I was whisked back to the eve of Lincoln's election from the very first moment I started reading. Shaara has that power, to make you feel like you're there, that you know this character, and that is the magic of his words. With Lincoln, who I've read tons of books about, I immediately liked this seemingly humble, awkward man who's pants legs were always a bit too short for his long legs. We learn about the beard and top hat early on, just one of the little bits of info we pick up as we read. The younger boys seem to be energetic and more enjoying the adventure of moving into the White House than awed while wife Mary Todd Lincoln sees it as a step up the social ladder. I recently read the lengthy bio of Mary and still haven't quite wrapped my brain around how her brain worked, but money and prestige seemed to play a vital role there and in this work. Whereas Lincoln seemed to suffer from moments of depression that made him sort of sink into himself, she, well, went shopping. Not a good look during a time of financial struggle to support a war. In any case, it was intriguing to get a sort of behind the walls look at the main players, from the entire Lincoln family to the politicians and other power players that surrounded the American government of the time. It was also interesting to get a view of Washington DC as it was then, such as the still unfinished Washington Monument and the state of the White House.
It isn't my goal here to summarize the story but as an Alaskan, think Seward's Folly, getting to know Seward as a person was intriguing. I think until now the only things I really knew about him concerned his purchase of Alaska and that he was attacked and nearly killed the night Lincoln was assassinated. We even meet his son/family. Of course, the focus is on Lincoln, whose awkwardness and seeming dislike of being front and center mislead many into underestimating him. While this is a novel not a biography, Shaara notes upfront that his goal was to use his own words and those of others to capture his personality and the way he viewed the world, not to mention how the world looked at Abraham Lincoln. He gives us a look at not just Lincoln but his fabled administration through his own eyes. I liked that Shaara includes his humor, too, which tied nicely with the very human man we get to know. The image of Lincoln on the floor wrestling with his two youngest sons still makes me smile. The many different relationships and connections covered, including family, friends, opponents, generals, and even the average people who trudged through the White House to air grievances or ask favors, all relationships that helped make Lincoln the President he was, are intriguing. I have to admit, though maybe it was just me, but meeting Pinkerton early on with his concerns for safety and seeing how Lincoln sort of brushes them off are a bit chilling, of course, knowing history. Can you imagine any president being able to walk through the dark streets alone nowadays? BTW, the book can basically ends as Lincoln gives the opening of his Gettysburg Address although the not so upbeat lead up to the assassination follows and how it impacted many, particularly Mary and oldest son Robert, are encapsulated in the section that follows. Use your own discretion on whether to read on from Gettysburg Address or not, in other words. I rather appreciated Shaara's careful structure there...even if I did read on.
Bottom line, even knowing this is a historical novel, given Shaara's reputation and my own experiences reading his other works, I lean toward this being a reasonably accurate presentation of Lincoln the man, President, and now myth. On thing that struck me, no, two things, show how times differed. Early on, we see how painfully slow election returns were counted and shared. Then, it struck me how used we have become to instant communication in our modern world. Any communication between Lincoln and, say, his generals was slow, surely painfully slow for those needing to know. Heck, if I read correctly, Lincoln hadn't even met his first Vice-President until he was elected. Anyway, my sincere thanks to #StMartin'sPress for this early look at this insightful look at a span of history that not only fascinates me but shaped the USA in ways no one could have imagined.
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