Freedom, Part 2

Rating:
Summary: What a book!
Review: This is the Abraham Lincoln you don't learn about in high school, the one who leveraged his tenuous power in ways that seem almost unimaginable. Reading this phenomenal book gave me huge appreciation for Lincoln and his capacity to free the slaves in the context of the Civil War. (I also never realized how pathetic his cabinet was!) Whenever I pass by the Lincoln Memorial, I now get a chill thinking about his greatness. Our country came so close to permanent division, and was saved almost singlehandedly by this remarkable man.

Rating:
Summary: Intricate, Detailed, Spellbinding!
Review: William Safire has a wonderful habit of selecting a definitive act in our country's history and weaving a tale which instructs the reader as to how and why our country is so great. The key tools used in Freedom are Abraham Lincoln and The Emancipation Proclamation. Do not expect the definitive work on Lincoln but do expect the definitive work on The Emancipation.

Safire's research is awesome. His detailed chronology depicting the major and minor players and, more importantly, the events leading up to the Proclamation's issuance, is very complete. His patience in developing his points and their interrelationships is truly amazing. This is a complex read but it is also a very easily understood one. This author is gifted with clarity and a writing style which flows easily, naturally.

Today, looking back, it is difficult to understand that The Emancipation Proclamation, a document which is so unerringly correct, could generate as much, if not more fear and intrigue in the North as in the South. And therein lays the crux of this work. This book analyses the impact the Proclamation had, not on the South, but on the North and, more importantly, within the North. Getting this Nation to guarantee freedom to all its citizens was no easy task. It was a complex and difficult birth. Safire's description of the events, the scheming and the intrigues is a journey you will not want to overlook.