Product Description

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 Lincoln came to change the world and to effect an intellectual revolution, how his words had to and did complete the work of the guns, and how Lincoln wove a spell that has not yet been broken.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #22933 in Books
• Published on: 2006-11-14
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

Amazon.com
A former professor of Greek at Yale University, Wills painstakingly deconstructs Lincoln's Gettysburg Address and discovers heavy influence from the early Greeks (Pericles) and the 19th century Transcendentalists (Edward Everett). The author also probes Lincoln's decision to rely more on the Declaration of Independence than the U.S. Constitution, a decision Wills says represented a "revolution in thought." He speaks effusively of the 272-word address: "All modern political prose descends from [it]. The Address does what all great art accomplishes. [I]t tease[s] us out of thought." Wills' book won the 1992 National Book Critics Circle Award for Criticism.

From Publishers Weekly
Wills ( Inventing America ) combines semantics and political analysis in this account of the most famous speech in U.S. history. He puts Lincoln's words in their cultural and intellectual contexts, establishing the contributions of New England Transcendentalism and the Greek Revival to the structure and the substance of the address. He also interprets the speech as revolutionary, since it's a speech, too for in it Lincoln bypassed as is, seems that Wills, not Lincoln, is bypassing the Constitution to justify civic equality and national union on the basis of the Declaration of Independence. Wills's analysis of the matrix of Lincoln's text is more convincing than his present-minded critique of "original intent." Nevertheless, he makes a strong case for his argument that the concept of "a single people dedicated to a proposition" has been overwhelmingly accepted by successive generations of Americans. BOMC, History Book Club and QPB alternates; author tour.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
The award-winning author, who has dissected John F. Kennedy ( The Kennedy Imprisonment , LJ 2/15/82. o.p.), Richard Nixon ( Nixon Agonistes , LJ 8/70), Ronald Reagan ( Reagan's America , LJ 2/1/87), and the basic texts of the American Revolution ( Inventing America , LJ 6/15/78, and Explaining America , LJ 2/15/81, both o.p.), now takes full measure of the Gettysburg Address. In an original reading, Wills argues that Lincoln's short speech revolutionized the conception of America, achieving with words a cosmic nationalism that could not be won by bullets alone. He examines the rhetorical roots of the address in the Greek classics, transcendentalism, the rural cemetery movement, and Lincoln's own love of cadence and grammar. Most importantly, he reveals the speech as a calculated political and rhetorical act--rather than the casual remarks of popular myth--whereby Lincoln redefined constitutional precepts in America, challenging the constraints of limited rights with the moral force of equality. Another tour de force that will cause much discussion and argument. Essential for college and major public libraries. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 2/15/92.
- Randall M. Miller, St. Joseph's Univ., Philadelphia
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Must reading for everyone
This is the second copy I have purchased of this book - the first is in tatters from being read so often, by me and by my friends. It is a classic, and should be required reading for all high school students. Full of insights into Lincoln, the classic forms of writing, and an extraordinary section about how burial sites have evolved, it is a must read.

It's Not What You Say But How You Say It.
The study of words, philology, worked well for Abraham Lincoln before and during his short presidency. The Power of words. He knew how to use the words of the common folks and could be euridite in his oratory. Mainly he used short, easy to remember elocutions for the best effect.

As with all good speakers, he used silence and pauses well (never "uhs" to fill in -- nothing turns the listener off as even on "uh" -- it means you're not prepared and have not mastered what you want or need to say.

Herman S. Frey said, "Perjurer Sanford Conover was jailed for his false accusation that Jefferson Davis was involved in Lincoln's assassination in any way." Lincoln's well-thought through address spoke for the turmoil of that day and for future political rhetoric of our time.

The study of words, philology, worked well for Abraham Lincoln before and during his short presidency. The Power of words. He knew how to use the words of the common folks and could be euridite in his oratory. Mainly he used short, easy to remember elocutions for the best effect.

As with all good speakers, he used silence and pauses well (never "uhs" to fill in -- nothing turns the listener off as even on "uh" -- it means you're not prepared and have not mastered what you want or need to say Lawyers in Lincoln's time debated as a form of perfecting the art of persuation and philolgy (also psychology) to win that debate. Most were educated at college and universities (some at prestigious universities abraod), and enjoyed the power of appropriate words and the victory over his opponent. Abraham was self-educated for the most part. His unkempt appearance gave the impression that he wasn't "polished. It takes a great man to be the victor in a battle of words. When he opened his mouth to speak in his high tenor voice, it wasn't how he sounded it was what he said which mattered. Speaking is not just talking or membling words (I know someone who does that quite well, but I admit he can sing.). His expressive eyes, wry humor, knowledge of his subject and hand gestures (even body language) made him not just impressive but a leader of men.

Herman S. Frey said, "Perjurer Sanford Conover was jailed for his false accusation that Jefferson Davis was involved in Lincoln's assassination in any way." Lincoln's well-thought through address spoke for the turmoil of that day and for future political rhetoric of our time. Lincoln was aware of the power of his rhetoric to define war aims. He made the 80-mile trip from Washington City to Gettysburg for a reason. It was important as to time and place for his historic three-minute oration to change the country into a nation with hope for a future. Not only inspiring, "it was a product of the moment, ...as Lincoln moverd under destiny's guidance. "How Lincoln Won the War With Metaphors" says it all.

I started reading again
Lincoln at Gettysburg: The Words that Remade America (Simon & Schuster Lincoln Library)
I had been reading only business books until this book came out. I had always enjoyed reading about Lincoln and the Civil War. Wills book brought all that back to life for me and I set out reading history and literature again. His style with great research took me straight to scenes. I read it in one sitting.