Book: Team of Rivals

Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

After months of reading I've finally finished this epic and definitive telling of Lincoln's political career. Don't think that this wasn't a page turner, though, because it definitely held my attention amidst a slurry of personal events (moving, finishing grad school, a 8 to now 12 month old girl, new job, holidays, etc). Goodwin's writing is direct and clear which makes it easy to connect with Lincoln. Although we all know the major events in the man's life (election, Civil War, assassination, etc.) when you read through it in Team of Rivals the writing leaves you in suspense enough that you try and suppress the inevitable, making it a much more exciting read than I would have imagined. Especially tragic are the final chapters. Realizing the context in Lincoln's life surrounding his assassination, if you didn't already know, makes the event so much more heartbreaking. It left me replaying multiple "if only..." scenarios in my mind, pointlessly reviewing the coincidences that contributed to his death, as well as the historical implications if it had not occurred.

Did I mention that Goodwin is an intense Lincoln lover, clearly outlining the reasons, again and again, why he is the most important figure in America's history? I don't read a lot of history so I can't say if her writing borders on over-apologetic, but I'll take the Pulitzer prize and universal critical acclaim for the book as evidence against that. She just loves Lincoln and you get pulled right in on that as you follow along.

Don't read it for it's Civil War history. While it certainly focuses it's time in that period of Lincoln's life, its primary purpose is always describing the man himself and rarely leaves his side.

The real reason I started this book, however, was so that I'd have some context before reading Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. That's still on my to-read list but this was more than I had expected.