Lincoln the Man

By: Edgar Lee Masters

Narrated by: Charlton Griffin

Length: 22 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

Whenever the subject of Lincoln is brought up, it usually produces a mixed response ranging from adoration to excoriation. Back in 1931 when Lincoln the Man appeared, there were few willing to publicly judge Lincoln on the basis of anything less than hagiographic platitudes. That all changed when the famous poet and writer Edgar Lee Masters published Lincoln the Man. Masters grew to manhood in the same Illinois county where Lincoln also grew up and practiced law. His family knew Lincoln well from his earliest days, and they followed his entire career with interest and rising concern. This book is less a biography and more of an analysis of Lincoln’s thinking process and political evolution from backwoods lawyer to president of the United States.

Edgar Lee Masters was born in 1868. He led a successful career as a lawyer in partnership with Clarence Darrow. But it was the publication of his brilliant poetry collection Spoon River Anthology in 1915 which made him famous. Masters would go on to produce 52 other poetry collections, novels, essays, and plays. He died in New York City in 1950 and was buried in Petersburg, Illinois.

©1931, 1997 Hilary Masters (P)2020 Audio Connoisseur

Critic reviews

“Needless to say, a writer of Mr. Masters’ talent has a good deal to say that is worth hearing.” (The Times of London)

“Seldom have I read so brilliant a picture of the decay of the old American spirit, with its horrible consequences in politics, business, and daily life. The writing here is so eloquent as to be genuinely moving. And under it there is visible the fine earnestness of an American who really loves his country.” (H. L. Mencken, The New York Herald-Tribune)

Important info that is not taught about Lincoln

The narrator is hard to follow. Book is accurate on Lincoln. The writing style is not interesting.

Do not read un-critically

This book is insanely biased against Lincoln and the Union. Edgar Lee Masters makes weird defenses and excuses of slavery by employing whataboutisms. Nonetheless it is an interesting gateway into the mind of they who would support neo-confederacy, and how southern conservatives really think about the way the 2nd American republic was founded. It also ironically makes the case that the Republican Party of the 1850s and 1860s was a left-wing, radical party.

Well written. But must be read with a critical mind.

Not worth reading

I’ve read over 100 Lincoln biographies. This is the worst I’ve read. A biased perspective filled with historical inaccuracies.