Our Ancient Faith: Lincoln, Democracy, and the American Experiment -- Allen C. Guelzo, Hardcover

An intimate study of Abraham Lincoln's powerful vision of democracy, which guided him through the Civil War and is still relevant today--by a best-selling historian and three-time winner of the Lincoln Prize

"It is altogether fitting and proper that, with this meditation on democracy and its most subtle defender, Allen Guelzo again demonstrates that he is today's most profound interpreter of this nation's history and significance." --George F. Will

Abraham Lincoln grappled with the greatest crisis of democracy that has ever confronted the United States. While many books have been written about his temperament, judgment, and steady hand in guiding the country through the Civil War, we know less about Lincoln's penetrating ideas and beliefs about democracy, which were every bit as important as his character in sustaining him through the crisis.

Allen C. Guelzo, one of America's foremost experts on Lincoln, captures the president's firmly held belief that democracy was the greatest political achievement in human history. He shows how Lincoln's deep commitment to the balance between majority and minority rule enabled him to stand firm against secession while also committing the Union to reconciliation rather than recrimination in the aftermath of war. In bringing his subject to life as a rigorous and visionary thinker, Guelzo assesses Lincoln's actions on civil liberties and his views on race, and explains why his vision for the role of government would have made him a pivotal president even if there had been no Civil War. Our Ancient Faith gives us a deeper understanding of this endlessly fascinating man and shows how his ideas are still sharp and relevant more than 150 years later.

Author: Allen C. Guelzo
Publisher: Knopf Publishing Group
Published: 02/06/2024
Pages: 272
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.90lbs
Size: 8.40h x 5.90w x 1.20d
ISBN: 9780593534441

Review Citation(s):
Library Journal Prepub Alert 09/01/2023 pg. 20
Kirkus Reviews 10/15/2023
Publishers Weekly 12/11/2023
Booklist 02/01/2024 pg. 15

About the Author
ALLEN C. GUELZO is Senior Research Scholar at the Council of the Humanities at Princeton University. He is the author of several books about the Civil War and early-nineteenth-century American history. He is a recipient of the Guggenheim-Lehrman Prize for Military History and has been awarded the Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize three times. He lives in Pennsylvania.