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Rating: 
Summary: Bitter Brit who can't get enough of attacking Lincoln
Review: a late 1990's exploration and analysis of lincoln from the eyes and research of a british writer. why she includes grape jelly inthis book may be a clever writing tool but it was a more of a put-off than a lead-into the book. her reference to lincoln possibly having homosexual tendicies as a result of his awkwardness with women is an eye opener. some good stuff is how she reveals that lincoln was a little more cut throat than what history portrays him as and that is a refreshing peice of information because you had to always wonder if lincoln was a shrewd and cunning enough type of guy to maneuver thru the politicis of his day. obviously he was. also--where we learn that there may have been a northern backed assasination attempt on jefferson davis' life that failed but may have resulted in booth's vengeful inspiration to assasinate lincoln is very interesting. not a bad read really if you are open to a different viewpoint.
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Summary: This book is rubbish
Review: Giving 1 star is too much praise - I rate it 0 stars!
I too started to read this book but gave up...I don't claim to be a "Lincoln expert" but the book is riddled with errors- almost too many to list.
I can only repeat that it is rubbish.
Rating:
Summary: Bitter Brit who can't get enough of attacking Lincoln
Review: I couldn't believe how often the author equated "political correctness" with defending Abe Lincoln! This author is one bitter Brit who doesn't appreciate the contribution the USA has made to the world.This book is for the dumpster.
Rating: 
Summary: The British Discover America, again
Review: I have had a vague dislike of the English literary class for so long, I sometimes forget why. Jan Morris is a good reminder. The main thrust of her book is that she once believed that Abraham Lincoln was like the grape jelly she found in American restaurants; generally liked by Americans but lacking all character and certainly inferior to marmalade. In her "quest" she makes the amazing discovery that Lincoln was a somewhat complex man who was more mature at 50 than at 20 and who found the strength to take this country through the Civil War...and that's not bad for an ugly piece of trailer trash. In the course of her meanderings, she takes gratuitous potshots at various aspects of what she sees as America. Twice, with no support, she refers to Lincoln's probable homosexuality and even identifies his lover for us. The book is almost readable when Morris doesn't intrude on her writing but, without her intrusions, it is just a standard bio and probably wouldn't have been published. So the literary hook here is that we get to see an interesting contrast between a great person and a trivial one, with the author's complete lack of self-awareness serving as a running, inside joke.
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Summary: part history, part stream-of-consciousness, part-travelogue
Review: Jan Morris starts off rolling her eyes at the Lincoln she received in school books in her native England. She travels Kentucky and Illinois and scoffs at the obese men and women waddling about the aisles of rural Wal-Marts and 7-11s. Is this the legacy of Lincoln's backwoods Kentucky? She notes that Lincoln's parents was the 19th century embodiment of "white trash" and that had Lincoln been born in the 20th century, it would have been in a trailer (the log cabin equivalent of today). She calls them as she sees them: her Lincoln is a backwoods man, a know-it-all, who became a big business lawyer and used the slavery issue as his ticket to the White House. She sees a gangly oddball of enormous drive who miraculously remains a "nice man" despite of his melancholia, burning ambition, dreadful wife, sneakiness, and distinction of presiding over more American deaths from war than any other President. Morris writes well, at times lyrically, and when she conjures up Lincoln receiving a visitor in the White House, or trudging up the street for yet one more Matthew Brady photograph, you are there with her. She also imagines a meeting, at the end of the war, between the "marble model" Robert E. Lee, and the "gorilla" Lincoln, a meeting that never actually occurred but is fun to think about nonetheless. She falls under the spell this long-dead man still casts and becomes an admirer, though offers the caveat that Lincoln started America on its path to constantly playing global cop - a thesis she offers as an aside but is certainly worth thinking about. The American soldier occupying Baghdad is a linear descendent of the Union solider occupying Richmond in her view. This is a short, thoughtful volume that adds another angle to the Lincoln story. You might disagree with her assertions that Lincoln was essentially an artist but this should not stop you from reading this quirky, essentially personal book.
Rating:
Summary: Uneven but sort of interesting
Review: Jan Morris' account of her quest for the "real" Lincoln takes her from cynical and irritated about how Lincoln is treated as an icon by the American public to her reluctant conclusion that there really was something remarkable about the man. As an American, I found her point of view interesting, her depiction of Americans condescending and her history not well researched. She makes some good comparisons (Lincoln's family of origin as being like "white trash") some wildly off base statements (Lincoln's religous statements may have been disingenuous) and I frankly found her personal travelog to be pretty much a bore. If you want to know about Lincoln there are dozens, probably hundreds, of more accurate books. If you want to know how the person of Lincoln still manages to seep through to even an unwilling investigator, this book has some interest.
Rating:
Summary: Uneven but sort of interesting
Review: Jan Morris' account of her quest for the "real" Lincoln takes her from cynical and irritated about how Lincoln is treated as an icon by the American public to her reluctant conclusion that there really was something remarkable about the man. As an American, I found her point of view interesting, her depiction of Americans condescending and her history not well researched. She makes some good comparisons (Lincoln's family of origin as being like "white trash") some wildly off base statements (Lincoln's religous statements may have been disingenuous) and I frankly found her personal travelog to be pretty much a bore. If you want to know about Lincoln there are dozens, probably hundreds, of more accurate books. If you want to know how the person of Lincoln still manages to seep through to even an unwilling investigator, this book has some interest.
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Summary: A Cheap Shot At Ford's Theatre
Review: This is an enjoyable readable book froma Brit's point of view.
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Summary: Lincoln Assassinaated again by Jan Morris
Review: To say I was disappointed would be an understatement. I expected an interesting book from a realistic perspective. This book was a GREAT EXAMPLE of the old adage of not judging a book by its cover. The cover was great on this book---it gave it character and substance. It was what the author wrote that was a HUGE disappointment. I only made it to about page 60. Yes there were errors in the book, but what I could not live with was the statements regarding Jan's explanation that Lincoln was Bisexual. This is simply nonsense. Jan should be writing for some grocery store rag not publishing books. My book is now exactly were this book should be........in the trash!
Rating: 
Summary: A Refreshing View of Lincoln
Review: When this book opens with a comparison of Abraham Lincoln to grape jelly, you know you're in for a treat. Jan Morris is truly one of the treasures of our time. She comes to the U.S. just often enough to keep us on our toes. I recommend everything she's ever written, but especially since she became a woman (see CONNUNDRUM, PLEASURES OF A TANGLEd LIFE, etc.)
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