The Last Best Hope of Earth

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Shortly before issuing the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared slaves free in the secessionist states, Abraham Lincoln gave assurances to the border states of an all-white society to come, whereby freed slaves would be shipped to South American colonies. Nevertheless, argues Neely in this succinct, brisk political biography, Lincoln generally took a determined moral stance against slavery, which he regarded as an evil. Winner of a Pulitzer for The Fate of Liberty: Abraham Lincoln and Civil Liberties , Neely here disputes critics who charge that Lincoln's security measures during the Civil War amounted to a dictatorship, even though, as he graphically acknowledges, tens of thousands of civilians were arrested and civil liberties were drastically curtailed. As commander-in-chief, opines Neely, Lincoln had no equal in American history in combining political vision with military strategy. Nearly 100 plates reproduce documents, posters, cartoons, letters, broadsides and rare photographs. (Oct.)

Library Journal

Relying on the writings and speeches of Lincoln, Neely ( The Fate of Liberty: Lincoln and Civil Liberties , OUP, 1991) has in effect composed a political biography. By using Lincoln's own words, he shows us the greatness, fears, and pettiness of the man. Intensely nationalistic, Lincoln had a strong faith in the Constitution and an intuitive understanding of our forefathers' ideas. Neely demonstrates Lincoln's grasp of military strategy, extension of presidential power, restrictions on civil liberties, and realization that the Constitution would survive during the Civil War. Like Donald E. Fehrenbacher's Prelude to Greatness: Lincoln in the 1850s (1964), this work shows the complete evolution of Lincoln's thoughts, which were surprisingly modern regarding the rights of women and blacks. A stronger introduction would have strengthened this richly illustrated work. Recommended for scholars and informed lay readers.-- Richard Hedlund, Ashland Community Coll., Ky.

Patrick Reardon

Meely examines aspects of Lincoln's life that are most often summarized in a paragraph or two, or exiled to the footnotes. He treats them in depth, and the result is a portrait of Lincoln without that hagiography…Reading this book, it's almost possible to hear Lincoln's real voice, to see him walk into a room. That's no small accomplishment for a biography.
—Chicago Tribune

Stephen W. Sears

Meely knows a very great deal about Abraham Lincoln. Even better, he knows how to distill that knowledge for the benefit of the rest of us. The Last Best Hope of Earth is a wonderfully clear, wonderfully concise, wonderfully satisfying look at what Lincoln meant to the Civil War generation, and what he should mean to us.
—Washington Post Book World