Words of Abraham Lincoln

From the “Four score and seven years ago” that every American schoolchild knows to personal notes and dozens of memorable letters, debates, and speeches from a critical time in this nation’s history, here is a remarkable collection of Lincoln’s writings. Through them, we can follow the sixteenth president’s development from country lawyer to healer of a wounded nation.

Arranged thematically, The Words of Abraham Lincoln brings together his early writings, his notes on courtship, marriage, and the family, his thoughts on slavery, including the full text of the Emancipation Proclamation, and his letters to his generals during the Civil War, among other subjects. This book includes eight historical photographs and a chronology.

Two hundred years after his birth, Lincoln’s writing endures. Witty and wise, Lincoln speaks today as powerfully as he did when he was president.

A new collection of quotations from the speeches and writings of Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), published to coincide with the 2009 Congressional Bicentennial Celebration of his birth.

The Words of Abraham Lincoln highlights the remarkable, wise, and inspiring words and writings of our sixteenth president, who saw us through the Civil War and championed the Emancipation Proclamation. Arranged chronologically, covering Lincoln's broad life experience, the book highlights quotes covering: the early years as a back country lawyer * his marriage and family * Lincoln as a humorist * the slavery controversy * the long Civil War period * the inspirational last years.

"We here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain-that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom-and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." (Gettysburg Address)

"Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves; and, under a just God, can not long retain it."

The critically acclaimed Newmarket Press "Words Of" series began in 1982 with the publication of The Words of Gandhi (now in its 14th printing) and The Words of Martin Luther King, Jr. (now in its 19th printing), which have each sold more than 100,000 copies. The "Words Of" quotation collections are timeless and inspiring classics.

Children's Literature

"The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battle-field, and patriot grave, to every living heart and hearthstone, all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature." This famous 1861 quote, part of Abraham Lincoln's first inaugural address, is just one of the many moving lines that make Shapiro's book an inspired look at one of America's most celebrated leaders. The book is comprised entirely of Lincoln's own words, mostly taken from speeches and letters, and is divided into seven sections, each of which deals with a different theme, ranging from Lincoln's family life to his relationships with his Civil War generals. Readers today may draw similarities between the soaring rhetoric with which Lincoln addressed the salient issues of his day and the tone often used by Barack Obama during his historic presidential campaign. Shapiro's book is indeed at its most fascinating when dealing with the major issues of Lincoln's political career—the Civil War and slavery—but it is important not to overlook the eloquent ways that Lincoln used language in everyday settings, whether it be in his courtship of Mary Todd or in correspondence with old friends. Although younger readers may grow tired with Lincoln's occasionally dated language, this volume is an insightful look into one of the most complex and engaging orators the United States has ever known. Reviewer: Adam Levin

Larry Shapiro is the former editor in chief of the Book-of-the-Month Club and editorial director of the History Book Club. He is the author of A Book of Days in American History.