Description: In a time of great contest and confusion over the future of democracy as a governing principle, the example of Abraham Lincoln continues to provide encouragement and direction about democracy's viability in the face of immense challenges. In The Political Writings of Abraham Lincoln, Allen Guelzo brings into one volume Lincoln's most famous political documents and speeches from his earliest days as a political candidate under the banner of the Whig Party, to his election and service as the first anti-slavery Republican president, from 1861 to 1865, and the nation's leader in the fiery trial of civil war. While many anthologies of Lincoln's political documents routinely concentrate on his presidential years or only on his anti-slavery writings, Guelzo concentrates on documents from Lincoln's earliest political activity as an Illinois state legislator in the 1830s up through his presidency. The result is an accessible resource for students, researchers, and general readers.
Brief description: Allen C. Guelzo is an American intellectual historian with a concentration in the nineteenth century and especially the life and work of Abraham Lincoln. He is a three-time winner of the Lincoln Prize for Abraham Lincoln: Redeemer President (1999), Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation: The End of Slavery in America (2004) and Gettysburg: The Last Invasion (2013).
Review Quotes: 'Our foremost Lincoln/Civil War scholar, Allen Guelzo, has judiciously compiled and meticulously edited a wide variety of Lincoln's letters, speeches, reported conversations, and eulogies that cumulatively reveal the impressive scope and depth of the sixteenth president's political thinking. To blend such varied sources creates a richer and more sophisticated picture of Lincoln's thought than similar anthologies provide. This collection is ideal for both students and general readers seeking to better understand the Great Emancipator.' Michael Burlingame, Chancellor Naomi B. Lynn Distinguished Chair in Lincoln Studies, University of Illinois Springfield and Author of Abraham Lincoln: A Life