Lincoln At Gettysburg: The Words That Remade America By Garry Wills

Gut geschrieben, viel Hintergrund Information, faszinierende Einblicke in einen wichtigen Wendepunkt der US-Amerikanischen Geschichte. Lincoln hat mit wenigen Worten Wichtiges und Bleibendes gesagt. Wills geht weiter und zeigt auf, dass Lincoln auch die Tagespolitik im Blick hatte.

This is an excellent but rather academic work that covers many aspects of Gettysburg and Lincoln’s most famous speech.

Of course it deals with the address itself which, incidentally, was not intended to be the featured speech of the day. Contrary to popular myth, Lincoln did not just scribble it up on the train ride to Gettysburg. In true Lincoln fashion, it was the result of years of deep thinking, and it was carefully edited right up to (and even after) the moment it was delivered. The main oration of the day was actually a fine speech by one of the most celebrated orators of the time. The text of that oration is printed in one of the appendices.

The author does a superb job of describing the context of both Everett’s oration and Lincoln’s brief address. The cemetery and its dedication were part of Gettysburg’s healing process following the devastating physical and psychological impact of having “hosted” such a battle. Wills describes the preparation of the cemetery and then launches into treatises on Greek burial ceremonies and the cemetery culture of mid-century America. He also describes at length Lincoln’s writing and speaking styles as well as his views on slavery, the war and preservation of the Union. Finally, he opines on the importance of Lincoln’s address on oratory in general and on how the country viewed itself.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The only reason I gave it a four instead of a five is that it did bog down in a few places…most notably in its excessive discussions of the Greek art of funeral oratory.

I recommend this book to anyone interested in Lincoln, the Battle or the period of the Civil War in general.

When looking at truly important, relavent historical writings especially American contributions to history one’s mind almost immediately defers to the Declaration Of Independence or the Constitution.That’s a given.Then comes presidential writings,inaugural addresses, etc.But one continually stands out in the minds of young and old alike. That being Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. Quite the little ditty of its day, a mere 272 words,but what words they were.Composed in an eloquent, direct, Greek style, worked and reworked until Abe got it just right.Just a little 2 minute speech to open a cemetery on the battleground of Gettysburg,one of the most notable,remembered and written about battles of the Civil War. Historians have been analysing both the battle and the speech ever since.Garry Wills has written quite possibly the one book to clarify it for you.The whys, wheres, the climate political and otherwise, the preoccupation with death and the overall pervasive melancholy that entranced a nation are explored.He has even quite possibly managed to pin down the exact spot of its delivery so a visit to the site will hold an extra special meaning if that kind of stuff excites you as it does me.Ample research has produced a winner here.I was very pleased to learn the inside track of the history and evolution of this most memorable document. How Greek writings shaped the body of the document, its contents and the overall effect it had on the country then as it still has today.This is what one expects of a Pulitzer Prize winning author.Sure, there are many other books you could consult but this one seems to be very authoritative in both its writing and its research.I can’t claim to be an authority on history but am working toward a more thorough understanding of our American beginnings. Primarily, I have been reviewing our revolutionary beginnings and then our own traumatic Civil War.Our leaders being Washington and Lincoln respectively.Lincoln’s contribution,a mere 146 years ago are as relavent as Washington’s were 233 years ago.I feel one needs to know the psychology behind both to be able to impart to future generations this body of supreme knowledge, for I fear it will be minimized and trivialized in the coming decades.With the current troubles and with our own rediculous current administration my fears and doubts grow daily with respect to the continual survival of our country as a respected,successful power.I hope my fears are wrong.In any event, this book will give you lots of insight into the clearer leadership and thought process of Lincoln that will only make you wiser and stronger as an American. Written 17 years ago(I’m a bit late).All the juiciest reviewers got to it first but that’s OK.I’m always a day late and a dollar short, but if a regular guy like me can still sing the praises of a book nearly 1 score old,find it exciting,believable and well written then that shows it to be important, perhaps a final look and may be eternal in its relavence as we strive to impart our country’s key elements of success and mindset of great people to those that follow and will someday,hopefully lead our country more prudently.Read it, especially if you have children.All that was said that day even the wonderful speech by Everett and his encapsulated battle speech are included.If after reading this book you don’t get to feel an intimate relationship to that historic day,an almost as if you were there watching it kind of feeling then there is something wrong somewhere.