Being there . . . . and just in time to make the lists for the best book buys for Christmas gifts
columns – – especially if the one who receives it is an Abraham Lincoln advocate and aficionado.
Co-authors Thomas J. Ebert, a retired reference and documents librarian at the California State
University, Fresno, and Allen Carden, professor of history and former president of Pacific
University, have presented bibulous Lincoln bibliophiles a sourcebook of incalculable,
undeterminable knowledge, to say nothing of simple casual, unabated reading joy. They refer
to their brilliant, one-of-a kind, reference as a “sourcebook”, developed by two “suppliers of
information”. This reviewer sees their contribution to Lincoln biography, which, by the way, the
Civil War president would chuckle, nodding approval, as a “compendium” – – that which is
valuable and carefully selected and weighed, saved, or shortened, in short, a brief summary of
the main heads of a larger work or system. One wonders, since both are Californians, what their
combined minds might come in with on the life of Fray Junipero Serra, the beloved founder of
the California mission system which emerged in 1769 in San Diego and over several decades up
the coast to Sonoma.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN, WHERE ARE YOU WHEN AMERICA SO DESPERATELY NEEDS YOU? A
WONDERFUL NEW BOOK TO BROWSE NOT ONLY IN REMEMBRANCE, BUT ALSO TELLING YOU
WHY – – A TREASURY OF CURIOUS, TOUCHING ASPECTS OF YOUR LIFE, YOUR PRESIDENCY, AND
SLAVERY AND CIVIL WAR. IT DESERVES A PLACE NOT ONLY ON THE CIVIL WAR SHELF OF EVERY
AMERICAN, BUT ALSO BY THE BEDSIDE OF EVERY LITERATE LINCOLN INSOMNIAC . . . .
Reviewed and highly, highly recommended as a Xmas gift, especially to the self, by Don DeNevi
“ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND HIS TIMES – – A Sourcebook on His Life, His Presidency, Slavery and
Civil War”, Compiled and Edited by Thomas J. Ebert and Allen Carden. McFarland & Company,
Inc., Jefferson NC: 2023, 445 pages, softcover, 8 ¼” x 10 ¾” ; sadly, not a single photograph or
map to illustrate the president, other than two different age-related portraits, one on the
cover, the other opposite the title page; $125. Visit, www.mcfarlandpub,com, or Email:
customerser@mcfarlandpub.com.
Rightly, Tom and Allen write, “These written materials serve as the foundation upon which
historians can construct a picture of Lincoln’s America. In addition to important chronology and
documents, our work includes introductory essays that summarize the topics of each chapter,
brief biographies of those referenced in the book, and a source bibliography. Historical records
are the heart of our work. Documents illustrate viewpoints to provide a full grasp of the time
and place, as well as Lincoln’s significance during the era.”
The two co-authors (I refuse to refer to them as “compilers” because anybody can
“compile”, including my cat, Lexi) stress that Lincoln’s significance in the history of slavery and
emancipation, the Union’s preservation and the formation of a new national vision is crucial to
comprehending the antebellum and Civil War periods in American history. “Our reference
effort combines chronology with almost 400 primary source papers to contextualize Lincoln’s
life within his historical era.” Kudos to Thomas J. Ebert and Allen Carden.
