And there are more than occasional religious ruminations in these pages. To be sure, there were deep religious rumblings within Lincoln. What was the “light,” and just when-and about what-was Lincoln finally enLIGHTened? That leaves the “struggle.” Was it the country’s struggle or Lincoln’s-or some combination of the two? The title is a curious one, perhaps even a mysterious one. And yet there are more than a few glimpses of Lincoln, the son and husband, Lincoln the father and friend, as well as Lincoln the searcher (for ultimate truths) and Lincoln the struggler (whether with his own demons or against his political opponents or for the greater causes of somehow ending slavery and preserving the Union). It is also a heavily political book about a highly political figure. Put simply, this is a great read about a great man. No matter the era or the moment, there will always be a place for a new Lincoln biography-especially if the biographer in question is as deft and insightful as Mr. Jon Meacham surely thought so, and he was surely right to think so. Is there room for yet another biography of Abraham Lincoln? Of course there is. Is there room for yet another biography of Abraham Lincoln? Of course there is, especially if the biographer in question is as deft and insightful as Jon Meacham.Īnd There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle by Jon Meacham (676 pages, Random House, 2022)
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