Book Review: Lincoln in the World {Blogging for Books}

Lincoln in the World: The making of a statesman and the dawn of American power by Kevin Peraino
ISBN: 978-0-307-88721-4
Paperback, 423 pages {of which the last 100 or so pages are notes/references}
Publisher: Random House
Retail: $15.00

About the book: 
A captivating look at how Abraham Lincoln evolved into one of our seminal foreign-policy presidents—and helped point the way to America’s rise to world power.

This is the story of one of the most breathtaking feats in the annals of American foreign policy—performed by one of the most unlikely figures. Abraham Lincoln is not often remembered as a great foreign-policy president. He had never traveled overseas and spoke no foreign languages. And yet, during the Civil War, Lincoln and his team skillfully managed to stare down the Continent’s great powers—deftly avoiding European intervention on the side of the Confederacy. In the process, the United States emerged as a world power in its own right.
Engaging, insightful, and highly original, Lincoln in the World is a tale set at the intersection of personal character and national power. The narrative focuses tightly on five distinct, intensely human conflicts that helped define Lincoln’s approach to foreign affairs—from his debate, as a young congressman, with his law partner over the conduct of the Mexican War, to his deadlock with Napoleon III over the French occupation of Mexico. Bursting with colorful characters like Lincoln’s bowie-knife-wielding minister to Russia, Cassius Marcellus Clay; the cunning French empress, Eugénie; and the hapless Mexican monarch Maximilian—Lincoln in the World draws a finely wrought portrait of a president and his team at the dawn of American power.

In the Age of Lincoln, we see shadows of our own world. The international arena in the 1860s could be a merciless moral vacuum. Lincoln’s times demanded the cold, realistic pursuit of national interest, and, in important ways, resembled our own increasingly multipolar world. And yet, like ours, Lincoln’s era was also an information age, a period of rapid globalization. Steamships, telegraph wires, and proliferating new media were transforming the world. Global influence required the use of “soft power” as well as hard.

Anchored by meticulous research into overlooked archives, Lincoln in the World reveals the sixteenth president to be one of America’s indispensable diplomats—and a key architect of America’s emergence as a global superpower. Much has been written about how Lincoln saved the Union, but Lincoln in the World highlights the lesser-known—yet equally vital—role he played on the world stage during those tumultuous years of war and division.

About the author: Kevin Peraino is a veteran foreign correspondent who has reported from throughout the world. He spent a decade at Newsweek, most recently as a senior writer and bureau chief in the Middle East. He was a finalist for the Livingston Award for his foreign-affairs reporting, and was part of the team that won a National Magazine Award for its coverage of the 2004 presidential campaign. A graduate of Northwestern University and a term member at the Council on Foreign Relations, he lives in Connecticut with his wife and children. Follow him on Twitter @KevinPeraino.

My thoughts: What was I thinking when I chose this book to review? I wanted a good book on Abraham Lincoln. This book is that but it's much more. On the front cover, Foreign Affairs says this is "an important step toward a richer and more useful understanding of the American past." I believe this is true, if you can get through the book.

I am not finished with this book and honestly I do not know when I will finish it; but finish it I will. It is well written, utilizing many primary sources. Each chapter, although with titles like "Lincoln vs. Seward" and "Lincoln vs. Napoleon," is not necessarily a pitting of Lincoln and the other individual. And each chapter includes much more than just the two names on the titles. As it says in the "About this book," there are characters from all over in this book. They are characters that Lincoln came into contact with, knew about, dealt with, or had to be knowledgable to some degree. Many he did 'spar' with due to differences of opinions, and authority.

I think this book does quite well in painting a picture of what was really going on in the world, but primarily the United States, during Lincoln's time. It helps readers see how Lincoln influenced the future of the United States, with and without the help of others. It is heavy on politics, which I am not well-versed; because of this, I find it in some places to be above my head. However, the use of Lincoln's and others own words is extremely helpful. I wish all history books were written this way!

It does have some rough language and incidences portrayed that may be distasteful for some, just a warning.

***Disclaimer: I received this book free from the Blogging for Books review program for the purpose of this review. All opinions stated are my own. See Disclosure/Policies.***