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And there was light : Abraham Lincoln and the American struggle  Cover Image Book Book

And there was light : Abraham Lincoln and the American struggle / Jon Meacham.

Meacham, Jon, (author.).

Summary:

"A president who governed a divided country has much to teach us in a twenty-first-century moment of polarization and political crisis. Abraham Lincoln was president when implacable secessionists gave no quarter in a clash of visions inextricably bound up with money, power, race, identity, and faith. He was hated and hailed, excoriated and revered. In Lincoln we can see the possibilities of the presidency as well as its limitations. At once familiar and elusive, Lincoln tends to be seen in popular minds as the greatest of American presidents--a remote icon--or as a politician driven more by calculation than by conviction. This illuminating new portrait gives us a very human Lincoln--an imperfect man whose moral antislavery commitment was essential to the story of justice in America. Here is the Lincoln who, as a boy, was steeped in the sermons of emancipation by Baptist preachers; who insisted that slavery was a moral evil; and who sought, as he put it, to do right as God gave him light to see the right. This book tells the story of Lincoln from his birth on the Kentucky frontier in 1809 to his leadership during the Civil War to his tragic assassination at Ford's Theater on Good Friday 1865: his rise, his self-education through reading, his loves, his bouts of depression, his political failures, his deepening faith, and his persistent conviction that slavery must end. In a nation shaped by the courage of the enslaved of the era and by the brave witness of Black Americans of the nineteenth century, Lincoln's story illuminates the ways and means of politics, the marshaling of power in a belligerent democracy, the durability of white supremacy in America, and the capacity of conscience to shape the maelstrom of events"-- Provided by publisher.

Record details

  • ISBN: 9780553393965
  • ISBN: 0553393960
  • Physical Description: 676 pages, 32 pages of unnumbered plates : illustrations (some color) ; 25 cm
  • Edition: First edition.
  • Publisher: New York : Random House, an imprint and division of Penguin Random House LLC, [2022]

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:
Includes bibliographical references and index (pages 647-676).
Subject: Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865.
Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865 > Views on slavery.
Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865 > Religion.
Presidents > United States > Biography.
Slavery > Political aspects > United States > History > 19th century.
Enslaved persons > Emancipation > United States.
United States > Politics and government > 1861-1865.
United States > Politics and government > 1845-1861.

Available copies

  • 43 of 44 copies available at Missouri Evergreen. (Show)
  • 1 of 1 copy available at Marshall. (Show)
  • 1 of 1 copy available at Marshall Public Library.

Holds

  • 1 current hold with 44 total copies.
Show Only Available Copies
Location Call Number / Copy Notes Barcode Shelving Location Status Due Date
Marshall Public Library 92 LIN (Text) 33391000401795 Biography Available -

Syndetic Solutions - Summary for ISBN Number 9780553393965
And There Was Light : Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle
And There Was Light : Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle
by Meacham, Jon
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Summary

And There Was Light : Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle


NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER . Pulitzer Prize-winning biographerJon Meacham chronicles the life of Abraham Lincoln, charting how-and why-he confronted secession, threats to democracy, and the tragedy of slavery to expand the possibilities of America. "Meacham has given us the Lincoln for our time."-Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Winner of the Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize . Longlisted for the Biographers International Plutarch Award. One of the Best Books of the Year- The Christian Science Monitor, Kirkus Reviews A president who governed a divided country has much to teach us in a twenty-first-century moment of polarization and political crisis. Hated and hailed, excoriated and revered, Abraham Lincoln was at the pinnacle of American power when implacable secessionists gave no quarter in a clash of visions bound up with money, race, identity, and faith. In him we can see the possibilities of the presidency as well as its limitations. At once familiar and elusive, Lincoln tends to be seen as the greatest of American presidents-a remote icon-or as a politician driven more by calculation than by conviction. This illuminating new portrait gives us a very human Lincoln-an imperfect man whose moral antislavery commitment, essential to the story of justice in America, began as he grew up in an antislavery Baptist community; who insisted that slavery was a moral evil; and who sought, as he put it, to do right as God gave him to see the right. This book tells the story of Lincoln from his birth on the Kentucky frontier in 1809 to his leadership during the Civil War to his tragic assassination in 1865- his rise, his self-education, his loves, his bouts of depression, his political failures, his deepening faith, and his persistent conviction that slavery must end. In a nation shaped by the courage of the enslaved of the era and by the brave witness of Black Americans, Lincoln's story illustrates the ways and means of politics in a democracy, the roots and durability of racism, and the capacity of conscience to shape events.

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