Lincoln at Gettysburg: The Words that Remade America

I have read this book and loved it . The author, Garry Willis, compares Lincoln’s Address to Greek philosophy & oratory & death culture plus revolution in thought and style. The book is the best example of academic research & writing. I sending the book to my great nephewIn his 3rd year at college. I’m keeping my copy.

This slim book is nonetheless a tremendous expansion on the very slim speech - the Gettysburg Address that many of us memorized in school. It sets the speech in the war, in the history of cemeteries in the US, and among the other speeches in the ceremony at Gettysburg that day. I would never have picked it up except that it was a suggested book for Cornell alumni. So glad I did - great reading for anyone who loves Civil War era history or who has always loved the Address itself.

Literary prizes are handed out every year, but true worth is manifested by actual readers going out and buying their books year after year. Nearly a decade has passed since Garry Wills won the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award for "Lincoln at Gettysburg," but the magnitude of his achievement is measured by the continued interest which book lovers have lavished on this thoughtful and debate-stirring work of history. Wills situates the Gettysburg Address in the Greek Revivalism exemplified by Edward Everrett (the forgotten featured speaker at the dedication of the Gettysburg cemetary), as well as in the Transcendentalist movement of Theodore Parker and Ralph Waldo Emerson. He goes on to demonstrate the inherant radicalism of Lincoln's 272 immortal words, imbued as they are with the dangerous notion that all men are created equal. Wills argues convincingly that the Gettysburg address hijacked the narrow readings of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution put forward by the southern rebels; through his words, Lincoln succeeded in placing these founding documents on the side of the angels by insisting that liberty and equality rather than sterile legalisms about states rights were the true basis of the grand experiment of the founders. In so doing, America's greatest President changed the history of the nation forever, influencing politics and policy right down to the present day. Huzzahs to Mr Wills for disinterring the radical hidden within the Great Compromiser!! And thanks to the prize committees for getting it right for a change.

I listened to the audio cassette version read by the author. It is about six hour long. Normally I love audiobooks, but with this one I felt the paper version might be preferable because I could skim the overly-detailed parts and slow down on the sections that I really wanted to digest. I plan to get a paper version of this book because there are parts on Lincoln's choice of words and design of sentences that I want to reread.Wills gave more detail than I personally wanted on the influence of Ancient Greece on 19th century America - an interesting topic but he went on and on about it. There was also slightly more than I needed to hear on 19th century cemetery design, although this was also interesting at first.Wills does a good job of showing how Lincoln reframed the views that Americans held of the nation's origins. He illustrates how history can be revised by a single person if that person is a genius like Lincoln who recognizes a great opportunity. If you have any doubts about Lincoln's skills as a writer and orator, this book should dispell them.

Millions have read Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, but relatively few have understood the vast implications or this brief speech. Wills explains in crisp detail the many facets of what Lincoln said that day. He makes it clear that Lincoln's prescient vision is still relevant today. The Gettysburg themes comprised the first third of President Obama's second inaugural address. In brief: It's essential to remember that four score and seven years ago from the time Lincoln was speaking was the date the Declaration of Independence was signed. It is the Declaration, not the Constitution, that is the country's foundational document. "All men are created equal," all with certain inalienable rights, is the nation's beacon. The Constitution, with its awkward finesse of slavery, was the best that could have been done at the time and was clearly meant to be improved over time. The idea is to move forward toward a more perfect union, with baby steps at times and at times steps in the wrong direction but relentlessly forward. Wills makes clear that the Supreme Court justices who insist on interpreting modern law based on the original intent of the Constitution misunderstand that the country was conceived and dedicated to the lofty principles of the Declaration. Wills has written a brilliant explanation of what America is about at its essence. Lincoln understood it to the depths of his soul. We, the people, had a little trouble understanding the fine points, but we knew that if Lincoln believed it, well...our eyes have seen the glory.

This is the best book about President Lincoln's greatest and shortest statement. It won the Pulitzer Prize. The significance of the Civil War in American history is sometimes lost in all the writing about the war itself. The Declaration of Independence declared all men created by God were equal, but the Constitution contained provisions which contradicted that bold statement and allowed for slavery in the states that wanted it and required the return of fugitive slaves from free states. Lincoln declared what had happened by the war to preserve the Union was A NEW BIRTH OF FREEDOM, the promise of the Declaration had been redeemed for all Americans. His words to "us the living" were that it was each generation's responsibility to renew the fight for freedom so that "government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth." Elites and those in power are always seeking more power and more control and freedoms correspondingly shrink. For example, as the government takes control of health care away from the people, our freedom to choose our doctors and hospitals vanish.

Wow found book so interesting

This book is brilliant. The description of the practical problems of setting up the Gettysburg cemetery is shocking and should be required reading for anyone who believes that violence is the solution to any problem. The analysis of Lincoln’s Address is equally fascinating.

The book was unnecessarily long and quite academic. Nevertheless an insightful glimpse of a truly great President.

This book won a Pulitzer Prize, and after reading it, I know why. An excellent book.

Great book and a very good service, thank you.