Abraham Lincoln by Wilber F. Gordy

by Wilbur Fisk Gordy

Written in 1917, Wilbur Gordy’s biography of Abraham Lincoln brings to life one of the great men of history. The biography is not fictionalized; it sticks to factual information and stories, but it is presented in a way that makes history interesting and meaningful. As the book travels through the life of Abraham Lincoln, from boyhood on up, valuable lessons are taught about wisdom, kindness, honesty, hard work, love of learning, and persevering through trials.

Genres: Biography, History, Nonfiction, Read For School, Education, Civil War

Paperback

First published January 1, 1917

Reviews

[Lori]

This book really explains what a good and humble man that Lincoln was. I enjoyed it very much.

[Matthew Vezzani]

Abraham Lincoln, the personal witness and testimony of Abraham's life, upbringing, and impact on the world, is one of the best Biographies ever written. It writes of loss, not being enough, and wanting to give in to fear before things get any worse. It also attempts to fully encapsulate what it meant to be Abraham Lincoln, going as far as to she humbling his life was. One of this book's weaknesses is its ability to truly demonstrate how terrible poverty, isolation, death, slavery, and war are. However, this is also one of its greatest strengths. Reading this book allowed me to understand Abraham Lincoln, if only in the slightest. I now have an inkling of an idea of the President's life, and I've never known a man more brave or kind. I would recommend this reading to anyone who wishes to cry with sorrow and rejoice with glad tidings. It is a sorrowful tale, full of hardships and strifes, but above all else, it is heartwarming, kind, and a humble book that seeks an even meeker task. I rate this book five stars because of its superb writing, complete adherence to reality, and because it illustrated what it meant to be Abraham Lincoln.

[Ella O.]

A very good book! It really shows the true humble character of Abraham Lincoln!

[Mary]

I loved this book. I was so inspired learning about Abraham Lincoln. He knew his purpose and never wavered from it.

[Dixie Lee]

Good biography of Lincoln, simple illustrations and stories of Lincoln that help explain events that otherwise seem complicated. Gordy is an author very much pro Lincoln and painted a good image of him.

[Nalyn]

An absolutely wonderful biography of Lincoln. What a great man!

[Hayden Simpson]

this book was inspirational. I have never read a history book that was so powerful. It was powerful to me because I got to see the life of Abraham Lincoln from his perspective.

[Charlotte]

3.5 stars


This book was good, and I liked how we got to learn about Lincoln’s presidency. There were parts of the story I did really enjoy, but I wish it talked about his life outside of politics. It also could have used one more chapter for his childhood. I was actually surprised that the author did not mention the Abe and his Fish story, alongside other elements of his life which gave him the nickname Honest Abe. Overall, I think the book was okay and did have some good parts to it. Like how it mentioned the Chickamauga Battlefield, where I am going soon. I would probably recommend this book.

[Jorgina]

It's been a very long time since I read this book which was assigned to the youth in our Commonwealth School. It had been previously out of print and our institute convinced the publisher to print it again. When I revisit the book I'll put more into this review. Needless to say it, but here it is...it is definitely at the level of eighth grade and up if they are an excellent reader. Unfortunately most children who go through the American public school system are not good readers unless they have parents who are voracious good readers.

[LinkSkywalker]

This autobiography by Wilbur Fisk Gordy walks through the life of Abraham Lincoln. From the day he was born, June 12, 1806, to the day he died and all the days in between. Although he only lived 58 years, Abraham Lincoln made a great impression on American history. As through this story Abraham learns many valuable lessons that include: kindness, honesty, hard work, loyalty, and wisdom, till his assassination by John Wilkes Booth, April 15, 1864.

[Cora Lourcey]

I think this is my first one star haha! it just focused so much on his political life and I wanted to hear more about his family and his life before he became president. So if you want to read about more wars than you can count and politics this is the book for you.

[Wasif]

Good Life story of Abraham Lincoln. The wise decision he make for his country. He was one of the great president. He help his country to great.

[Michele Dale]

Family read.

[Tomi]

Excellent! A few chapters were a bit drawn out, but overall a page turner. A beautiful addition to our history library.

[Jill]

It was fine and good but didn’t keep my interest or my son’s. We are interested in Abraham Lincoln and his life, but we will find another book to learn more about him.

[Bella Rowell]

I read this for school. It was ok, it was kind of boring for me though.

[Krista]

Loved learning more about Lincolns character and have all the more admiration for him.

[☆ emeline]

I get why this is important, but 12 year old me was not impressed

[Brittany]

I loved this biography! Read aloud with 2 youngest kids (15 & 12).

[Cheyenne’s A Star! ✝️]

pretty interesting & easy to digest for a history book.

[Lisa]

3.5* A good overview, I felt it focuses most on his politics and presidency. It barely touches on wife, children, life away from the public. I learned things I didn't know and appreciated anew this unique man who kept our nation together.

*A space is missing between two words in the second to last paragraph of page 192.

[Mallory]

Super informational on Abraham Lincoln's life and his journey to being president, and following his final days

[Melissa]

Abraham Lincoln by Wilbur Fisk Gordy (written in 1917) was a biography about the life of Abraham Lincoln. The book follows Abe from childhood through the rest of his life. It teaches lessons about kindness, honesty, wisdom, hard work, love of learning, and perseverance. Abe puts into perspective the importance of learning, he was willing to learn and kept learning even after it wasn't required. In this book we learn about the tragedies and heartache Abe had to go through but we see his good attitude and faith to keep doing good and learning.
I liked reading this and seeing his faithful example he put forth to others. It inspires me to keep pressing forward and to build my personal attributes so I can be someone others admire.
-Bailey Helton, 14

[Breanne]

I was told this book is a very unbiased account of Abraham Lincoln's life in the under 800 page category. I would disagree that is unbiased though it has been a long time since I have read a biography that had me wanting to emulate the characteristics of an individual and at the same time, wishing I could have met him. There are powerful overtures toward self directed learning and kindness as well as doing what is right versus what is popular. These are timeless messages and when I turned the last page, I couldn't help but appreciate my time reading it. Certainly a wonderful family read aloud or personal, wholesome feel-good book.

[Jenny]

Enjoyed this very much. The author did a good job of showing Abraham Lincoln as a person of strong moral character throughout his life without bogging down or boring the reader, which can sometimes happen with biographies. I also appreciated the words of the man himself which were included. I would recommend this to anyone looking to learn more about Lincoln, it was written to be accessible to youth but not condescending in any way.

[Carolyn]

Gordy narrates the life story of the remarkable Mr. Lincoln. He did more telling than showing but it is definitely an inspiring read, especially for youth. It is hard to find, which is too bad because more of us today need to learn about what a statesman looks like.

[Melanie]

I really enjoyed this book. There were many wonderful, inspiring quotes from Lincoln. As I was reading through this I was in awe at the list of admirable qualities that I pulled out of this short, powerful biography.

[Cynthia Egbert]

The printing in these reproductions is somewhat painful but this is a worthwhile read. Mr. Gordy was a historian and quite prolific in his writings but most of his works are out of print now. Too bad, his works were considered textbooks, back in the day, and I wish we had such "textbooks" now.

[molly storms]

Quite possibly the worst book I've ever read. Sooooo boring. Abraham Lincoln was cool but the writting style of this book was terrible and I have never read such a boring book. I'm sorry if you have to read it for school like I did.

[Tessa]

"Whoever would understand in his heart the meaning of America will find it in the life of Abraham Lincoln" -- Ronald Reagan in his First Inaugural Address, paragraph 34.