Rating: 
Summary: A Must Read For Students
Review: I myself am a student, and I found this book to be amazing. Any student of US History should be required to study, and analyze this book down to the bare bone. I say this because in US History, we just hear the same old mythical story of "Bad" South, and "Good" North (under their great "humanitarian" Leader Lincoln) This book does an exelent job, of telling the true stroy, which is quite the opposite of that of the myth that we students must hear during our unit on The War for Southern Independence. I believe that this book is a great read for students, or any one just looking for a different POV on the topic of the war. If you are further more intrested in the Southern POV, then I would suggest reading a great book by the Kenedy Brothers entitled "The South Was Right" Thanks for taking the time to read my critque of this truly wonderful book.
Rating:
Summary: The root of all socialism - Lincoln
Review: This is a must-read book.As always on Amazon, you can immediately tell what's going on politically by glancing at the reviews here. Dilorenzo's patient data presentation is dismissed as "cranky" etc. by all negative reviewers, to wit, socialists. Tautological bromides ("if North and South had been two separate nations, there would have been chaos over the West" .. And?) are offered as obviosities missed by the book, supposedly demolishing the book's thesis. Dilorenzo, with an exact grasp of the sweep of history of the times, masterfully paints the broad historic picture of Lincoln the mercantilist ... and the conversion of the United States from a constitutional idea to an egalitarian idea. And shows in great detail Lincoln the racist, Lincoln the exterminator of the Indians, Lincoln the empirist, Lincoln the literal dictator ... the man who suspended habeas corpus, imprisoned arbitrarily 10s of thousands of newspaper editors who disagree with him (read _American Bastille_), and disregarded all international thought on the conduct of warfare by slaughtering innocent non-combatants when he was utterly losing ... the inventor of "total war". Hopefully, at least, if nothing else, after THIS book the ancient canard of "racism" in Civil War disputes will have to be dropped by current-day socialists. (The Civil War never, ever, had anything, at all, to do with the Slave question; not one black person was freed by the so-called "emancipation" "declaration"; Lincoln quite simply loathed blacks; he had no interest in their freedom; he was an open and avowed white supremacist; he wished to ship all black people to Jamacia; the North was incredibly racist and the inventor of apartheid with innumerable laws against blacks; at any rate virtually everyone in the North was HAPPY for the South to secede [see Dilorenzo's great scholarship on this], the entire Civil War was engineered by Lincoln's stunning mass imprisonment of the whole body of the media of the day: a core historic world event, amazingly, relatively little known today) This book is simultaneously a superb histiography that perhaps at last forever buries vile revisionist history about the Civil War and "reconstruction." Read, and enjoy. A tremendously important book for every American and every student of history and freedom. A superb step in breaking down the nutty "Lincoln Myth" .. certainly the cerntral and most damaging "big lie" in the American story. Socialists and leftists of all stripes should buy this book as a great opporutnity to get really worked-up and annoyed.
Rating:
Summary: Great! A "Must Read" for lovers of the Constitution
Review: I couldn't put this book down. This book systematically shows how Lincoln's Whig origins led to the Republican Party's agenda of converting the original "Union of Sovereign States" into "one nation, indivisible." Not only does this book illustrate the historical basis for the inalienable right of any state to secede from the Union for any reason whatsoever, it further illustrates the illegal nature of Mr. Lincoln and the Republican's war against the Confederate government, and the extreme disregard for the law Lincoln exhibited in pursuing his ends. By the way, the author is to be congratulated for always referring to the war as "the War Between the States," inasmuch as a "civil war," such as occurred in Spain in the 1930's, is a war in which two or more factions are fighting for control of one central government. Thus, the US/Confederate war does not qualify as a "civil war," and I find it refreshing that the author is, in this sense, not only "politically correct," but historically accurate in his use of the term "the War Between the States."
My only criticism of the book is that, while it did discuss the illegitimate adoption of the 14th amendment, it could have done more to illustrate how this amendment was used to destroy State Sovereignty, inasmuch as prior to 1866, everyone was a citizen of their respective State, with no one being a "citizen of the United States" prior to that time. The Sovereignty of each State was thus protected in that each State had control of its own citizenship. (Remember, John Brown was tried for treason against Virginia, not against the United States.) Federal citizenship not only would mean federal sovereignty, but it would also make any future attempts at secession be legally considered "treason." And these were the real intentions of those who advocated the amendment's adoption.
One final thought. This book clearly shows the origins of the great contradictions of the current Republican Party. While the Party may attract conservative people, its political heritage is not conservative at all. In fact, when looked at in the light of the original constitution, the Republicans of the 1860's would have been considered downright radical. Yet, how many Republican politicians have campaigned saying that they wish to "restore the original government that the Founders gave us?" To do that they would have to renounce Lincoln as the most radical and anti-constitutional president in history, and by default, cease to be Republicans in order to remain conservatives. Deo Vindice!
Rating: 
Summary: A realists view of the real Lincoln
Review: It is an interesting book, but the author exhausts his thesis in the first 32 pages. It would make an interesting pamphelet of 30 or 40 pages. I am sure the tome is factual and will be loved by all people from the southern states. As a history buff I find it interesting.
Rating:
Summary: Full of errors
Review: This book was a disappointment. I didn't expect to
agree with the author's viewpoint, but I didn't expect
to find so many obvious errors of fact. Mr. DiLorenzo
clearly does not have the historical background to have
written this book, and his political agenda obviously is
what is driving his thesis.
Rating: 
Summary: Not much new here
Review: This book summarizes the Noble Lost Cause version of the Civil War (or perhaps I should say "War of Northern Aggression"). It's perhaps significant that all the jacket blurbs are from teachers at southern colleges or right-wing columnists (or both). The war was all the fault of the North, and the South can do no wrong... all the atrocity stories are trotted out (there are five pages on the burning of Columbia, but you won't find any mention of the burning of Chambersburg or Lawrence by Confederates). Writers who disagree with his views are tarred with the brush of "leftism". The title seems to imply that we'll hear new revelations about Lincoln's iniquity, but the book's just a summary of secondary source material. On the plus side, it's clearly written and a good place to go to find a presentation of the extreme pro-Southern view of the war. But read something a bit more balanced, too (McPherson's Battle Cry of Freedom is a good place to start).
Rating:
Summary: The Real lincoln
Review: It's a shame I can't rate this book with 6 stars. Probably one of the best non-fiction books I have read in the past 5 years. DiLorenzo backs up every statement with factual data, from northern newspapers to the Southern point of view. He covers lincoln's leanings, on government subsidized 'internal improvements'(outlawed before the War) as well as his idea of 'union before the states'(which has no factual basis BTW). What is really interesting and something not covered by many Southern Independence War books is the aftermath and the Radical Republicans attack on Johnson as well as illegally passing the 14th Amendment. A great book and one that I recommend to any person who believes in the Constitution, not only historically, but the protection the states and the document itself offered from overbearing national government. Read this book and look around today at the government lincoln has wrought. Deo Vindice.
Rating:
Summary: A long-overdue analysis
Review: Professor DiLorenzo's book is a systematic, scholarly, and relentless refutation of the Lincoln myth. No wonder it's causing such hysterics among the mythmakers. In this highly readable book, Professor DiLorenzo takes the reader through a number of major points, in each case providing more than ample evidence for his position. He shows that what really moved Lincoln and his partisans was not slavery but the Whig economic program of high tariffs, national banking, and the corporate welfare that is euphemistically called "internal improvements." Lincoln as righteous opponent of slavery has no roots in the man's career. Surely there is a reason why genuine abolitionists, like Frederick Douglass, detested Lincoln. DiLorenzo includes a discussion of Lincoln's departure from constitutional practice and its long-term consequences. He likewise shows that even many Lincoln partisans in the scholarly community have freely conceded that he behaved as a dictator, so it's amusing to see a few reviewers on Amazon at pains to deny what even Lincoln's own supporters acknowledge. DiLorenzo also discusses the important question of secession, a point overlooked in _all_ undergraduate (and graduate) study of the period: was secession legal, after all? A reviewer below says that "succession" [sic] wasn't mentioned in the Constitution. No kidding--that's the point. It's not mentioned in the Confederate Constitution either. But what is not mentioned in the Constitution remains a right of the states. Moreover, there must be a reason why Thomas Jefferson, John Quincy Adams, Gouverneur Morris (one of the strongest advocates of a powerful central government), abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, and many other American luminaries all insisted on the importance of the right of secession, and why a great libertarian like Lord Acton was so sad to see the South defeated. (He was a fan of slavery, I suppose?) (Incidentally, just to correct the record: one reviewer below complains about the caning of Charles Sumner, an alleged example of Southern rapacity. But it's widely known that Sumner was not seriously hurt, and deliberately exaggerated his injuries--his own family said he'd get up and play tennis after guests had left!) Meanwhile, Southerners, the vast majority of whom owned no slaves, offered to end slavery within five years of the close of hostilities in exchange for recognition from Britain and France. In sum, The Real Lincoln is essential reading. After a century that has shown us the crimes of which large-scale centralized states are capable, DiLorenzo shows us that it is time to stop genuflecting before the idol of Lincoln, the great American centralizer. It's high time truth replaced propaganda.
Rating:
Summary: For the Open-minded Only
Review: This book is not for Lincoln-lovers. Those who are close-minded and obediently worship at the big pagan temple of this martyred tyrant in Washington DC should pass this book by. I doubt that this book will change your mind if it is already made up about Old Abe. Don't waste your time. You will hate this book. You will wet your bed over what is revealed between these covers. You will probably demand that it be censored. You will call the author names. The other people who wrote bad reviews for this book did not read it, so you should avoid it too. Run away, hide from this book! Those who studied their northern-written US History catechism and sensed there was something screwy in its sacred doctrine about Lincoln, this book may be of great interest to you. You may not agree with everything in this book, but if you have an inquiring heart and mind, you will see what has been intentionally hidden from you for decades by the high priests of the Lincoln Cult. Yes, DiLorenzo is a heretic, banished from the esteemed circle of politically correct celebrity historians like Jimmy McPherson. You too may be chastised or ridiculed for agreeing with some of the augments in this book. Consider reading it. You may just learn something. Beware: There are plenty of Lincoln-lovers who are in a fit of rage over this one book. That a single book could threaten the authority of thousands of Lincoln-deifying books says a lot. Be an independent, open-minded thinker--see for yourself.
Rating:
Summary: For those of you who WANT to believe the worst...
Review: To say this book is ridiculous is the understatement of the century! The bias against Lincoln is the only clear thing in this so-called 'biography'. It's all inuendo, and, by the way, there is NOTHING in the Constitution about the right to succession. If you want to know what really happened during that era, read about the Civil War in the series by Shelby Foote, or the biography of Lincoln by Davis Herbert Donald. The author also states his belief that the country would have been brought back together peacefully eventually, but this is also a most foolish and dangerous hope. The North and South hated eachother's policies. If you want another opinion, read the book "What If" pt II, where more knowledgable scholars show how if the South had succeded or had won the war, it would have been a disaster for the country, and quite possibly for the world. Lincoln came from humble beginnings, and never forgot his roots. This talk of conquest and empirialism is total nonsense. The writer, and I use the word loosely, present no hard facts to support his conclusions, only hope for his own agenda. By the way, where WAS the question of slavery in this book? I noticed how the writer glossed over THAT one!
I also noticed the people who embraced this book are mostly from Southern demographics, so that should tell you something. These were obviously people who also liked the book "The South Was Right!"
The people who swallowed these lies liked it because they wanted to hate Lincoln, not get any real insight into history.
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