago seemed like they are ripped from today's headlines. History really does repeat itself. Sometimes verbatim.

Lincoln could very well have been defeated in 1864. The military victories of the summer of 1864 resulted in victory not only for the Union military but also a continuation of the Lincoln Presidency. His opponents in the 1864 election were the Democrats with a large peace faction. This peace faction were called the Butternuts or Copperheads, and they basically wanted peace at any price. Lincoln faced these opponents and stood his ground. Slavery would be ended, and the Union reunited. This book is about his 1864 opponents and how their slavish devotion to peace at any price basically cost the Democratic Party fifty years of losing Presidential elections.

This is a valued addition to the history collection. The author shows how the Copperheads were both a military and political threat to the Union. Lincoln managed to out manuever this movement, and reunite the country.

Copperheads were those anti-war Democrats in the North who, throughout the war, were Lincoln's most vocal critics. Though it is generally accepted these days that no account of any war is complete without a thorough discussion of the strength of political opposition, the Copperheads have received very limited attention in the historiography of the Civil War. Though the Copperheads are usually mentioned in books concerning the Civil War, a comprehensive examination of their origins and their effect on the war effort and public life is almost always missing. Weber fills this void very nicely.

The most important thing about this book, then, is that it shows you in the first place that the void is there. That is, before reading a full account of the Copperheads it is hard to conceptualize the reality of the wartime North. Copperheads lived and worked throughout the North, and thus every Northerner who wasn't a Copperhead certainly knew some and had their life affected by them. After getting one's head around the notion that there was a visible anti-war population in the North and that this population effected life throughout the entire country (including the South), one is then able to learn exactly what the reality of Northern life during the war was like.

Weber does an excellent job of laying out for the reader exactly how Copperheads effected not only life in the North, but also the war effort in general. Without this accounting one's understanding of public life in the North during the war is incomplete. Weber shows how the Copperheads related to their neighbors, how they changed the political scene, how they hindered the war effort, and how they encouraged the Confederates. These are important themes without which our understanding of the Civil War is incomplete, and due to the lack of similar literature, Weber's book is an important addition to any Civil War historian's library.

This book is well written and the content is very accessible when considering the relative obscurity of the topic. People with only a basic knowledge of the Civil War will still take plenty away from this read, and this book would make a great part of either a high school or college history class syllabus. At just over 200 pages, Weber focuses mostly on how the Copperheads interacted with the population at large, including the Confederates, while referring to more central Civil War events such as battles only when those events help explain the changing dynamics of the Copperhead movement. Thus, this makes a great supplement to a more comprehensive Civil War book (I recommend Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era ) in which the Civil War itself is the center of attention. All said, this is a great book and I highly recommend it; it will really enhance your understanding of life in the Civil War North.

Weber has done her homework. The early part of the book, in particular, shows wide ranging new sources: letters, diaries, small town newspapers. This is the most important part of the book because it brings together new information and provides a basis for further scholars.

Examples from all of the northern states (or so I think, I didn't count) show how widespread the movement was. The nature of the anecdotal material does not demonstrate how deep it was. It appears to be deep in some communities and families, but the only polling data of the time, the elections of 1862 and 1864 do not reflect that depth. Weber points out the circumstantial nature of these elections and how the Copperheads' fortunes rose and fell with success on the battlefield. I held back a star, though, because in the MANY stories of people, towns and politicians I did not find a central overview.

The later part of McClellan's nomination and the election that follows while not so rich in new material, for me, it was an excellent read. Weber documents and explains how a "War" candidate and a "Peace" candidate came to be nominated in the same convention. She goes on to explain Lincoln's landslide.

The description demise of the Copperheads is brief. Maybe this is all that is merited, but it would have been good to have some examples here, especially of the aforementioned communities where the Copperheads caused loss of life and property damage.

Weber sticks with history and does not draw parallels for today. Since it is mentioned by other reviewers, I will note Weber's observation that this peace movement was one of the conservative faction of the Democratic party. Today's peace movement has its origins in the liberal faction of today's Democratic party. It seems that the only thing Copperheads have in common with those against the operation is Iraqi is being against "a" war. Weber clearly shows how racism fueled the Copperheads. This issue is not at all present in the current peace movement.

This book is a good contribution to Civil War research. Its substance and sources will surely be used for future material.

This book will give you insight on the political tactics Lincoln used and will also educate you on some of his beginnings.

For a true biography I'd look elsewhere.

Abraham Lincoln was born dirt poor on a farm near Hodgenville, Ky in 1809. He died with a bullet in his head on April 15, 1865 in a boarding house in Washington DC where he had been taken following Booth's fatal shot. Lincoln had been attending Ford's Theatre for a performance onf
"Our American Cousin." As Richard Carwardine shows in his Lincoln Prize winning biography Mr. Lincoln is our our peerless American hero whose marytdom and mythic life have made him an iconic figure of democratic freedom throughout the world.
Carwardine's book is not a traditional biography in which author follows the outward events of a figure's life. Instead, the author looks with Sherlock Holmes microscopic inquiry at the moral development of the great man. He shows that Lincoln felt slavery was wrong; issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863 and defended the Constitution and Union throughout our most destructive war. Lincoln was kind, compassionate and moral. He gave up his plan for gradual compensated emancipation for slaves and plans to send African-American colonists abroad to live free of the taint of blatant racism and slavery. Carwardine opines that Lincoln grew stronger in his advocacy for full citizenship for African Americans as he made of the Civil War a moral crusade for freedom. Lincoln, says Carwardine, received support from Protestant evangelicals, the new Republican party and friendly editors in the press. (Lincoln was also reviled by Democrats and unfriendly newspaper editors). He was a strong president who would suspend habeas corpus and go to the limit of presidential power to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution and preserve the United States.
This is the best book on Lincoln by an Englishman since the early twentieth century biography by Lord Charnwood. The book deals with Lincoln's moral development and evinces his sharp political skills. Lincoln, like the great politician he was, knew how to read the mind of the public in his effort to win rights for African-Americans and keep the quarreling north together and patriotic in winning the Civil War.
I found the book to be similar to the fine two volume work on Lincoln recently published by William Miller. Similar in that they focus on the mind of Lincoln and the major themes running throughout his career. Those two major themes were Union and the abolition of chattel slavery. Carwardine writes in a scholarly but comprehensible style. His book is worthy of your time and effort in perusing its wise pages. One longs for a man or woman of Lincoln's stature in today's world!

If one were to approach Richard Carwardine's "Lincoln: A Life of Purpose and Power" and expect an exhaustive review of Lincoln's life then it would be easy to be critical of Carwardine's treatment of the life of Abraham Lincoln. Carwardine's focus is quite narrow and the biographical details of his personal life are, at best, sparse. Instead, Carwardine elucidates Lincoln's political life and his apparent spiritual growth over the course of his political life. The reader in search of a full picture of Lincoln would actually be better served to read Carwardine's book in conjunction with David Herbert Donald's fine biography Lincoln.

Lincoln presided over the most tumultuous time in the history of the United States and Lincoln's presidency witnessed (and contributed) to the greatest Constitutional crisis in the history of the United States. In order to confront the tumult, Lincoln assembled a gifted cabinet made up of rivals. Carwardine expertly depicts the rivalries as well as the achievements of this extraordinary cabinet. If one is looking for a fuller treatment of Lincoln's cabinet, one should read Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin.

Carwardine also take great pains to portray Lincoln's great respect for the rule of law and precedent. For Lincoln, it was not as simple as emancipating the slaves. While the ideals of liberty and equality were enshrined in the Declaration of Independence, the sanctity of property rights were enshrined in the Constitution, most notably the Due Process clause in the Fifth Amendment. Whether rightly or wrongly, slaves were considered "property" and to emancipate the slaves would be to deprive the salveholder of property "without due process." Carwardine shows Lincoln struggling with legal justifications (e.g. military necessity) for emancipation and means of emancipation (e.g. compensated emancipation). The only way to rightfully square the Declaration of Independence with the Constitution would be to enshrine the ideal of liberty and equality in the Constitution and, thus, the Thirteenth Amendment outlawing slavery was passed.

Carwardine also spends some time on Lincoln's suspension of the writ of habeas corpus. Many find it ironic that the "Great Emancipator" was also responsible for the suspension of habeas corpus and the detention of thousands of people without trial. For a fuller treatment of Lincoln suspension of habeas corpus (as well as the exegencies of war) check out William Rehnquist's All the Laws but One: Civil Liberties in Wartime.

I would also be remiss not to direct you to the Amazon review of Etienne ROLLAND-PIEGUE.

Dick Hill's narration begins quite flat and in using vocal inflections to denote the words of Lincoln, Hill had a tendency to make Lincoln sound like "crazy uncle Jethro." However, Hill's narration picks up steam in Chapter 2 and by the end you can see why he has been named a "Golden Voice" by Audiofile Magazine.

Presumption presented as bold fact. I do not like others telling us the hidden thoughts and motives of others (as this book does). We barely understand ourselves. The bible says of our own hearts "who can know it?". Yet this writer presumes to know more about Lincolns heart than even Lincoln did. Sorry but "No".

This is a brilliant book! It is extremely well researched, well written and tremendously interesting.

Author Richard Carwardine provides unparalleled insights into the life of Abraham Lincoln, his pursuit of political power, and his use of that power once installed in the White House.

Lincoln made many mistakes as a politician, President of the United States, and Commander and Chief of the Union armies. But he learned from those mistakes and emerged as a powerful leader, who dominated every aspect of Union strategy - political, economic and military.

More importantly, during the Civil War he alone stood rock solid in the belief that there could be no compromise with the Confederacy that would undermine the union of the United States. Later he extended his unwillingness to compromise to the issue of slavery. Thus, while others around wavered, Lincoln stood firm in the belief that the Union had to remain united and that slavery had to end.

This book was a joy to listen and I was enthralled by the rich and flowing narrative and the valuable insights I gained into the life of my favorite President. Lincoln was a master at manipulating those around him and, more importantly, at crafting a powerful message aimed at eliciting the support of other politicians and the American people.

The only problem I had with the book was the author's obsession with Whitman's so-called "personal" life. I can't say the H word since xena keeps deleting my comments, but take it from me, Walt was NOT what Epstein seems to think he was. When Carpenter and Wilde tried to corner him about it, he was absolutely AGHAST that anyone would do that, let alone think HE would ever be so depraved. Whitman was America's only conscious poet. Lincoln was America's only conscious president. You can't get there having a corrupt soul.

The PW reviewer might have been a little careless in political characterization, but I think that this book does soften Whitman's views, and muddle Lincoln's, to try to put them both in the same place. The analysis of the poetry might be fine, but the political analysis isn't. The portrait of Chase, and the descriptions of the "radical Republicans", is one-sided. Mary Todd Lincoln is bad and horrible, and somehow that is conflated with her sympathy for the slaves & for a war against slavery. (Whitman only had lovely relationships, apparently). Also, it is true that there are little irritating errors, the "relationship" between Howells & Whitman in 1860 being a clear one.

I thought that this book was very moving, and successfully portrays two men who completely embody the Civil War. The title of the book is very appropriate, because the number of instances in which Walt Whitman and Abraham Lincoln's lives crossed is quite interesting. Lincoln was one of the greatest presidents who was responsible for emancipating those under slavery. Whitman was one of the greatest poets of all time, and had a huge amount of respect towards Abraham Lincoln.

I found it very interesting that Lincoln and Whitman had never officially met, yet they had both listened or read eachother's words at very crucial times in each of their own lives. Both had so much complete and utmost respect for the other person, and that is clearly seen from the moment that Lincoln reads Whitman's famous book of poems, "Leaves of Grass," until Whitman composed the famous elegy after Lincoln was assasinated.

Both of these men had the same vision of democracy,and Epstein did a great job showing the effect that the war had on these two men. I didn't know that Whitman had volunteered at a hospital during the war, and learning what a huge impact the wounded soldiers had on Whitman and his writing was very interesting. The book also showed the huge toll that the Civil War had on Lincoln, especially when families and loved ones were torn apart because of the war.

I loved how Epstein showed the increasing amount of honor that Whitman had for Lincoln after he was assasinated. His poem, "O Captain, My Captain," is a prime example of just how much admiration that Whitman had for the beloved president. In fact, my favorite part of this book came in the last chapter of the book over twenty years after Lincoln had died. Whitman gave a final speech on Lincoln at Madison Square Theater in front of such people as Mark Twain.

Epstein does a great job of showing the incredible amount of passion that both Walt Whitman and Abraham Lincoln had for life. Both men lived by eachother's words and had an amazing amount of respect for one another, it definitely makes me wish that they would have gotten the chance to know each other personally.

Daniel Mark Epstein succeeds at what seems simple, but in truth is a daunting task: combining the literary and the historical in a moving, evocative narrative. The book gracefully moves between and across the lives of Lincoln and Whitman, with a cathartic spirit uniting the stories of both men. Epstein makes no claims that the spiritual union was, in reality, anything more than a parallel, largely reliant on the troubled times (and Whitman's obsession...or coincidence). There is a somewhat amplified mysticism surrounding Lincoln and Whitman as "characters" in this historical narrative, but such characterization errs more often on the positive than it does otherwise. The parallels between the lives of both men are compelling, revealing, and informative, and the ending is truly poignant. Civil War Washington also comes alive with a mapmaker's eye and a storyteller's gift for detail. Wonderful!

Epstein hits the ground running in this extraordinary blend of dramatic storytelling and lit crit, and he never lets up until the final page. Everyone has always known that Whitman was influenced by Lincoln, but it has been a matter of heated controversy for many years as to whether Lincoln was or was not influenced by "Leaves of Grass." Epstein proves this beyond any reasonable doubt in the first thirty pages, as he introduces us into the gritty atmosphere of Lincoln's law office in the 1850s. He follows the two men to Washington, D.C. during the Civil War, and his capturing of their two characters and their struggles, as their paths cross and shadow one another during that intense period, is a literary and historical tour de force. One of my favorite books about the Civil War.

Bernard Northrop
Providence, R.I.

Gorgeous poetry and illustrations by Blake. A must have for your library and a treasure to share with your children.

William Blake is known for some very mystical hard-to-understand poetry, but his "Songs of Innocence" and "Songs of Experience" is very different from that other work. Here in beautiful, almost child-like simplicity, he describes happy things like childhood and purity, as well as the darker realities of corruption and disillusionment. These poems are always spiritual and lyrical, full of heart and soul. The style is simple, yes, but the words and metaphors are profound and so is the wisdom, like in "The Human Abstract":

Pity would be no more
If we did not make somebody poor;
And mercy no more could be
If all were as happy as we.

David Rehak
author of "Poems From My Bleeding Heart"

There are larger, more luxurious graphical editions of Blake's two most popular works but the Oxford SONGS OF INNOCENCE AND OF EXPERIENCE is perhaps the most affordable and convenient.

After a short introductory piece which makes the reader expect a pastoral mood, SONGS OF INNOCENCE opens with "The Shepherd", and the reader is immediately acquainted with Blake's style: deceptively simple, but filled with metaphor and allusion. Many of the poems speak of the solace of Christianity, but Blake shows a more universal and tolerant tranquility found through appreciation of simple human virtues. In "The Divine Image", he writes: "And all must love the human form, / in heathen, turk, or jew. / Where Mercy, Love, and Pity dwell, / there God is dwelling too."

Even within SONGS OF EXPERIENCE, the most pessimistic and cynical half, Blake maintains a his childlike style in order to bring the truth of human experience to anyone at all, young and old. In "A Poison Tree" he writes: "I was angry with my friend: / I told my wrath, my wrath did end. / I was angry with my foe: / I told it not, my wrath did grow", concisely summarising the effects of pride and ill-will on one's soul.

Blake was by profession an engraver, and his engravings for SONGS OF INNOCENCE AND EXPERIENCE are so closely bound to the text of the poems that a photocopy edition is really the only way to enjoy the poems as they were meant. In this paperback edition, the original engraving can be seen along side a typeset text, presented in a size large enough that the words can be relatively easily made out and, perhaps more importantly, the reader can see Blake's mythological characters. These personages, such as Urizen and Lothos, are key to understanding Blake's larger metaphysical work, for which the Songs present a good introduction.

This edition is especially valuable as it contains a photocopy of the engraving of "A Divine Image", a poem intended for SONGS OF EXPERIENCE which Blake subsequently left out because of its savage pessimism. The poem survives on an uncolored plate which is not found within many collections of the poet's work.

If you are intrigued by poets who transcend mere beautiful words to present a complete worldview, Blake is certainly worth reading. The Oxford Paperbacks edition is, in my opinion, the best place to get started with this deep and tricky, but fulfilling and fascinating poet.

Sorry, all, I'm not much of a poetry fan. I like "Tyger," "Garden of Love," and a few others, but I can't add to the scholarship on his verse.

I am, however, fascinated by his use of relief etching in creating these pages. It's a rare process even now, and was revealed to Blake in a vision (plus a lot of painstaking experimentation). It's the process by which he shaped each letter, reversed, in the printing plate, plus much of the 'illumination' on each page.

The preface is vague and the reproduced images are hard to read, but Blake printed the lettering and line work on each page, then hand-decorated with watercolors. The preface says that Blake went on to create color printing processes, but what they were or whether they're used here is not explicit. I tend to think not, unless a few pages were printed with one or two more plates to emphasize the dark areas. If these illustrations really are true size, then inking on the plate would have been tedious, imprecise, and would not have given the results seen here.

There's much to say about his illustration. That includes an odd conflict, between figures fully drawn even under clothing and the androgyny or sexlessness of so many, an ambiguity that appears in the poems as well. I'll leave that commentary to others, though. The thing that impresses me about these editions is their artistic intensity. Each individual copy of the book was printed and decorated on demand, for a specific buyer. Blake had full control of every part of the creation, the words, images, and reproduction.

It is a rare mind that can master visual and verbal arts, both, then the craft of creating the book that carries them. Perhaps I miss parts of the presentation, but I very much admire the parts that I understand. Four stars because better reproduction would have served his visual art and craft much better.

//wiredweird

These are Blake's most popular and accessible works, by far. The poems combined with the wonderful drawings make powerful and memorable statements that stay in your heart and mind. Several, such as "The Tyger", "The Chimney Sweeper", and "London", are very well known. Each of us has our own personal favorites and love turning to them again and again.

One of issues in buying an edition of these works is that they exist in a variety of colorings, and orders. I would recommend this edition for several reasons. The selection of the King's College Copy is one of the most uniformly delightful or the copies Blake (or his wife) colored. Also, the reproduction is of very high quality. Each plate is on a right hand page with the text in print on the left hand page (in case you have problem reading the plate). Even thought the book is in a large format, the plates are reproduced in their actual size (which is surprisingly modest).

There are also a dozen plates provided from other editions. However, I would recommend that you pick up other editions based on other copies. The variety of schemes Blake used in coloring the plates is quite interesting and, well, illuminating.

The second half of the book is commentary on the 54 plates of this copy. There is an introductory essay and a list of works cited in the commentary.

It really is a beautiful reproduction and a joy to have on my shelf.

I bought this book for my son who has been asking questions about life, death, and meaning. Rather than giving him pat answers, I've tried to find books and other media that will help him to explore the questions and continue to ponder. The illustrations in this book are lovely, but my son seems to prefer the creation tales that involve third-person narratives and "real" characters. We have read _The Day Ocean Came to Visit_ and _The Precious Gift: A Navajo Creation Myth_ many times, but this one, my son has never returned to. I think perhaps it's too abstract for this age.

Becoming me is a wonderful book. As I read it to my children it had me looking at the things around me in a whole new way. Any book that can capture the attention of my children (ages 3 and 5) and have me re-examining the world is fantastic!

BECOMING ME is a heart-warming picture book that tells the story of creation from a very special vantage point -- that of the Creator. I find myself drawn so fully into this story that I feel I am experiencing what it is like to be God, in a universe where "nobody who knew that I was... but I was." Vivid illustrations splash a riot of vibrant colors to express the way spirit finds form in the physical world, as the words transport me into the mind and very heart of God. The most precious gift of BECOMING ME is summed up best in its pages: "Sometimes you realize that you are me." This book has a message so priceless that I'll enjoy it with my daughters for years to come... and keep long after they've grown up and moved off on their own.

As the world increasingly breaks with the habitual patterns of its prescribed roles, there is a need to describe the process of casting off the shackles of compromising conformity, and this book does this both simply and elegantly. With its broad and colorful graphics and its haiku like brevity, it leaves the reader full of hope and wonder. Bravo to the author, I look forward to more like this.

A sweet and lovely little book, Becoming Me is the literary equivalent of a warm, gentle embrace. What Boroson does so well here is craft elegant prose that is clear enough for children to understand- yet profound enough for adults to appreciate -the wonder of having a soul. The first time I read it, quite unexpectedly, I burst into tears, overwhelmed with a feeling of gratitude. This is a book that I will return to again and again for its gentle reminder of who God is, who we are, and why we're here.

While the title is a bit deceptive (the legal case doesn't figure as much as it would suggest), this is still a well-written book on a pivotal year in Lincoln's life. Ms. Fenster brings out quite a bit of information I'd never known and paints an engaging picture of life in Lincoln's Springfield. This is an enjoyable book that history buffs and Lincoln fans will enjoy equally.

Julie M. Fenster is the author of five previous books, including an award-winning history of anesthesia called "Ether: The Strange Tale of America's Greatest Medical Discovery and the Haunted Men Who Made It." She's a regular contributor to American Heritage, as well as other well-respected popular magazines and academic journals.

In "The Case of Abraham Lincoln," Fenster delivers a revealing portrait of Abraham Lincoln both before -- and during -- his rise to political power in the mid-1850s. She uses a famous antebellum murder trial as a fascinating subplot to propel the narrative forward. It's a delightful mixture of biography and scandal that piqued my interest from start to finish.

When we meet Lincoln, he is a successful but frustrated provincial lawyer who makes friends easily but avoids taking strong political stands. The personal details about his every day life are utterly fascinating, given the normal "mythology" that surrounds Lincoln today. For example, we see Lincoln laying on the floor of his parlor, playing with his cats or shutting down the law office in mid-afternoon to play "town ball" (an early form of baseball) with the young store clerks from downstairs.

Throughout the book, Fenster strikes just the right balance between the intimate details of daily life and the earth-shaking events reshaping the national political scene during the run-up to the 1856 election. On one hand, we have a salacious local murder case. On the other hand, we witness the creation of an entirely new political party committed to halting the spread of slavery in the West. Lincoln was thrust into both crucibles at once -- almost by accident. The ultimate result was the greatest president our nation has ever known. (Those who enjoy debating cause and effect in history will find plenty to talk about here.)

"The Case of Abraham Lincoln" belongs to the same new genre of books that I call "Prismatic History." A prism takes a single beam of white light and splits it into its component colors so we can gain a deeper understanding of what lies beneath the seemingly simple facade.

In the same way, Prismatic History starts with a small slice of time (e.g., the year 1856) or a small incident (e.g., a Midwestern family murder). It then reveals the much greater complexity and historical importance that lie just beneath the surface. Other books in this genre include "The Devil in the White City," (about the 1893 Chicago World's Fair) "Isaac's Storm," (about the Galveston hurricane) and "Will in the World" (about the formative years of Shakespeare).

CAUTION: If you're looking for an exhaustive academic history of Lincoln's early law career, or a comprehensive study of antebellum politics, you won't find it here. But if you like a good historical yarn with a fresh perspective and revealing details, you'll love "The Case for Abraham Lincoln." Bravo, Ms. Fenster!

Full Disclosure: I wrote my honor's thesis in history at Brown University about the rise of anti-slavery activism in a small Michigan city during the 1840s and 1850s. (The Republican Party held its first meeting in Jackson, Michigan, in 1854. Oh, what a long, strange trip it's been since then, Mr. McCain.)

I bought this book as a gift for my husband who is interested in Lincoln, the law, and political science. He found the book to be informative, entertaining, and well-written.

The "Case of Abraham Lincoln" is a well written book, interesting, informative and fun to read. Anyone intersted in Abraham Lincoln, the history of the 1850's, politics or human nature will benefit from this reading.

When I bought this book, I wanted so much to like it. The author is from Upstate New York (where I am from originally) and the book purports to be about Lincoln and his representation of a client charged with murder. However, come to find out that Lincoln's involvement in this homicide case was merely peripheral. In fact, as another reviewer pointed out, Mr. Lincoln first gets involved in the case around page 200. Unfortunately, the publisher's marketing department knew that a sub-title of "The Story of Adultery, Murder, and the Making of a Great President" would sell more then "Lincoln, The Know-Nothings and the Anti-Nebraska Party." When Ms. Fenster describes the details involving the murder and the subsequent legal proceedings, the narrative flow is very smooth, but without any break in the narrative, she then goes on to discuss a minor will settlement that Lincoln handled. This made for a very difficult read, especially when the reader thinks Ms. Fenster is going to write about the murder trial, but instead interminably goes on about the birth of the Republican Party in Illinois. However, overall a good micro-study of not only Mr. Lincoln, but also the burgeoning state of Illinois in mid-19th century America.

this of little use for anyone who needs indepth info.
most of this is in may car books with better detail

Very informative book. Covers the history of fuel injection on Fords from the years 80 thru 87. If you have a newer Ford than 1987, I would suggest you buy the newer version of this book namely the 88 thru 93 version.

DO NOT let anyone ship your merchandise by DHL! DHL does not have a clue as to how to find the destination! Then DHL winds up mailing it via the Post Office and the whole process takes forever!

If you're a 5.0 owner (88-93) this is a perfect book to help decipher what controls what and how. I particularly used it to measure and test voltages from various sensors to verify proper operation and resolve some issues. Nice book & definitely worth the read...

But if you want a solid understanding of how everything works, so you can fix it, this is the single best book on the subject. It answers many of those those arcane questions that crop up when you're really digging into a problem. As many of us have learned, the error code is NOT a recipe for a repair. It is simply the place to start.

As an example, my F-250 4.9 started stalling when warm. I had also noticed an occasional gassy smell & my mileage had dropped noticeably. It also failed emissions on NOx. Later, I pulled a code pointing to the engine coolant temperature sensor (ECT). Since the problem only occurs when the engine is fully warm, I checked that strategy & saw that the ECT is indeed involved in managing engine performance. Probst describes the effect of a low or high reading, provides a table of expected voltage and resistance values at specific temperatures, and the pin locations on the connector.

If the ECT isn't the exact problem, there's enough meat in this book to figure out what is.

Last time I had to take my car into Ford, I found I knew more about oxygen sensor operation than the service writer. It saved me $150.

No matter what you want to do with the Ford EEC-IV computer (88-93) this is the book for you. This is a very indepth book that dosent just tell you how to do somthing but it also shows you why it does what it does and why it will do somthing else if you mess with it. He explains how everything works, from the sensors to the computer and then to the acutators, he explains how the work together and he writes very clearly so it is easy to understand and to put into action.

I was interested in the subject, but it was not described as a children's book, which it is. The information is correct, but very basic, and written so that a child may understand. I have just about every other book ever written on the Lincoln Highway, and was anxious to read new material. I don't think this was advertized as a children's book. If it had been, I would not have purchased it.

My husband and I are getting ready to make a trip from the West Coast to the Midwest, and I remembered reading the book, "Link Across America". This book taught me a lot about the highway. I decided to re-read the book and thought I'd like to share it with other readers. So, please, research this book if you are planning a trip down the Lincoln Highway.

As the Educational Liaison to schools for the National Lincoln Highway Association, I have used this book, or suggested its use, by the teachers who teach a unit of the LH's history to their students. It is great source of overall information about the highway, presented in an easy to understand format for children. I highly recommend this enjoyable and informational book to all who have traveled or will be traveling our nations highways. A great source to use in a study of transportation.

Capturing a segment of the American transportation legacy, Link Accross America is an enriching children's book focusing on a highway crossing the USA. It is dirrected towards young readers yet providing ample information that most adults just don't know. Everyday history surrounding a nation's roadway is presented to readers or listeners in a format that helps the learner to absorb while also encouraging a curiousity in the past. Illustration, photos, a varying narrative, and a changing book composition demonstrates a text for a larger audience. Road builders, drivers, an older generation, and a growing country are shown using paragraphs grouped into bite sized chunks. Numerous characters add to the narration in telling how a highway came to be. This is a great book because it reinforces history in a way that shows a society progressing through time. I think it is a wonderful book for the mid elementary grades!

Mary has a tremendous interest in preserving the Lincoln Highway. Having been an elementary school teacher she presents her story to children in an interesting and informative way. This is a story that all ages need to hear about America's first "coast-to-coast" highway. In our town, Grand Island, we have an original-mile section of paving of the Lincoln Highway, which was the second such "Seedling Mile" (as those first-paved sections were called) in the United States. This book is about a man's (Carl Fisher) dream of creating a highway acorss America. It tells of the struggle and dedication to build the highway as no government money was available for such projects at the time.

Lincoln has written a very good book. He has interviewed many coaches, especially coaches at Dartmouth. For the record, John Lyons and Pat O'Leary have both been fired (the latter by the new returning coach Teevens, and later filed an age discrimination suit, which was thrown out). May be if Lyons had landed Slaughter, he may have saved his job, and Slaughter would not have ended his career as a backup secondary and kick returner at UCLA. Lincoln offers a valuable insight into elite schools and recruiting. This book should be read together with John T. Reed's 70+ page essay on his son's experiences with Ivy football recruiting (available on the internet, type in "John T. Reed Dan Reed Columbia" in google). Reed makes specific comments about the level of play in Ivy football (pretty good), and the down side to coaches pressuring players to commit during recruiting visits (Lincoln's book offers coaches' perspective).

Capsule summary:

Strengths: Clean crisp style, easy to read, good use of quotes from coaches, wide research, good forward by Fiedler. Do not be turned off by the name Nomad Press, which I had not heard of before.

Weaknesses: no index, organization could be tightened up here and there (but not too bad). Additional perspective of players would have offered a counterbalance to extensive interviews with coaches.

If you have a high school aged son or daughter who hopes to be an Ivy League athlete, this book is a must read.

My daughter, after reading Chris' book, learned what motivates the coaches and how to approach them in a straight-forward and ethical way. At the same time she was able to take control of the process and ultimately achieve her desired outcome, a scholarship offer from Stanford and a "Likely Letter" from her first choice, Dartmouth. She couldn't have done this without this resource.

I have a high school senior son who is looking to participate in college sports after graduation and I was looking for a book that would help provide some understanding of the whole Ivy recruiting process. This book provided great insight into the Ivy recruiting process from both the college coaches and administrators perspective. It provides the insight though true experiences of athletes, coaches and administrators. It also sheds light on the conflicts within the Ivy League about the process.

An excellent book for high school students and their parents interested in Ivy League and even NESCAC schools and how sports recruiting at those schools works. I learned about "likely letters", "supports" and other details that are otherwise difficult to learn, even from the coaches.

My only reservation is that with Harvard's recent decision to stop early admissions, and I assume others will follow, the book will need updating to reflect the changes in sports recruiting due to this.

A great learning tool for anyone connected with a high school athlete looking to play sports in college. Unfortunately, I read this too late to help. Just witnessed first hand a scenario whereby a "solid commitment" did not materialize at an Ivy - putting a student athlete in a very precarious spot. To the reviewer claiming that Lincoln was "creating a controversy and scandal that does not exist", I can personally tell you that Lincoln is right on the mark. I have already re-read the book and advocate that all who are ever thinking about entering the recruiting process should take detailed notes.

My daughter is still an infant so we haven't used the book yet. The c.d. is great. Fun to listen to while playing.

I received my item within less than a week from ordering, and in perfect condition. I appreciate this excellent customerservice.

This is a quality production and I am enjoying learning the rhymes and teaching them to my 6 month old daughter. This is definitely a product for someone who already has a good understanding of French. It comes with a book with the French and there are translations and explanations (when appropriate) in the back. I did not give it 5 stars because I think it is a little difficult to use. The tracks are divided up into broad categories (By the River, In the Market) and there are several rhymes in each one which makes finding a particular rhyme more troublesome. It is difficult to listen to straight from beginning to end because the background music is repetitive. Also, there are many rhymes for older children, not just for babies so I am sorting through to find the ones that are appropriate for an infant. Overall, however, I am enjoying this product and would recommend it to a motivated francophile.

This book is primarily about rhyming, not necessarily about French language. I am surprised to see people discussing it as a way of learning to "speak" French -- as in, saying something useful or meaningful. The book's cover makes that claim, too. Shoppers should be wary of expecting too much from this book as an instructional tool.

This is an attractive, fun package. If you go through it you might pick up a smattering of French words, a few numbers and so on. But it is not organized with any kind of instructional strategy, and the contents are rather inconsistent.

What it mostly does is to lead you through a lot rhymes with cute or interesting sounds. Sure, some pages contain poems in genuine French. But many of the rhymes include nonsense words (as the authors admit) which do not mean anything in any language (like "Bourre et bourre et ratatam").

The book claims that many of these rhymes are used by French kids for picking sides in playground games, or the like. If so, that means that a lot of these pieces are the equivalent of "one potato, two potato" or "Eeny meeny miney moe" on an American playground. I can't imagine teaching the phrase "eeny meeny miney moe" to a French child as a first introduction to English.

One of the rhymes, according to the guide in the back of the book, supposedly teaches the pronunciation of the "U" sound in French. The only "teaching" involved is the child listening to the CD. If you want the child to be able to speak those words, you may have to teach them how to form the French U sound. The book doesn't do it.

Another poem playfully replaces "sept oies" with "c'est toi." Due to the use of liasons in spoken French, those phrases are homonyms. The whole rhyme builds up to that double-entendre, which is based on a uniquely French bit of phonics. So if the book were really trying to teach French, this would be a perfect opportunity to do so. But it doesn't even mention it, so non-French speakers will miss out on the pun entirely.

In another case, the authors claim that a rhyme supposedly demonstrates different ways of using the "R" sound in French. It does nothing of the kind. Over and over, I felt like the authors were attempting to claim more educational value for the material than it really has, while failing to use teaching opportunities that *were* available.

What value the material DOES have is that it is mostly fun, catchy little rhymes that kids will relate to, especially with the help of the cute illustrations in the book. I believe that the CD by itself would not be very successful at all, unlike some other products. And for parents who do not speak French, or have a French dictionary nearby, good luck. Some -- but not all -- of the material is translated into English in the back.

The accents sound authentic, and the recordings introduce each rhyme with a slow rendition first, then move up to "normal" speed, and repeat it yet another time. I think this is a good approach. The recordings mix an adult voice and some kids -- some other reviews mistakenly say it's all kids.

The child I'm using this with had already learned a few fundamentals in reading and speaking French, and that background definitely helped. So, as other reviewers have suggested, this book may ironically actually be more useful as something other than a "first" book, contrary to the suggestion of its title.

So: Fun, yes, but your child will still need to learn a lot more "real" French somewhere else.

As a preschool French teacher at a Montessori school, I am always looking for good products to recommend to parents for at-home enrichment. What makes this book/CD set so special is the exceptional quality and beauty of the speaking and the fact that it is unique.

There are many CDs with French songs, but few for young children on the American market, where French is spoken. The poems, rhymes, counting-out rhymes, beautiful pictures and special "settings" are extremely appealing to young children and have a classic quality. This book is excellent for guided learning --- exploring French with your child or a small group of children. Act out the rhymes or otherwise bring them to life with puppets, drawing, counting, pictures, fingerplays, or any type of game. Then pull words out to say and learn.

These are not just spoken rhymes, they lend themselves to interactive play very well! Don't just put it in the car stereo and expect your child to be entranced until they understand what some of it means. After they do, young children's imaginations are captured by the silliness of the nursery rhymes. Nursery rhymes, with their rhythm and exaggeration & repetition of sounds, are fantastic teachers of the native sounds of a language! This is the most important thing a young learner can pick up!

There are notes for each rhyme in the back of the book, but thankfully no blah blah blah in English on the recording itself. The clear enunciation and lyrical quality of the main speaker gives her the type of voice that makes people say, "French is a beautiful language." Her speaking is just entrancing. There is also enough music and little sound effects to enhance the presentation. This product is very reasonably priced for such a gem of language and culture!