What a gift to a reader this book is. It is an opportunity to witness a brilliant mind explore a profound one.

The author encapsulates the few days preceding the Address with attention to detail coupled with the scopeof the address. Together with Margaret Leech's "Reveille in Washington" prvides the lay reader with an outstanding view of the times and the man. Lincoln had every reason to skip the event (son's illness, Everett also to speak, anger of the families) and yet not only did he decide (1) to confront the issue, (2)clearly wrote his own remarks, and (3) wrote beyond the war to the greater issues. Wills captures all this with a book that is both articuate in detail with a solid view to the greater concerns (not surprisingly by a man up to the task by profession and interests.

This is the second copy I have purchased of this book - the first is in tatters from being read so often, by me and by my friends. It is a classic, and should be required reading for all high school students. Full of insights into Lincoln, the classic forms of writing, and an extraordinary section about how burial sites have evolved, it is a must read.

The study of words, philology, worked well for Abraham Lincoln before and during his short presidency. The Power of words. He knew how to use the words of the common folks and could be euridite in his oratory. Mainly he used short, easy to remember elocutions for the best effect.

As with all good speakers, he used silence and pauses well (never "uhs" to fill in -- nothing turns the listener off as even on "uh" -- it means you're not prepared and have not mastered what you want or need to say.

Herman S. Frey said, "Perjurer Sanford Conover was jailed for his false accusation that Jefferson Davis was involved in Lincoln's assassination in any way." Lincoln's well-thought through address spoke for the turmoil of that day and for future political rhetoric of our time.

The study of words, philology, worked well for Abraham Lincoln before and during his short presidency. The Power of words. He knew how to use the words of the common folks and could be euridite in his oratory. Mainly he used short, easy to remember elocutions for the best effect.

As with all good speakers, he used silence and pauses well (never "uhs" to fill in -- nothing turns the listener off as even on "uh" -- it means you're not prepared and have not mastered what you want or need to say Lawyers in Lincoln's time debated as a form of perfecting the art of persuation and philolgy (also psychology) to win that debate. Most were educated at college and universities (some at prestigious universities abraod), and enjoyed the power of appropriate words and the victory over his opponent. Abraham was self-educated for the most part. His unkempt appearance gave the impression that he wasn't "polished. It takes a great man to be the victor in a battle of words. When he opened his mouth to speak in his high tenor voice, it wasn't how he sounded it was what he said which mattered. Speaking is not just talking or membling words (I know someone who does that quite well, but I admit he can sing.). His expressive eyes, wry humor, knowledge of his subject and hand gestures (even body language) made him not just impressive but a leader of men.

Herman S. Frey said, "Perjurer Sanford Conover was jailed for his false accusation that Jefferson Davis was involved in Lincoln's assassination in any way." Lincoln's well-thought through address spoke for the turmoil of that day and for future political rhetoric of our time. Lincoln was aware of the power of his rhetoric to define war aims. He made the 80-mile trip from Washington City to Gettysburg for a reason. It was important as to time and place for his historic three-minute oration to change the country into a nation with hope for a future. Not only inspiring, "it was a product of the moment, ...as Lincoln moverd under destiny's guidance. "How Lincoln Won the War With Metaphors" says it all.

Lincoln at Gettysburg: The Words that Remade America (Simon & Schuster Lincoln Library)
I had been reading only business books until this book came out. I had always enjoyed reading about Lincoln and the Civil War. Wills book brought all that back to life for me and I set out reading history and literature again. His style with great research took me straight to scenes. I read it in one sitting.

In his book, Lincoln at Gettysburg, Garry Wills sets about debunking the myths, legends, and rumors concerning Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address." Wills seeks to show that because of the Gettysburg Address " . . . the Civil War is what Lincoln wanted it to mean." (pg. 38) Wills helps the reader understand what events, speeches, and speakers had impacted Lincoln in the past, which ultimately influenced Lincoln's selection of words for the speech itself. Wills notes that the speech had influences from such diverse sources as Daniel Webster, Thomas Jefferson, as well as Greek figures such as Pericles. The book also describes the rural cemetery movement that was beginning to rise at the time of the speech, which was influential in the design of the Gettysburg Cemetery. The book also answers many of the critics of Lincoln, who argue the speech and the Emancipation Proclamation were weak, and illustrate Lincoln's propensity of clever evasions and key silences concerning key issues. Willis also notes how the style of the address was the forerunner of a new way of communicating, a way fit for the machine age.
One of the first topics Wills addresses is the myth that the man who spoke before Lincoln, Edward Everett, impositioned the audience with a two-hour long speech that bored the listeners. Wills notes long speeches were common, and expected for the day. He gives reference to the Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858, which illustrate that Lincoln himself was capable and comfortable speaking at length before groups of people. Willis also emphasizes that Everett was the invited speaker for the dedication, and Lincoln had been asked simply to give some remarks. Wills also demystifies the story that Lincoln wrote the address on a napkin, or while sitting on the stand during Everett's speech. Wills notes Lincoln composed he speeches thoughtfully, to simply jot one down quickly would be out of character. (pg. 28)
Wills notes the Greek revival that was occurring in America at this time, and the influence it had on Everett and Lincoln. Everett had been a leading proponent of the Greek Style, influencing many through his speeches, as well as the time he spent teaching at Harvard. Wills notes Everett had inspired many of the Transcendentalists, including Ralph Waldo Emerson. Emerson stated that the Gettysburg Address would not " . . . easily be surpassed by words on nay recorded occasion." (pg. 47) Wills notes that Everett could be given credit, as much as anyone else, in creating the conditions for Lincoln's address, and his classicism was as much a forerunner to Lincoln as his foil. (pg. 47)
Understanding exactly what Lincoln meant in the speech is one of Wills' primary goals. To help the reader understand, Wills dissects many of the passages from the address, and then gives the reader insight into Lincoln's personality. One of the key phrases of the speech concerns the fathers of the country. Wills notes that Lincoln never seems to have been interested in George Washington. To Lincoln, the founding fathers were those who were the authors of the Declaration of Independence, particularly Thomas Jefferson, whom Lincoln considered the most distinguished politician in America's history.
Wills shows how Lincoln used the Gettysburg Address to refresh the memories of Americans the ideals the founding fathers placed in the Declaration of Independence, and the self-evident truth that `all men are created equal.' Wills notes how Lincoln's earlier speeches illustrate his ideas on slavery, which was the complete opposite of equality. Lincoln also used the Declaration to stress that the nation was founded in unity, and should stay unified. Wills states, "For him, the fathers are always the begetters of the national idea. The founders of the nation founded it on that." (pg. 86) Wills also notes how Lincoln and Daniel Webster felt the Declaration of Independence was closer to being the founding document of the United States than was the Constitution. (pg. 130) The ideals stated in the Declaration were more pure than the Constitution, which was based on compromises. Wills adds excerpts from Lincoln's speeches, which illustrate how the Constitution was to make a more `perfect union,' but not define the union itself.
To most Americans, the consensus opinion of the Gettysburg Address is to place it among the greatest speeches ever given, if not the greatest. Wills shows how Lincoln derived much of the address from his accumulated experiences. Some historians, particularly Richard Hofstadter, see the address as another instance where Lincoln avoided the issues and sought to placate the nation with weak rhetoric. Hofstadter does not criticize the address in the book, however it is noted that Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation issued earlier that year was completely neglected in the address. Hofstadter says the Emancipation Proclamation " . . . had all the moral grandeur of a bill of lading. It contained no indictment of slavery, but simply based emancipation on `military necessity'. " (pg. 137)
Hofstadter further accuses Lincoln of being of two minds, which changed depending on the demographic of his audience. Hofstadter illustrates this by contrasting Lincoln's speeches he gave in Southern Illinois, versus speeches he gave in Northern Illinois. Hofstadter said Lincoln possibly believed whatever he uttered at the time he delivered it. He states, " Possibly his mind too was a house divided against itself." (pg. 92) Wills contends Hofstadter is pursuing false issues regarding Lincoln's speeches. Wills argues that it was not a matter of his position on the issues, but rather Lincoln chose when to "tickle the racism of his audience" (pg. 93)
One of the more interesting issues Wills concentrates on is the style of the address itself. Lincoln was noted to prefer succinctness and brevity to long overdrawn prose. Wills illustrates this in Lincoln's dispatches with General Grant. Grant was known for his dispatches that related the facts in the fewest words possible. Lincoln learned to be brief as well because of his telegraphs to Grant and other generals. Lincoln developed a reluctance to waste words and omitting coupling words. Lincoln also arranged the address so key words were repeated, so that each paragraph was bound to the preceding and following paragraphs. Wills states, "He was a Transcendentalist without the fuzziness. He spoke a modern language because he was dealing with a scientific age for which abstract words are appropriate." (pg. 174) Wills believes Lincoln was not addressing an agrarian future, but a mechanical future, in which economical speech that meshed like the gears of a machine was needed.
Willis tackles a subject that many Americans learned at an early age, but likely never thought about the deep meanings behind the short speech. Wills includes criticism of recent leaders and politicians such as Ronald Reagan, Robert Bork, and Ed Meese. Whatever his opinions regarding these men and their ideas, it seemed out of place with the rest of the book, and unfortunately dates what could be a timeless analysis of the Gettysburg Address. Despite the minor flaws, the book offers great insight and reflection upon an event in history that to many has lost its significance.

Garry Wills writes, "Hemingway claimed that modern American novels are the offspring of Huckleberry Finn. It is no exaggeration to say that all modern political prose descends from the Gettysburg Address."



Indeed, Edward Everett was given top billing that day and was to deliver a customary address of two or three hours. Lincoln's remarks were solicited almost as an afterthought. But Everett's day was over, a new era had begun, and America would never be the same. Political discourse would never be the same.



At Gettysburg, "Lincoln does not argue history or politics, he makes history...He came to change the world." As time has judged these words and valued this work, he did. He called up a new nation, reborn, and rededicated.



Wills takes a long, deep drink of the draft of this address. He circumspectly explores the culture, the politics, the popular culture, the context of the times. "Lincoln at Gettysburg" is a circumspect work in the hands of a masterful author, worthy of reading and re-reading. An important edition for every library.

Garry Wills writes, "Hemingway claimed that modern American novels are the offspring of Huckleberry Finn. It is no exaggeration to say that all modern political prose descends from the Gettysburg Address."

Indeed, Edward Everett was given top billing that day and was to deliver a customary address of two or three hours. Lincoln's remarks were solicited almost as an afterthought. But Everett's day was over, a new era had begun, and America would never be the same. Political discourse would never be the same.

At Gettysburg, "Lincoln does not argue history or politics, he makes history...He came to change the world." As time has judged these words and valued this work, he did. He called up a new nation, reborn, and rededicated.

Wills takes a long, deep drink of the draft of this address. He circumspectly explores the culture, the politics, the popular culture, the context of the times. "Lincoln at Gettysburg" is a circumspect work in the hands of a masterful author, worthy of reading and re-reading. An important edition for every library.

in 1863, using fewer than 300 words. Garry Wills uses a lot more to explain to us why that brief speech has become immortal. The speech confirms that Lincoln was perhaps uniquely gifted to be a President, in spite of an inadequate formal education, an often unhappy personal life, and a public persona which sometimes repelled the rich and pompous. For anyone interested in the Civil War era, this is a must-read.

in 1863, using fewer than 300 words. Garry Wills uses a lot more to explain to us why that brief speech has become immortal. The speech confirms that Lincoln was perhaps uniquely gifted to be a President, in spite of an inadequate formal education, an often unhappy personal life, and a public persona which sometimes repelled the rich and pompous. For anyone interested in the Civil War era, this is a must-read.

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.

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.

Garry Wills analyzes one of the most significant presidential addresses in American history. LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG: THE WORDS THAT REMADE AMERICA is an important study about Abraham Lincoln's commemorative and memoriam for those who lost their lives at the battle of Gettysburg in July 1863 during the US Civil War. It is also a historical and literary achievement that has been recited or referenced by US presidents after Lincoln as well as military and literary writers from General Eisenhower and Mark Twain, and students. Another important aspect of the Gettysburg Address is that it helped create a "symbol and people's political identity" (51).

Wills dissects the speech and shows parallels to classical, philosophical, and historical studies: Roman Republic and Greek Revivalism, and transcendentalism of Ralph Waldo Emerson. The Gettysburg Address resonates the historic past that was revisited during the early nineteenth century, and in Lincoln's case, the heroicism of the Athens War and Peloponnesian War.

For many who remember the speech from studying US history at the primary and secondary level, this book is indeed, is a great supplement to reading and understanding the 272-word essay. LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG is also recommended reading for the history buff that may want to know the story about America's most significant speeches that has had an effect on American society.

Author Garry Wills is unequivocal in his admiration for Abraham Lincoln and his brief speech, which became arguably the most famous oration of American history. In this fascinating book, he places the Gettysburg Address in context, explaining the political philosophy that inspired it, the literary precedents that gave it form, and the social/historical milieu that influenced the individuals who were present. There are many interesting tidbits here, including the culture of death that existed in the 19th century and the way it influenced the evolution of cemeteries, the influence of classical Greek oratory on the structure of the address, and Lincoln's careful attention to the written word.

The pen is mightier than the sword goes the famous saying. Few speeches examplifies this concept more than the Gettysburg Address of Abraham Lincoln. This book by Garry Wills examines this all-important speech line by line, examines what Lincoln meant with each word, and what people in posteriety have taken it to mean. The contents of the speech are framed within previous literary texts such as the US Declaration of Indepence, the US Constitution, New England Transcendantelism, Classical Greek literature, etc...

The book also frames the speech within other speeches of that era. For example, Wills shows how Lincoln did not consistently advocate publicly for the abolition of slavery for a long time. During his presidential campaign, Lincoln would change his stance toward slavery depending on which state he was in. Even after the Civil War started, Lincoln did not abolish slavery. But as time passed, Lincoln slowly and steadily moved the nation towards the idea of all men being free. This movement culminated in the Gettysburg Address in which Lincoln fully and purposefully refuted all Southern claims of a literal reading of the Constitution, and replaced it with one central concept; all human beings deserve freedom.

All in all a great book. The reading level is accessible enough for high-schoolers but with enough depth to impress adults. I recommend it.

Garry Wills is a very learned and intelligent man whose views on politics are very different than mine. Frankly, I have come to enjoy his writing less and less over the years as he has become more strident and even shrill in his criticisms of our country and conservative religious faith. However, this is a book I enjoyed very much and encourage everyone to read.

Wills provides a good history of the address Lincoln gave at Gettysburg. He provides a great context for our understanding of what was said that day. One of the especially helpful things the author does is contrast Lincoln's brief address with the larger and more conventional (for their time) speech by the acclaimed orator, Edward Everett.

Along with the terrific history, the author makes an argument that what Lincoln says in the address makes a statement for the future of the Union that is radically different than what the founders had set down. He notes that Lincoln took actions and stated beliefs and purposes that were nothing less than a complete reinterpretation of America and how this address summarizes this view, however briefly. Its genius is in the way it evokes the founding and fuses it with a vision that had never existed before nor had it been forged in the fire of public debate. It was Lincoln's genius to bring the nation with him into this new vision.

Whether or not you agree with Wills, you will benefit from the great history and context he provides. I especially enjoyed reading the speech by Edward Everett and the understanding it gave me of nineteenth century oratory. Lincoln himself was capable of long and even extemporaneous speechmaking. Just think on the Lincoln - Douglass debates and you will have all the evidence you need. Yet, the genius in this little speech has come to be recognized with the passage of time and it is one of the treasures of our national patrimony.

In his book, Lincoln at Gettysburg, Wills creates a picture of Lincoln that illustrates the truly significant nature of the president in American history. By breaking apart the Gettysburg address and examining not just the words of the address but also the historical context, Wills provides a picture that shows how significant Lincoln was to American history.

In his analysis of the address, Wills does something that I found to be very significant and that is to answer the charges of historians in the vein of Richard Hofstadter head on. Hofstadter points out that the Emancipation Proclomation really did very little, given which slaves it actually freed, Wills answers this charge directly, which provides a great defense of Lincoln in the end.

Even though in some cases Wills does get a little too detail oriented, his analysis of the text of the address, the analysis of the historical context, not just of the war, but of the social structure of American of society as well, and his defense of Lincoln all make this book well worth your time. It provides the brush strokes for the portrait of Lincoln that is frequently painted in our classrooms.

Never before have I read a history book that was so riveting. I read it and then read it again.

The other reviews give great details into why this book was so good so I will only add this: This is a book that rekindled a desire in me to read more and to learn more.

Garry Wills has done it again.

His analytical skills are so incisive and commonsensical that you wonder how anyone could interpret the world differently. "Gettysburg" reveals his talents anew. From his exposition of the 19th century urban cemeteries movement, to Americans' fascination with all things Greek to his analysis of Lincoln's personal and public views of slavery, Wills satisfied my hunger for information while leaving me panting for more. Wills demolishes a number of persistent myths about Gettysburg. No, Lincoln did not write his address at the last minute on the back of an envelope; he had vast respect for the spoken word and there is ample evidence that he prepared his address thoroughly long before the Gettysburg dedication. Wills's description of the grisly, wretched work of burying and reburying battlefield casualties is a necessary counterbalance to the tales of soldierly courage and strategy that are the sum of other histories. Even the appendices are fascinating. Wills includes the text of the 2-hour oration of Edward Everett, the dedication's main speaker, whose work has often been diminished in relation to Lincoln's 3-minute speech. Reading Everett's long but excellent speech followed by Lincoln's short "remarks" has the effect of putting you at the scene.

Most importantly, Wills explains how Lincoln's address subtly but unalterably reinterpreted our country's founding documents. After Gettysburg, the idea that "all men are created equal" became a cornerstone of the American Dream, sowing seeds that sprung up in the many civil rights movements of the 20th and 21st centuries.

A remarkable and important book!

Garry Wills has written a marvelous and meanigful book that adds luster and new life to a speech that most of us heard and did not fully appreciate in school. He suggests that the few words marked a transition in American thought that not many recognized at the time. Taking the ideas back to their intellectual and emotional bases, he emphasises in part just how different the world view was when the speech was given. Language and ideas have chnaged so profoundly that we may not understand that we do not understand. Wonderful!

The Battle of Gettysburg, a pivotal event in the Civil War, raged from July 1 to July 3, 1863. It was the largest battle ever fought in the Western Hemisphere and ended the Confederacy's second invasion of the North. Following the battle, the community of Gettysburg was thick with dead and wounded men. The Governor of Pennsylvania authorized the purchase of a cemetry for the reburial of the Union dead. The cemetry was dedicated in a ceremony on November 19, 1863. Edward Everett, a disinguished orator of the day, delivered a speech lasting over two hours. President Abraham Lincoln also accepted an invitation to deliver short remarks. His remarks of 272 became known as the Gettysburg Address. They constitute a seminal statement, and restatement of the American vision.

Gary Wills's study "Lincoln at Gettysburg" deserves the accolades it has received if for no other reason than it gave many readers the opportunity to read and think about the Gettysburg Address. This is a speech that is dulled and lost in childhood. It needs to be approached and rethought as an adult to get an understanding of the depth of Lincoln's message.

Wills sees the Gettysburg Address as recasting and remaking the American democratic experience. The speech expressly brings the hearer and reader back to the Declaration of Independence with its self-evident truth that "All men are created equal." This truth, Lincoln turns into a "proposition" on which our country was founded. (The Constitution, adopted thirteen years after the Declaration, countenances slavery and includes no language about human equality.) In his spare prose, Lincoln says little directly about the nature of "equality". Wills discusses the address and masterfully places it in the context of Lincoln's earlier speeches to help the reader understand the development of Lincoln's ideas on slavery, the antithesis of human equality.

The Gettysburg Address also sounded the theme of the United States as a single undivided nation rather than a union or confederation of States. Wills shows how this theme too derives from the Declaration, when the people of the colonies rose up in unity to declare their Independence from Britain. Wills also reminds the reader of the sources of the idea of Nationhood in American history. He alludes to the Federalism of Chief Justice John Marshall and Justice Joseph Story. In particular, Wills discusses the Webster-Hayne debates. Lincoln greatly admired Webster as well as his fellow Whig, Henry Clay. Webster uttered the famous line "Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable," which resonates through the Gettysburg Address.

Wills tries to show the influence on Lincoln's thought on the transcendentalism of Emerson and of Theodore Parker. I thought this one of the more challenging sections of the book. While the Declaration was born in the skepticism of British empiricism and of Deism, transcendentalism emphasized the ideal. The Declaration and the Address, and the American mission, Lincoln transformed into ideal to be struggled for and realized by the living to commemorate the sacrifice of those who gave their lives to attain it.

The book also includes an excellent treatment of rhetoric and speech, tracing Lincoln's address back to Thucidides and Georgias and ending with the observation that it marked the beginning of modern American prose.

This book will encourage the reader to rethink and to understand the great nature of the American political experiment.

This is a well-written book, with moments of eloquence. In the end, though, it is uneven and unsatisfying--and mistitled. The centerpiece is, indeed, the Gettysburg Address, but Wills spends most of his time exploring the cultural background to the speech (e.g. the Greek revival, nineteenth-century cemeteries, Transcendentalism) and discussing Lincoln's other speeches. All this is fine, and often interesting, but the book might more appropriately have been titled, "Lincoln: The Man Whose Words Remade America."

When he treats the cultural aspects of the period and the speech, Wills it at his best. His discussion of Greek rhetoric is truly fascinating. During the early 1800s, the United States experienced a Greek revival, in which intellectual thought moved from the Roman-republic fixation of the Founders to the ancient Greek democratic tradition. Edward Everett, a gigantic figure of the time and the main speaker at Gettysburg, led this transformation, part of which injected elements of Greek rhetoric into the culture. This showed up most prominently in the form of Greek funeral orations (such as the famous one of Pericles), a style that Lincoln adopted in his address. Also interesting is Wills' chapter on the culture of death: how cemeteries became detached from churches and moved into rural areas, how they were viewed as places of reflection and education, how even children were encouraged to participate in this culture.

However, when Wills moves beyond this generally straightforward telling of history into argument, the book grows considerably weaker. Arguing against James McPherson is a dangerous thing to do, and Wills does it twice, declaring that McPherson is wrong to suggest that Lincoln came to view the South, in some manner, as a foreign power and that his position evolved to embrace unconditional surrender and total war. Not that McPherson is infallible (indeed, I'm not entirely convinced on the former point), but Wills' arguments are entirely unconvincing. Moreover, Wills apparently has some ideological axes to grind against the conservative movement he left some years ago. Twice does Wills mention the twentieth century. Both times he attacks "states' rights" or "original intent" conservatives. Criticism is heaped upon Robert Bork, Ronald Reagan, and Edwin Meese, and special animus is reserved for Willmoore Kendall. None of these individuals is beyond criticism, but doing so in this book seems out of place and disrupts the narrative flow.

Wills' thesis that Lincoln effected a revolution in American political thought is a sound though not at all original one. To my mind, this book's merit lies in the first half of the book, where Wills delves into the culture of the early 1800s and places the Gettysburg Address within that milieu. The rest of the book, however, proves valuable only as a starting point for controversy, which is not entirely bad.

Wills has always had the tendency to go one or two steps beyond what is strictly necessary. The examination of any historical document, situation, personality, movement, etc. triggers an instant associative avalanche in his over-stuffed cerebral cortex. Yes, yes, it's a wonderfully complete analysis of Lincoln's little speech -- it's just got too much slag. There's a lot of nice history here -- context, de-bunking of myths, personality quirks, and (Wills' fav) ironies -- but the auxiliary geek material is presented with the same brio as the rest, calling into question the author's sense of proportion.

That said, it's great. Four stars.

This marvelous book by Garry Wills's proves that you can know something without really knowing it. Nearly every American has, at some point, been asked to memorize Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, and those who haven't have at least been exposed to it. The brilliance of Wills's book is that upon finishing it, you read Lincoln's remarks as if you had only discovered them for the first time.

Part of the book is devoted to some mild debunking, for instance, that his remarks were not well received at the time. But the emphasis of the book is on placing the Address in context, the literary context, the intellectual context, the political context, and the historical context. He contrasts it with other examples of funeral orations, beginning with the Greeks and the revival of Greek forms in the decades preceding the Civil War but after the founding of the US, at which time Roman forms of learning were paramount. The intellectual context is that of American Transcendentalism, and Wills shows the degree to which Lincoln was indebted to leading Transcendentalists such as Theodore Parker for many of the ideas in the Address. The historical context is, of course, a civil war that is being waged over the fate of the nation. The political context is Lincoln's radical elevation of the notion of equality as not merely a major mark of the American experiment, but the central concept underlying the formation of our nation.

The book contains many superb appendices, including a discussion of the various surviving texts, a complete transcript of Edward Everett's speech delivered on the same day, and a discussion of the precise location upon which the address was delivered.

As always with Garry Wills, I am struck with the breadth of his learning and his passion for ideas. Wills never, ever writes as a mere drudge, but always as an enthusiast. Another great book by a great scholar.