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Dwight G Anderson 1st edit/1 print Abraham Lincoln The Quest For Immortality First Edition 1982 [Hardcover] Anderson, Dwight G [Hardcover] Anderson, Dwight G
This rare and vintage book is a perfect addition to any bibliophile's collection
Hardcover
First published March 12, 1982
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May 15, 2018
This book was not what I expected based on the jacket description. I thought it was a book about Lincoln's soul and his psychology; about an apparent obsession with death and a need to overcome it by feeling immortal. Not really.
It is much more about Lincoln's political ambition and an apparent wish to make himself immortal through political success; about his political failure before 1850 and his reaction to it; about his alleged views of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution; and, in particular, about his view of George Washington and alleged wish to match Washington's stature.
The author has some views of Lincoln that I found new and unusual. Not so much that Lincoln allegedly was enormously ambitious, but others. Mostly that Lincoln was allegedly filled with rage at his pre-1850 political failure (represented by a speech against the Mexican-American war which got laughed at) and at his failure to portray himself among his countrymen as an heir to the legacy of George Washington; and that he, consequently, began to display clear signs of mental and emotional instability. The author even believes Lincoln sought "revenge" against Washington for the failure, intending to carry out such revenge by re-forming the United States of America in a new image; and that this was the impetus behind Lincoln's successful run for president in 1860 and his prosecution of the Civil War. Interesting...Lincoln was so complex that I don't expect to ever understand him, despite there being at least ten thousand English-language books on him, of diverse viewpoints.
The reader might imagine author Dwight Anderson is a Southern partisan, but apparently not. Anderson was, per the book jacket, born in Montana. And the book sounds very objective, unlike one obnoxious paleo-libertarian polemic that I read some years ago.
Finally, this book cannot be called a biography in the strict sense of the word. It's a thesis on how Lincoln's psychological issues and his political aspirations were tied together.
It is much more about Lincoln's political ambition and an apparent wish to make himself immortal through political success; about his political failure before 1850 and his reaction to it; about his alleged views of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution; and, in particular, about his view of George Washington and alleged wish to match Washington's stature.
The author has some views of Lincoln that I found new and unusual. Not so much that Lincoln allegedly was enormously ambitious, but others. Mostly that Lincoln was allegedly filled with rage at his pre-1850 political failure (represented by a speech against the Mexican-American war which got laughed at) and at his failure to portray himself among his countrymen as an heir to the legacy of George Washington; and that he, consequently, began to display clear signs of mental and emotional instability. The author even believes Lincoln sought "revenge" against Washington for the failure, intending to carry out such revenge by re-forming the United States of America in a new image; and that this was the impetus behind Lincoln's successful run for president in 1860 and his prosecution of the Civil War. Interesting...Lincoln was so complex that I don't expect to ever understand him, despite there being at least ten thousand English-language books on him, of diverse viewpoints.
The reader might imagine author Dwight Anderson is a Southern partisan, but apparently not. Anderson was, per the book jacket, born in Montana. And the book sounds very objective, unlike one obnoxious paleo-libertarian polemic that I read some years ago.
Finally, this book cannot be called a biography in the strict sense of the word. It's a thesis on how Lincoln's psychological issues and his political aspirations were tied together.
Displaying 1 of 1 review