PositiveThe Guardian (UK)Levine has produced a work of popular history. It takes pains to put Stevens’s actions in context and provides background on his early life and the road to civil war. The writing is occasionally clunky but the history is vital. In the end, Reconstruction remained a road not taken, even as Stevens drove the train as fast as he could.
Edward Achorn
PositiveThe Guardian (UK)Achorn delivers a fascinating account of an address which entered the national consciousness ... Achorn has done Lincoln justice, distilling the essence of the speech in a reflection Lincoln would have understood.
David W. Blight
RaveThe Guardian\"Blight’s book is – thankfully – not a psychobiography. But it offers penetrating insights into the effect slavery had on Douglass’s personality ... This is a monumental book, a definitive biography, rich with the biblical cadences that filled Douglass’ life and imagination.\
