Harold Holzer and Norton Garfinkle's "A Just and Generous Nation" is yet another look at President Abraham Lincoln's times and the man who would become one of this nation's heroes for all time. Yet it is a book with new insights on what directed Lincoln to act as he did prior to and during the Civil War.
The book is directed to bring history to bear on all who would lay claim to practice Lincoln policies by investigating the president's background on federalism, slavery, nationalism and the Civil War that would define him.
The book explores Lincoln's belief in a federal government that does for citizens what they cannot do for themselves in order to provide a foundation in which all have an equal opportunity to grow.
The analysis is fascinating and insightful. It places all of Lincoln's actions in a lifelong structure of beliefs that define the decency, honesty and consistency of a man who lead a nation on the brink of breakup.
The concept of a middle class in our society was a constant goal of Lincoln long before the concept became a common term in political speeches.
How that term came to be used by later presidents and the impact Lincoln's words had on their policies is pretty darn interesting.
So much is written of Lincoln that finding new insights might seem improbable, but this book succeeds.
The work seems particularly timely during this election year.
"All I have learned, I learned from books." - Abraham Lincoln
Readers take note of this nugget from the Aug. 9 New York Times: "Book readers lived an average of almost two years longer than those who did not read at all."
Run, don't walk to the nearest library!
With the Olympic season here, goodreads.com listed some Olympic reads that might fit the time. These are just a few.
* "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at The 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
* "Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption" by Laura Hillenbrand
* "Gold" by Chris Cleave
* "Triumph: The Untold Story of Jesse Owens and Hitler's Olympics" by Jeremy Schaap
* "Hour of the Olympics" by Mary Pope Osborne
Gary Thorne is the play-by-play voice of the Orioles on MASN, and the 2016 season is his 10th with the club and 31st covering Major League Baseball. His blog will appear regularly throughout the season. The Orioles and Sarasota County have partnered on the Big League Reader Program, which rewarded kids who read three books in February with tickets to a Grapefruit League game at Ed Smith Stadium in March.
* Hitting the Books with Gary Thorne. © Copyright 2016 Gary F. Thorne. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog's author is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Gary F. Thorne and MASNsports.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.