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Kirkus Reviews
A dual biography highlighting the remarkable similarities and the crucial
differences between "the two pre-eminent self-made men in American
history."The interest in linking Lincoln and Douglass has never
been greater - see, for example, Paul and Stephen Kendrick's Douglass
and Lincoln (2008) and James Oakes's The Radical and the Republican
(2007) - and surely the intertwined careers of both men support continuing
efforts to understand their combined, enduring impact. In five double-barreled
chapters focusing on comparable stages in each man's life, Stauffer
(History of American Civilization and English/Harvard Univ.; The Black
Hearts of Men: Radical Abolitionists and the Transformation of Race,
2002, etc.) explains how Douglass the slave and Lincoln the frontiersman
emerged from a culture of poverty, ignorance and violence to international
renown. Both were physically imposing; both abstained from tobacco and
alcohol at a time when few men did. Both were poetry lovers - they had
Robert Burns in common - and both were unsuitably married, Douglass
to an illiterate, Lincoln to a termagant. A naturally talented orator,
Douglass worked to perfect his writing. Always a good, later a great
writer (and a superb editor), Lincoln slowly emerged as an effective
public speaker. Addressing public issues, Douglass decided quickly and
frequently changed strategies. Lincoln always made up his mind slowly,
but then rarely reversed course. Douglass, the radical, never befriended
an enemy until after converting that man to his cause. Lincoln, the
conciliator, believed that "if you would win a man to your cause,
first convince him that you are his sincere friend."
Stauffer's dexterous interweaving of biographical detail makes for
enjoyable reading and serves as a useful introduction to understanding
the dynamic between two 19th-century giants.A frequently insightful
look at the makeup of two men who helped remake the country. |