This book was a gift (i.e., a present, not a blessing) and I have a weird compulsion to read every book I own. In this case, however, I had to give up and listen to the CD instead. Granted I prefer a deep dive into history rather than the light overview treatment this book provides. The author beguiled me with brief mention of two things I plan to delve into further: the schism of the Southern Baptist Church and the Baptist church over slavery and the two week period when Northern opinion went from celebrating the departure of the slave states to determination that the union must be restored. So in a sense this book was worth it.

FYI: This is not one of the current crop of hagiographies that give Lincoln the rock star treatment. ( )

This is a great overview of the antebellum and post-antebellum era up to 1900. I was pleased that Reconstruction was given decent time, and I learned more about why Reconstruction ultimately failed.

This is solid history; no tricks here. Mr. Burton writes well, and the narrative is also engaging. This is recommended for anyone interested in the lead up to the Civil War, the war itself, and the Reconstruction period that followed. This book is an excellent place to start for the novice, and it will encourage much more exploration. ( )

4377. The Age of Lincoln, by Orville Vernon Burton (read 2 Nov 2007) This is a study of Lincoln, the Civil War, and Reconstruction and its aftermath, by a scholar born in the South and now at the University of Illinois. It has no footnotes and its source notes are not in the book but (voluminously) at TheAgeofLincoln.com. The author's views are modern and very pro-freedmen, utterly rejecting the old-fashioned view of Reconstruction. There is much to be said for this panoramic view of the years from the 1840s to 1900, but it is so learned that it is not a lot of fun reading it. The Bibliographical Essay is 29 pages in length but is mostly a listing of books, with not a lot to tell the reader what is most worthwhile. A good book for someone more scholarly than am I in this field. ( )