And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle

Amazon.com Review

An Amazon Best Book of November 2022: We live in a divided country, and so it makes sense to examine the man who was president when the nation suffered an actual schism. Pulitzer Prize-winning author and historian Jon Meacham approaches Lincoln through his education and evolution as a thinker, setting those experiences in parallel with the practical work of politics, grounded by the reality that Lincoln, like all of us, was an imperfect human being. What emerges is a man who very early developed principles and a moral center that would guide him through the highs and lows of his political and personal journey. If one is to take away a message from this highly readable, deeply researched book, it’s that fallible people can achieve great things when they are guided by clear ideals. This book belongs in the upper echelon of Lincoln biographies. —Chris Schluep, Amazon Editor

An Amazon Best Book of November 2022:

“Meacham’s new Lincoln is not just a text; it is an event . . . It is thoroughly researched and highly readable, written with all the artful craftsmanship of a veteran writer . . . As a biographer, [Meacham] is exquisitely attuned to the resonances between twenty-first century polarization and the life of ‘a president who led a divided country’ a century and a half ago.”—The Washington Post“Meacham’s meticulously researched portrait reveals a man who, while riddled with imperfections and inconsistencies, genuinely believed in the human instinct to do good. . . . Meacham zeros in on Lincoln the human being.”—The New York Times Book Review “Luminous . . . Make room for [this book] at the forefront of the Lincoln canon. For here is Lincoln in all his familiar complexity—and yet freshly conceived.”—The Boston Globe“Excellent . . . Meacham’s fine account of America’s greatest president delivers a close-up that captures—wart and all—why Lincoln’s political sensibilities and moral vision were, like the Union itself, indivisible.”—Chicago Tribune“Sweeping, elegantly written . . . a welcome addition to the vast library of work on the 16th president.”—The Christian Science Monitor“And There Was Light brilliantly interweaves the best of gripping narrative history with a deeper search for the complex interplay among morality, politics, and power in a life, in a democracy, and in an America ripped apart over slavery.”—Henry Louis Gates, Jr.“Written with wisdom and grace, his story of Lincoln’s complex moral journey to Emancipation mirrors America’s long quest to live up to its founding ideals.”—Doris Kearns Goodwin“With his singular gift for compelling narrative and groundbreaking analysis, Jon Meacham illuminates not only Lincoln and his times but, just as much, the troubled society that we live in today.”—Michael Beschloss“Jon Meacham has given us a Lincoln for our perilous times, a story in which slavery and racism are not an afterthought. With the elegance of his pen and the power of story, Meacham draws a portrait of a complex man who answered the call of history.”—Eddie S. Glaude, Jr.“Meacham’s Lincoln is no prophet or saint, but no prophet or saint could have accomplished what he did.”—Sean Wilentz“A masterful, highly readable biography . . . In an era when autocracy is on the march, this timely book sheds a bright light on Lincoln’s role as a paladin and vindicator of democracy.”—Michael Burlingame“So much more than another account of Abraham Lincoln’s life, Jon Meacham’s profound new biography dives into Lincoln’s very soul, and the result is one of the most compelling and absorbing portraits ever crafted.”—Harold Holzer“An essential, eminently readable volume for anyone interested in Lincoln and his era.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review“For Meacham, Lincoln is above all ‘an example of how even the most imperfect of peoples . . . can bend the arc of the universe toward justice. . . . Richly detailed and gracefully written.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review