We learn of the books and pivotal experiences that shaped his moral outlook and his eventual emancipation of the country’s enslaved people. In a calm, deliberate narration that matches the crispness of his prose, Meacham zeros in on Lincoln the human being. What else is there to say, I wondered, about one of our most studied, most written about, most fiercely debated figures in our nation’s history? A lot, it turns out. So it was with some trepidation that I approached AND THERE WAS LIGHT: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle (Random House Audio, 17 hours, 49 minutes), by the Pulitzer Prize-winner Jon Meacham. In the world of American history, there is perhaps no genre more written-to-oblivion than the presidential biography. But what if we reimagined the word in the context of the lifelong learner, not as a chore but as the channel to a joy that can be had from staying with a single subject for hours, from revisiting it again and again, even when you think there’s nothing else to learn? Treading mostly on well-trodden ground, three new audiobooks prove that no matter how much you think you know about a subject, there’s always more to study - in a way that isn’t a drag. For many, the word “studying” conjures unpleasant memories: of impending exams, caffeine-fueled all-nighters, the frustration of just not getting it.
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