From School Library Journal Grade 6 Up-Burchard provides readers and researchers with a rich understanding of the preeminence of slavery as a political and moral issue in 19th-century America and of the importance of Lincoln's leadership in abolishing it. The author traces his subject's evolution from a young man with a personal antipathy toward slavery to a president who led the country to a broader understanding of freedom. He places Lincoln's story in historical context showing how he was influenced by the events of the era and how he used his formidable political and oratorical skills to guide public beliefs and policy. The author is admiring of the steps Lincoln took in courageously ending slavery and overcoming his occasional personal bigotry toward blacks. He uses many primary sources, documented in essay form at the end of the text. Black-and-white photographs; reproductions of posters, prints, and engravings; and other material accompany the text. This book complements biographies such as Albert Marrin's Commander in Chief: Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War (Dutton, 1997) and primary-source collections such as Lincoln: In His Own Words, edited by Milton Meltzer (Harcourt, 1993). An outstanding choice.
