Lincoln's Virtues: An Ethical Biography
William Lee Miller'sLincoln's Virtuesis less an "event"  chronology than the tracing of the moral and ethical core of Abraham Lincoln's  beliefs, what Miller calls the man's "unintended preparation for greatness."  Miller posits that Lincoln rightly deserves his nonpareil place in American  history. But, he continues, Lincoln's greatness is best appreciated only when we  realize he was merely mortal and therefore free to follow any number of courses  of actions. Miller, through scores of eloquent exegeses of Lincoln's writings  and speeches, explores the path--consistent, though evolving--this free agent  took. Lincoln chose politics as his work. As a politician he was subject to the  very real constraints of collective action. However, such was the man's "moral  self-confidence," that the mantle of greatness alit on his shoulders alone. This  is a revealing, delicate, and at times soaring work. It also presupposes its  readers are much more than casually familiar with Lincoln's life and times.- -H. O'Billovitch