Lincoln at Cooper Union

A few posts back, I described my attempted visit to Cooper Union, where Abraham Lincoln made one of the most important speeches in U.S. political history. I mentioned that I had read two books about the event. Both books had the same title, with the exception that one used "Him" in the subtitle while the other used "Abraham Lincoln."

In case you're interested, the book by Holzer is the more scholarly, in-depth of the two. If you can't read enough about Lincoln and consider yourself an expert, this is the book for you. On the other hand, Corry's book is a well-written (but poorly edited), straightforward narrative of how Lincoln came to be invited to New York, his trip, and the aftermath of the speech. Even those who aren't so gung-ho about history might enjoy Corry's book.


I've always enjoyed learning about Lincoln. My political views cause me to question how good he really was for our country, but he is still one of the most fascinating people in all of history.