Books: The Words Lincoln Lived By

The Words Lincoln Lived By is a collection of 52 principles taken from the life of Abraham Lincoln, illustrated by quotes and anecdotes from Honest Abe himself.  Written by the late Gene Griessman, a famed Lincoln scholar, the book goes way beyond the famous addresses and speeches and delves into little-known letters and lectures that provide a window into another time.

These stories were particularly fun for me since Abraham Lincoln was a successful lawyer, despite never having a formal education. How did Lincoln feel about representing "guilty" clients as a defense lawyer? What did he do to prepare for a trial? If you're at all interested in Lincoln's life, this is a great little book to pick up.

Music: Juneteenth Playlist

To celebrate Juneteenth, I put together a playlist of music from films about the American Civil War. Far and away the best of them is James Horner's epic soundtrack to Glory, based on the real-life exploits of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment.  There's also music from Steven Spielberg's Lincoln and Gary Ross's Free State of Jones (neither soundtrack is particularly memorable, regrettably).

I had to cheat a little by including songs from Ken Burns's The Civil War documentary; perhaps because the subject matter is so tragic, there actually aren't all that many movies about the Civil War itself. Most films are content to use the conflict as a backdrop, which seems to do a disservice to the lives lost and the millions of enslaved persons over whom the war was fought (yes, it was mostly about slavery).