I read this book with Lincoln at Copper Union. Each of these books covers a single important speech by Abraham Lincoln. The Cooper Union Address set a course for his presidential quest and the famous Gettysburg Address reset the course of the war. The speeches were delivered about three and a half years apart. The Cooper Union Address was given in New York City on February 27, 1860, prior to Lincoln’s nomination as the Republican presidential candidate. The Gettysburg Address was delivered on November 19, 1863, about four months after the battle.

Both books are highly readable and well researched. Wills’ won the Pulitzer Prize with Lincoln at Gettysburg and Holzer’s won the Lincoln Prize with his book about the Cooper Union Address.

It might seem hard to write an entire book about a single speech, but Wills and Holzer had no difficulty filling the pages. More important, readers will have no problem gobbling them up. The books are kept interesting by providing context, motivations, lifestyle, period travel, and supposed Lincoln collaboration with others in his political circle. I say supposed because Lincoln sought out advice and gave everyone the impression that he valued their suggestions and edits, however he used these changes sparingly. To a degree, this was a Lincoln technique to build support for an address prior to delivering it.

The pair of speeches have many similarities. Both were high-minded. Both had an important objective. Both advanced the abolition of slavery. Both were crafted to be heard and read. Both surprised their audiences. Both were memorable. They also had differences, the greatest being length. The Cooper Union Address was nearly an hour and at over seven thousand words, one of Lincoln’s longest speeches, while the Gettysburg address took only two minutes to deliver and contained a mere 272 words.

If you are interested in Abraham Lincoln or how to craft a great speech, these books are indispensable. They are well written, thoroughly researched, and fascinating reads.

This is possibly the most eloquently written NF book that I have read. Wills has an enlightened writing style that does not patronize the reader nor does it speak too high above the lay person. This book was very fascinating; I learned aspects of Lincoln that I was not familiar with before, such as, he was not totally against slavery (which is indeed disappointing and surprising). He was quite upset at General Meade after Gettysburg and yet another surprising fact, he was a great lover of Shakespeare. This book is very well researched, thorough, and interesting to read. History fans should read this book.

Three stars not because this is not well written or because of the quality of its content. This book gave me insight into Lincoln, the Civil War (especially after reading Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy and realizing I did not know much about the Civil War at all), speech writing, the basis of modern day rhetoric. There are many reviews already written about how fast this book reads while covering much depth on the Gettysburg Address. I just thought it was a bit academic and dry, three stars only because it didn’t tug at my heart strings.

The Gettysburg Address is perhaps the most famous speech in America history which never was intended to be as such & is also something that most children are tasked with memorizing in school. With "Lincoln at Gettysburg: The Words That Remade America", Garry Wills decides to take on the task of dissecting the Gettysburg Address for we the reader to understand just what was behind Lincoln's thought processes for that address in November 1863. The book itself is at times hard to read just because it goes in places a bit too far in detail with the 5 different factors that could be considered in what was said. The prologue of the book is more than 20 pages describing the battle which is a bit excessive. The book itself extends itself by nearly 100 pages for reasons that aren't entirely necessary as Wills goes through the debate of what exact words Lincoln said as well as giving we the reader a copy of the other speeches said that day & then includes in Part 4 of Appendix 3 the places where the applause was in the address as well as the actual text as well. Wills tries almost too hard at time to go phrase by phrase throughout the address to examine the context of it as well as using prior speeches by Lincoln which can be overwhelming to anyone w/out a degree in English or an advanced in history. Overall, this book is a huge disappointment to me & probably could've been a lot shorter than what it was.

Serious scholarship here, and wonderful research. I really can see why this book won the Pulitzer Prize that year. Wills uses Lincoln's notably short speech at Gettysburg and Wills compares Lincoln's speech to Edward Everett's famous, long speech delivered on the same day, focusing on the influences of the Greek revival in the United States and 19th century transcendentalist thought. Wills also argues that Lincoln's speech draws from his interpretation of the U.S. Constitution; Lincoln considered the Declaration of Independence the first founding document and therefore, looked to its emphasis on equality This redefining of the power of the Declaration of Independence was controversial to some in the North then, as it is to some arch conservatives like Robert Bork today.
Lincoln was saying that it was the Founder’s intent to acknowledge that “All Men are Created Equal”, whereas the later Constitution, with it’s Bill of Rights, failed to do so (Thus so many amendments over the years). He wanted to use the chance to bring equality to all. This was easily one of the best books on American history that I read in 2017. If you like American history or reading about the Civil War, this will show you another view of that war and this book is for you.

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This Pulitzer Prize winning book is a close analysis of Lincoln’s Gettysburg address, which was only 272 words long but is a true masterpiece which played a large role in shaping public opinion about the Civil War and Emancipation.
I gained a new appreciation for Lincoln’s skill with words. I had no idea how closely he modeled this speech upon Ancient Greek funeral orations.

This book probably reads much better than the audiobook version. There are interesting historical, constitutional, and even oratorial points strewn around the narrative of perhaps the most famous speech of all time. But the narration is almost like from a professor who took pride in NOT making a difficult subject engaging. I might pick up the hard copy some day.

My first ever book Lincoln.

Couple of years ago, one my Toastmaster Club member gave a speech analyzing Gettysburg Address. In a little over 6minutes, she walked the audience through nuances of each and every word/structure in that Address. It was her speech that made me curious about Lincoln and his incredible set of words, so organized to withstand generations to come!!

I made the mistake of reading couple of articles from this Book's author before I started reading the book. It took the 'curiosity' factor away from the book!

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/...

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/...

This book is an academic exercise, which brings forth (among other topics) historical precedents, the romanticism associated with speeches at funerals, battlefields, and influences on Mr. Lincoln that might have lead him to give THAT speech.

Along the way the reader is introduced (at least for people who are like me) to important characters who might have had influence on Mr. Lincoln - Theodore Parker, Daniel Webster, Edward Everett. Parts of the book are fascinating to read. I did skim through pages which I felt was for purists! Given the time at which I read my books - at night when it's peaceful around me - certain phrases/sections of the book made sit up and admire the words and probable thought behind those words.

To quote one such :

"The great political idea of America, the idea of the Declaration of Independence, is a composite idea made up of three simple ones

1.tEach man is endowed with certain unalienable rights.

2.tIn respect of these rights all men are equal.

3. A government is to protect each man in the entire and actual enjoyment of all the unalienable rights.

Now the first two ideas represent ontological facts, facts of human consciousness; they are facts of necessity. The third idea is an idea derived from the two others, is a synthetic judgement a priori; it was not learned from sensation experience; there never was a government which did this, nor is there now.

Each of the other idea transcended history; every unalienable right has been alienated, still is; no two men have been actually equal in actual rights. Yet the idea is true, capable of proof by human nature, not of verification by experience; as true as the proposition that three angles of a triangle are equal to two right angles; but no more capable of a sensational proof [based on physical senses] than that.

The American Revolution, with American history since, is an attempt to prove by experience this transcendental proposition, to organize the transcendental idea of politics. The idea demands for its organization a democracy - a government of all, for all, and by all."

This I have read and re-read this. It gives me goosebumps even now!

I am sure I'll come back to this book!

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize. A thorough look at Lincoln's ability to use words to change the future. A study of the history of Lincoln's past and future use of language, in many situations, that demonstrated his ability to express his beliefs, concerns and commitments to impact the future.

The book contains an analysis of how a three minute, 272 word speech could have such a tremendous impact on the gravest of circumstances.

Wills did a great job.

Garry Wills draws from multiple sources to examine how the Gettysburg Address was written and delivered by President Lincoln, the societal context during the time it was given, and what the address itself accomplished.

In expounding on the physical, rhetorical and constitutional ramifications of the address, Wills ably demonstrates how and why the brief speech indeed changed America. To make sense of the Declaration of Independence (i.e., all men are created equal and endowed with unalienable rights — life, liberty, pursuit of happiness) and the codifying of that idea with the U.S. Constitution (which legalized slavery), Lincoln made clear the job was not complete in 1776 ... the fight could, would and will continue so that freedom and representative government will live on.

The straightforward idea put forth in the address is exhaustively researched — and while not an especially easy book to read, its contents provide much to chew on ... and is relevant after more than 25 years since its publication and more than 150 years since the pivotal event.

I never find any book about Lincoln to be a waste of my time, and this one was no exception. It's a short read and makes for a good companion piece to Ronald C. White's "The Eloquent President: A Portrait of Lincoln Through His Words" and "Lincoln's Greatest Speech: The Second Inaugural". On the whole I preferred White's work, which in the case of "The Eloquent President" was a more thorough examination of the same topic published by Wills ten years prior, but anyone interested in the subject would do well to read both authors' books. Wills, like White, does an exceptional job showing the larger cultural and literary influences on Lincoln's writing, his powerful grasp of the language, and the transformative influence it had on American writing and rhetoric in the years that followed.

Fascinating look at the historical and intellectual context that birthed Lincoln’s famous Gettysburg Address. At a mere 272 words, his speech forged our modern understanding of the Constitution as an imperfect vehicle to accomplish the revolutionary work of the Declaration of Independence, testing whether any nation dedicated to “the proposition that all men are created equal” can long endure.