Richard N. Current, The Lincoln Nobody Knows, (Hill and Wang, New York, 1999
), 304 pp.
The title of this book is noteworthy, as it suggests that it reveals facts previously unknown about Lincoln, which, even in 1958 (the book’s original publishing date), would have been a remarkable feat. After all, thousands of books had already been published about the 16th President. Perhaps I have been spoiled by being born in this day and age, and therefore cannot fairly assess its impact when it first saw light, but the revelations were unimpressive.
That I am still very fond of the book is due to its format and the author’s analytical mind. Current hasn’t written a true biography, in the sense of a chronological account, but instead critically investigates elements and periods of Lincoln’s life. Too often, writers about Lincoln are admirers or critics, and subsequently (or consequently) view everything Lincoln said or did from that perspective: either he was brilliant or a buffoon, savior of democracy or dictator. Not so in this book; Current weighs the evidence and only then tentatively draws conclusions, always remaining fair and unprejudiced—and therefore very much refreshing.
Like Prokopowicz’s Did Lincoln own Slaves? and Donald’s Lincoln Reconsidered, this is one of my favorite Lincoln books to date.
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