Exhaustive examination of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. What a great piece of writing, with such phrases as “last full measure of devotion”, “It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this”, “This world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here”, “that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth”.

This was an odd and interesting book- really, it is the biography of one single speech. Wills provides massive amounts of context and background for Gettysburg address, from Greek rhetorical style to Lincoln's place in the political climate of the Civil War.

I found it fairly interesting for the larger part of the book, but towards the end, it started to drag, and by the time I got to the appendix, I was more than ready to be done.

Some valuable insights, especially in parallels to ancient funeral orations. Kind of runs out of steam at the end though, with digressions into 19th-c funeral and mourning customs.

Wow. I learned a lot reading this book. It is a fascinating read and significantly deepened my understanding of Lincoln's motives for the speech. I have read many books about Abraham Lincoln, but few gave as much detailed insight into the complexities of this short but most important speech as Mr. Wills does in this book. The 272-word, 10-sentence Gettysburg Address is also one of the most important definitions of the purpose of government and the philosophy of what the United States thinks it should be, and, it pays tribute to the incredible sacrifices of men who gave their lives to save our country and make its philosophy of government permanent. A copy of the Gettysburg Address is included at the end, along with the Edward Everett's speech, a known orator of the day, who spoke for two hours on the same day, just prior to Lincoln delivering his short, succinct address.

This is a must read for those who love history, the Civil War, and/or Abraham Lincoln.