Abraham Lincoln and the Union

by Oscar Handlin, Lilian Handlin

Overview

Abraham Lincoln and the Union is a compassionate character study of Lincoln's fascinating persona — the counterpoise of "strength and frailty, faith and skepticism, rationality and emotion" — comprising qualities so seldom found singly but that in Lincoln were found combined, and which continue to have significance for us to this day: his capacity for continual growth, for the wise use of power, for humane feeling, and most of all, for his sincere expression of the thoughts and feelings of common people.

"[A] good — and readable — short biography." — Kirkus

"Oscar and Lilian Handlin have produced a very readable life, which introduces the reader to the main events and issues of Lincoln's remarkable career." — Michael Perman, Civil War History

"This modest, well-done volume gives us Lincoln in brief." — David Lindsey, The American Historical Review

Product Details

BN ID:	2940162218708
Publisher:	Plunkett Lake Press
Publication date:	02/11/2021
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	559 KB

About the Author

Oscar Handlin (1915-2011) was born in in Brooklyn, New York to Jewish parents who came to the United States from Russia. A problematic pupil, he entered Brooklyn College at the age of 15, and three years later, Harvard University to pursue graduate studies in history. His PhD thesis supervisor was Arthur Schlesinger Sr. In 1940 Handlin was appointed instructor at the university, spending his entire academic career at Harvard ever after. In the course of many years he served the university in numerous capacities, retiring finally in 1984 having held two of the institution’s most distinguished appointments — that of Carl H. Pforzheimer University Professorship and subsequently Carl M. Loeb University Professorship. Handlin established his scholarly credentials with the publication of his dissertation in 1941, entitled Boston’s Immigrants 1790-1965, asserting the centrality of immigration to the shaping of American society. The Pulitzer prize winning The Uprooted (1951) enlarged the previous book’s conclusions, detailing the hardships experienced by newcomers to a not always welcoming society. A long life dedicated to scholarship and student mentoring enriched the intellectual lives of Harvard college students. At the same time, Handlin was also instrumental in managing several of Harvard’s institutions and affiliates, and was the founder of the Center for the Study of Liberty in America that later became the Charles Warren Center for the Study of American History. Critical of the immigration laws that governed how newcomers were admitted to the United States, Handlin was also instrumental in abolishing the discriminatory national origins quota system — which eventually contributed to the 1965 passage of the new Immigration and Nationality Act.

Lilian Handlin (PhD Hebrew University of Jerusalem, MA Brown University, BA Queens College, City University of New York) was associate professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (1970-77). Her interests focus on the intersection between social history and the history of ideas. She is the author and co-author of several books, including George Bancroft: Intellectual as Democrat (1984) and Abraham Lincoln and the Union (1980). Her most important publication, collaborated with her husband was the four-volume Liberty in America, 1600 to the Present (1986-1994).