Why am I passionate about this?

I am a life-long admirer of Abe Lincoln, and never more so than today when American democracy is again under severe threat. Yet, like so many other admirers of Lincoln, I am puzzled why it took him so long to end slavery: it was not until January 1, 1963, nearly two years after he became president, that Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed only those slaves within the Confederacy. Moreover, it wasnā€™t until the end of the Civil War that Lincoln was able to enforce emancipation in the South, and it wasnā€™t until the passage of the 13th Amendment at the end of 1865 that all slavery was ended.


I wrote

Mythologies Without End: The US, Israel, and the Arab-Israeli Conflict, 1917-2020

By Jerome Slater,

Book cover of Mythologies Without End: The US, Israel, and the Arab-Israeli Conflict, 1917-2020

What is my book about?

My book argues that US policies throughout the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict are a product of mythologies that areā€¦

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of Lincoln on the Verge: Thirteen Days to Washington

Jerome Slater Why did I love this book?

After his presidential victory in 1860, Lincoln still had to get to Washington to take office. I loved this book because of its cliff-hanging, blow-by-blow description of how close pro-slavers came to assassinating Lincoln even before he took office; if they had succeeded, slavery would have been preserved for years to come.

In a fascinating and original story, Widmer notes the parallels between Lincolnā€™s courageous Odysseyā€”a 1900-mile, thirteen-day train trip to Washington DC, with dangers lurking all along the routeā€”and Odysseusā€™s perilous journey home in Homerā€™s Odyssey.

By Ted Widmer,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Lincoln on the Verge as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

WINNER OF THE LINCOLN FORUM BOOK PRIZE

"A Lincoln classic...superb." -The Washington Post

"A book for our time."-Doris Kearns Goodwin

Lincoln on the Verge tells the dramatic story of America's greatest president discovering his own strength to save the Republic.

As a divided nation plunges into the deepest crisis in its history, Abraham Lincoln boards a train for Washington and his inauguration-an inauguration Southerners have vowed to prevent. Lincoln on the Verge charts these pivotal thirteen days of travel, as Lincoln discovers his power, speaks directly to the public, and sees his country up close. Drawing on new research, thisā€¦


Book cover of The Zealot and the Emancipator: John Brown, Abraham Lincoln, and the Struggle for American Freedom

Jerome Slater Why did I love this book?

I loved this book for its examination of how John Brown (the Zealot), a violent terrorist,  and Abraham Lincoln, a cautious political genius, shared the same goalā€”the end of slaveryā€”but radically differed in their methods. Yet, despite their differences, it is striking that Frederick Douglass considered both men to have been essential to ending slavery.

Brands note that Douglass, though a critic of Lincolnā€™s caution for many years, came to appreciate how Lincoln overcame the many obstacles to ending slavery. As for Brown, Douglass told a black college audience his  ā€œzeal in the cause of my race was far greater than mineā€¦.I could live for the slave, but he could die for him.ā€

By H.W. Brands,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Zealot and the Emancipator as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From the acclaimed historian and bestselling author: a page-turning account of the epic struggle over slavery as embodied by John Brown and Abraham Lincolnā€”two men moved to radically different acts to confront our nationā€™s gravest sin.

John Brown was a charismatic and deeply religious man who heard the God of the Old Testament speaking to him, telling him to destroy slavery by any means. When Congress opened Kansas territory to slavery in 1854, Brown raised a band of followers to wage war. His men tore pro-slavery settlers from their homes and hacked them to death with broadswords. Three years later,ā€¦


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Book cover of Secret St. Augustine: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure

Secret St. Augustine by Elizabeth Randall,

Tourists and local residents of St. Augustine will enjoy reading about the secret wonders of their ancient city that are right under their noses. Of course, that includes a few stray corpses and ghosts!

Book cover of Abe: Abraham Lincoln in His Times

Jerome Slater Why did I love this book?

I loved this book because it analyzed Lincolnā€™s life, thoughts, and character as they developed in 19th-century America. In this ā€œculturalā€ biography, as it has been termed, an acclaimed historian focuses in particular on how Lincoln sought to reconcile his two major goals before and during his presidency: to preserve the Union and end slavery.

Though Lincoln hoped this could be done without a civil war, the obduracy of the southern states over the slavery issue made war unavoidable. Yet, the defeat of the Confederacy resulted in the realization of both of Lincolnā€™s goals.

By David S. Reynolds,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Abe as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Now an Apple TV+ documentary, Lincoln's Dilemma, airing February 18, 2022.

One of the Wall Street Journal's Ten Best Books of the Year | A Washington Post Notable Book | A Christian Science Monitor and Kirkus Reviews Best Book of 2020

Winner of the Gilder Lehrman Abraham Lincoln Prize and the Abraham Lincoln Institute Book Award

"A marvelous cultural biography that captures Lincoln in all his historical fullness. . . . using popular culture in this way, to fill out the context surrounding Lincoln, is what makes Mr. Reynolds's biography so different and so compelling . . . Where didā€¦


Book cover of Lincoln at Gettysburg: The Words That Remade America

Jerome Slater Why did I love this book?

I loved this book because it is the most original, detailed, elegantly written, and argued examination of Lincolnā€™s famous Gettysburg address, by common acclamation, one of the greatest and most powerful political speeches in world history.

In this Pulitzer Prize book, Wills argues that at Gettysburg, Lincoln ā€œcame to change the world, to effect an intellectual revolutionā€ā€”and succeeded in doing so. ā€œNo other words,ā€ Wills writes, could have successfully brought about both ā€œa revolution in thoughtā€ and  ā€œa revolution in style.ā€ Wills concludes that the address ā€œwove a spell that has not, yet, been broken,ā€ as Lincoln ā€œcalled up a new nation out of the blood and trauma.ā€

By Garry Wills,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Lincoln at Gettysburg as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The power of words has rarely been given a more compelling demonstration than in the Gettysburg Address. Lincoln was asked to memorialize the gruesome battle. Instead, he gave the whole nation "a new birth of freedom" in the space of a mere 272 words. His entire life and previous training, and his deep political experience went into this, his revolutionary masterpiece.

By examining both the address and Lincoln in their historical moment and cultural frame, Wills breathes new life into words we thought we knew, and reveals much about a president so mythologized but often misunderstood. Wills shows how Lincolnā€¦


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Book cover of Ambidextrous: The Secret Lives of Children

Ambidextrous by Felice Picano,

Bold, funny, and shockingly honest, Ambidextrous is like no other memoir of 1950s urban childhood.

Picano appears to his parents and siblings to be a happy, cheerful eleven-year-old possessed of the remarkable talent of being able to draw beautifully and write fluently with either hand. But then he runs intoā€¦

Book cover of The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery

Jerome Slater Why did I love this book?

If you can read only one book on Lincoln, this is the one I would choose. In my opinionā€”as well as that of many professional historiansā€”it is the best book ever written to examine why Lincoln waited two years after becoming president to issue the Emancipation Proclamation. In this brilliant and elegantly written book, a Pulitzer Prize historian argues, entirely convincingly, that the need to keep together his pro-union coalition required Lincon to proceed very cautiously.

To be sure, Foner writes that while Lincolnā€™s long-held anti-slavery convictions were not in doubt, he also initially shared the racist attitudes that black people were not ready for full freedom. However, Foner emphasizes that as Lincoln grew in office, his beliefs increasingly moved towards those of Frederick Douglassā€”whom Lincoln came to greatly admireā€”and other full-fledged abolitionists.

By Eric Foner,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked The Fiery Trial as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Selected as a Notable Book of the Year by the New York Times Book Review, this landmark work gives us a definitive account of Lincoln's lifelong engagement with the nation's critical issue: American slavery. A master historian, Eric Foner draws Lincoln and the broader history of the period into perfect balance. We see Lincoln, a pragmatic politician grounded in principle, deftly navigating the dynamic politics of antislavery, secession, and civil war. Lincoln's greatness emerges from his capacity for moral and political growth.


Explore my book šŸ˜€

Mythologies Without End: The US, Israel, and the Arab-Israeli Conflict, 1917-2020

By Jerome Slater,

Book cover of Mythologies Without End: The US, Israel, and the Arab-Israeli Conflict, 1917-2020

What is my book about?

My book argues that US policies throughout the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict are a product of mythologies that are often flatly wrongā€”meaning unsupported by evidence and the actual historical record.

In this book, I undertake a detailed examination of the various negotiations and other international efforts to reach a two-state settlement between Israel and the Arab world, with special attention to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; both sides have missed opportunities for a peaceful settlement, but I argue that the evidence demonstrates that it has been Israeli far more than Palestinian intransigence that accounts for the failure to reach a two-state settlement.

Book cover of Lincoln on the Verge: Thirteen Days to Washington
Book cover of The Zealot and the Emancipator: John Brown, Abraham Lincoln, and the Struggle for American Freedom
Book cover of Abe: Abraham Lincoln in His Times

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Interested in Abraham Lincoln, the American Civil War, and slaves?

Abraham Lincoln 103 books
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