21 July 2009

Book of the Year

Team of Rivals:The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin is Concordia's 2009-10 Book-of-the-Year. I am particularly excited because Abraham Lincoln and the U.S. Civil War are topics which I have studied my entire life. In fact, I grew up in Springfield, Illinois-Mr. Lincoln's hometown.

It is with great pleasure that I have been asked to contribute to Concordia's Book-of-the-Year activities. I thought I could best serve by providing readers with historical information about the book and the time period. In addition, I will be using this blog to post questions and chapter summaries that might help initiate discussions both online and around campus.

If you are not already familiar with the life and career of Abraham Lincoln, you are in for a real treat. And the lessons concerning Mr. Lincoln's "political genius" are as relevant today as they were in 1861.

So I hope this blog will help you understand the book just a little better. And please use the comment section of the blog to ask questions, make comments, and start discussions. This might be both fun and educational!

5 comments:

  1. Thanks. I look forward to reading more! I'm about 75% done with the book which may be the most time I've spent on American history since 8th grade.

    Heather Riddle

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  2. For those of you who have visited Washington D.C., you will appreciate the period map of the Capitol Mall near the front of the book. The Potomac River barely misses the Washington Monument while covering the future Jefferson and Lincoln memorial sites.

    Beginning at page 745, you can read about the route taken by "the farewell march" of the Union Army and trace it on the map - including the exchange of salutes by Sherman and Seward.

    Tim Utter

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  3. So, the year is 2011, and I am just now reading this great and huge book of ‘A Team of Rivals’. I am glad I decided to do so. And, I am grateful to Dr. Woodard for providing this forum so that I may think about the questions he poses and, therefore, reinforce in my mind the wealth of information Doris Kearns Goodwin provides.
    Thank-you Dr. Woodard

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  4. Oh, and by the way, I (the above poster) live in a small town in a southwestern desert.

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