![]() Moreover, he comes off as human, a difficult thing to do, and not something I think Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln managed all that well, even though I loved that movie. ![]() He comes off as a racist, as a compromiser, as someone who perhaps worships the existence of the United States more than the much more important moral cause of abolition. Vidal allows Lincoln’s maneuvering to flow without making him a saint or martyr. Rather, it does so around the eyes of those who surround him and plot against him. Lincoln never gives us Abe Lincoln’s perspective, and like Burr, I think the book is better for it. ![]() Burr, one of my favorite reads of last year, was almost a comedy of manners mirror image of Lin Manuel-Miranda’s contemporary hit musical Hamilton. It mocked the Founding Father myths with aplomb while keeping the mystery around its eponymous character in shroud. Although not the second book in publication order, it is the second one in sequence, with one loose connection to the first (no spoilers although Vidal clearly wants to thread the story). Gore Vidal brings this to life in a continuation of his Narratives of Empire series. ![]() He is often painted as a savant, manipulating both his opponents and allies to align with his will as he navigated the treacherous years of the American Civil War. ![]() Much has been made of Abraham Lincoln’s political genius. ![]()
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