John Cribb

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The Rail Splitter by John Cribb is a historical fiction story of a young Abraham Lincoln. Mr. Cribb is a best-selling author of fiction and non-fiction books.

Abraham Lincoln grows up on the frontier. His father needs help on the farm, but the bookish young man wants adventures, rafting down the Mississippi and going off to war. Teaching himself law, Abraham enters politics with the encouragement of his wife, Mary.

Congressman Lincoln’s political career is not stellar. The family is devastated by the loss of their child, but when the debate about slavery sweeps the country, Lincoln finds a cause worthy cause to enter politics.

This is a very charming book, following the footsteps of Lincoln before he started running, and eventually become, America’s 16th President. The title of the book takes its name from Lincoln’s nickname, which originated in the 1860 Illinois State Republican Convention. The nickname brought awareness to candidate Lincoln’s humble beginnings before pursuing law and political office.

The Rail Splitter by John Cribb seems to me more of a book for young adults (YA), this is, after all, a coming of age story. Maybe because I’m reading Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin at the same time. While Ms. Goodwin’s book is not in the author’s bibliography, they complement each other in several aspects of Lincoln’s early life.

I could certainly tell that Mr. Cribb had a lot of fun writing this book. Several historians have mentioned that the President has an excellent sense of humor, and Mr. Cribb certainly capitalized on that with some folksy jokes sprinkled throughout. That being said, the book is expertly researched, books like this should be the standard for historical fiction. One could learn a lot from books like this if reading hard-core history books is not up our alley.

There are some things that I wish the author included, such as Mr. Lincoln’s struggles with mental health – before we had a name for it. I feel that it would have certainly helped many readers which this book targets, to know that even a great man like him was human.

The book ends right before Lincoln starts his campaign for the highest office in the land. The book continues with Old Abe, which was previously published by Mr. Cribb.… (mehr)

There are in excess of 15,000 biographies of Abraham Lincoln, 125 of which deal just with his assassination. The first of these appeared in 1860, a political tract written by John Locke Scripps and one of the last, "Lincoln" by David H. Donald appeared in back in 1995. With such a plethora of titles available one wonders if another is necessary. In 2009 Michael Burlingame released his two volume "Abraham Lincoln: A Life" to wide acclaim, and the general consensus is that Burlingame covers Lincoln's early life exceptionally well. This is the same territory MR Cripp undertakes to cover in his readable "The Rail Splitter". It is well paced and easy to follow though I think fair to say an adult reader may be put off by the simplistic dialogue. For young readers unfamiliar with Lincoln this book will offer an introduction to the sixteenth President's remarkable life. Adult readers will find the scholarly works of Donald and Burlingame more rewarding.… (mehr)