Abraham Lincoln

Redeemer President

By: Allen C. Guelzo

Narrated by: Edward Lewis

Length: 18 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

This unique intellectual portrait explores the role of ideas in Lincoln’s life. Guelzo presents Lincoln as a serious thinker deeply involved in the problems of 19th-century thought, including those of classical liberalism, the Lockean Enlightenment, Victorian unbelief, and Calvinist spirituality. Lincoln emerges as a philosophical man who appropriates certain religious values without adhering to any religion, who insists on the pre-eminence of self-interest in spite of becoming the Great Emancipator, and who appeals to natural law and natural theology in politics while remaining a classical 19th-century liberal in principle. Based on primary materials from a wide variety of archives, this insightful work sheds light on the intellectual conflicts that led to civil war and that still influence today’s “culture wars.”

©1999 Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. (P)2000 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Out of the countless volumes written about our 16th president, [this] ranks quite simply among the best.” ( Wall Street Journal)

great synopsis of a great president

this book is a precise synopsis of a great thinker who got the USA through the worst period of its history correcting a glaring self-contradiction of our national creed - slavery. only a man as capable as Lincoln could have used the simple methods available at that time to solve this monstrous problem. a well organized explanation of what Lincoln did and how he got in this position for beginner historians like me. great book for curious Americans

Great book, bad narration

The contents of this book is scholarly and very interesting. But since this is an audio book, I wish to speak to that. I have heard Prof. Guelzo teach in the Great Courses, and I was hoping he narrated his own book. He has a way of engaging you. His tone, his inflections give the sense; they add a spirit to his words. The narration of this audio book, on the other hand, sounds more like a sewing machine than anything else.

It is a great book. I will buy the hard copy and read it myself.

Allen Guelzo is always superb

Anything written by Allen Guelzo is always superb and to be trusted. Not only does his writing flow, but his analysis is sensitive, discerning and penetrating. It is always a joy for me to read anything written by Dr. Guelzo.

Okay, but not riveting

After listening to the interesting and dynamic Gettysburg by Guelzo, I rather expected the same caliber material in this book. I did not find it so. The narration was dismal, and I thought the focus on Lincoln’s religiosity, or more precisely, lack thereof, overdone. I listened to the entire presentation in the hopes that at some point a spark akin to that in Guelzo’s Gettysburg would ignite, but it never did for me.

A Full and Beautiful Picture

Never have I learned so much about a person I thought I already knew. This is a great book on Audible as it makes all the details flow into a story without the common monotony sometimes accompanying long biographies. Made me love Lincoln even more.

Great book on Lincoln, a must read

This is an extremely thoughtful analysis of Abraham Lincoln. It is so well-written that it overcomes the awful, robotic reading. I would highly recommend, just push through the presentation.

Chapter 2 Error

The narrator says Lincoln had never shown an interest in abolition until the 1950s. And another sentence adjacent referring to the 1960s.