It isn’t surprising that to this very day, and hour, interest in Abraham Lincoln as president,politician, commander-in-chief of the military, family, husband, father, and religious man, hassteadily increased since his assassination in 1865. However, tolerated he might have been bythe American public in the early 1860s, few had even a cursory awareness, or sincereappreciation of who and what he was to the country.Enter co-author Thomas J. Ebert, a retired reference and documents librarian at CaliforniaState University, Fresno, where he also served as associate vice president for academicpersonnel, and Allen Carden, a professor of history and former president of Fresno PacificUniversity. Not only has he written a treatise on the history of the emancipation, but alsocoauthored a scholarly biography on John George Nicolay, Lincoln’s private secretary.And what a team the two have formed. This nonpareil sourcebook is unequivocally the bestyet compiled. Other scholars have tried, but soon gave up. Brilliantly organized, they tediouslylaid out in superb prose a new portrayal of Lincoln, his significant leadership, and contributionsto the history of slavery and emancipation, the Union’s preservation, and the formation of anew national vision for America. Those who have perused this volume immediately see it’s one-of-a-kind hybrid reference work that combines chronology with almost 400 primary sourcepapers to contextualize Lincoln’s life within his historical era.Such written materials serve as the foundation upon which historians can construct a moresolid, informative, accurate picture of the America Lincoln knew. In addition to importantchronology and documents, this fabulous book includes introductory essays that summarize thetopics of each chapter, brief biographies of those referenced in the book, and sourcebibliography. Historical records are the heart of this work. Documents illustrate differentviewpoints, to provide a full grasp of the time and place, as well as Lincoln’s significance duringthis time.Never has such a rich, totally absorbing sourcebook on Lincoln been compiled as this. Kudosto McFarland for publishing it, super kudos, and then some, for the coauthors who obviouslyworked for years on their mammoth reference. As for Lincoln, nothing speaks more of hisunique character, devotion to the people he served as president as the following letter hewrote to Mrs. Bixby in Boston on November 21, 1864. The enormous tragedy he had to dealwith needs no further explanation here:“Dear Madam,I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of theAdjutant General of Massachusetts that you are the mother of five sons who have diedgloriously on the field of battle. I feel how weak and fruitless must be any word of mine whichshould attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrainfrom tendering you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the republic they died tosave. I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement and leaveyou only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours
to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.
Yours very sincerely and respectfully, A.Lincoln”Who among us dares to say, “No, that great president didn’t weep a moment when he signed
his letter”?
