Lincoln's Gamble by Todd Brewster

Published by Scribner on September 9, 2014

More than 23,000 books have been written about President Lincoln, attesting to the important role he plays in the American imagination. Todd Brewster notes that some biographers of Lincoln have revered him as the second coming of Christ while others have portrayed him as a devious scoundrel.

Lincoln's Gamble is not a biography. Brewster calls it an attempt to discover the "real" Lincoln by focusing on a slice of his presidency. It succeeds at least to the extent of revealing an important slice of the "real" Lincoln. Brewster paints Lincoln during the last half of 1862 as complex and conflicted, principled and pragmatic, a fence-sitter at war with himself before his better nature triumphed.

The first half of the book describes the ambivalent path to the Emancipation Proclamation that Lincoln traveled (in the words of Frederick Douglass) "in his own peculiar, cautious, forbearing and hesitating way." Much of the second half addresses Lincoln's approach to the war, his frustration with his generals, his determination to shift the Union's strategy from defense to offense, and his final (albeit limited) decision to free Confederate slaves.

Brewster emphasizes Lincoln's deliberate and lawyerly approach to emancipation. One one hand, while Lincoln shared the prevailing racism of his time, he believed that the core American values of liberty and equality were antithetical to slavery. Despite his belief in equal rights, he plainly did not view black Americans as morally or intellectually equal to white Americans. His preferred outcome would have been an end to slavery while encouraging former slaves to find a new country in which to dwell. On the other hand, Lincoln's foremost concern, as Brewster sees it, was to save the Union. Whether emancipation would further or hinder that goal was a question that constantly vexed him. Had Lincoln been able to negotiate an end to the rebellion by phasing out slavery over several decades while compensating slave owners for their losses, Brewster makes clear that he would have jumped at that chance, his personal opposition to slavery notwithstanding.

Brewster argues that the connection between slavery and the Civil War was critical to Lincoln. Lincoln's reluctance to proclaim an immediate end to slavery was based in part upon his recognition that the Southern economy was dependent upon it. Later, when the war was not going well for the Union, Lincoln concluded that damaging the economy of the South by freeing slaves might hasten a favorable end to the rebellion. Yet even then he feared that freeing slaves would prolong the war and might lead to continued violence both by and against former slaves. It was thus with an ambivalent mixture of resolve and uncertainty that he signed the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863.

The concept of emancipation by presidential proclamation also troubled Lincoln because freeing slaves was arguably beyond his authority. Lincoln recognized that the Constitution, without using the words slave or master, sanctioned slavery by requiring the return of fugitive "laborers" to the "party" to whom their labor was due. Although not using the express term, the Constitution plainly regarded slaves as property. By what legal (as opposed to moral) authority can the president deprive people of their property without compensation and due process of law? While Lincoln (as opposed to Stephen Douglas) did not accept the notion that "state's rights" included the right to enslave, Brewster argues that Lincoln felt an obligation to uphold the law as it was embodied in the Constitution.

Lincoln resolved the dilemma by tying emancipation to the president's constitutional war power authority, a bold but questionable judgment. Moreover, because Lincoln's justification for freeing slaves applied only to states in rebellion and would no longer apply in states that laid down their arms, the Emancipation Proclamation purported to free slaves in Confederate states, but not to end slavery. It took a constitutional amendment for that to happen.

Brewster argues that Lincoln's fretting about the language and legal justification for emancipation was, in the end, largely irrelevant to supporters of abolition, who saw the proclamation as a moral statement rather than the careful legal document that Lincoln drafted. Regardless of (and perhaps contrary to) Lincoln's intent, the proclamation changed the war from an effort to save the Union to a war of liberation. In the end, Lincoln's justification of emancipation as a military necessity proved prophetic, as the loss of slaves sapped the Confederacy's strength while adding thousands of fresh soldiers to the Union's forces.

I'm not sure Lincoln's Gamble adds new insight to Lincoln's character, but after 23,000 Lincoln books, I doubt that would be possible. Lincoln's Gamble is nevertheless full of interesting facts. None of the book's digressions (a brief history of slavery, profiles of various individuals who may have influenced the president's thinking, the role science played in justifying nineteenth century racism, the uncertain evidence of Lincoln's religious beliefs) come across as padding or filler.

The book is balanced. Brewster does not shy away from Lincoln's character flaws or from the damage he did when he made poor decisions (particularly the suspension of habeas corpus). At the same time, he is respectful of the difficult choices Lincoln made during a critical six months in the nation's history. As a good historian should, Brewster relies largely upon contemporary sources and quotes them freely while taking care to evaluate their credibility. He makes clear distinctions between facts that are almost certainly true and those (such as where and when Lincoln began writing the Emancipation Proclamation) that are subject to doubt. Yet his lively narrative does not bog down in the nit-picking of history. He calls upon art and literature to help the reader understand the war and its impact on the nation. Brewster's tone is casual rather than academic, making it easy reading for lay readers (like me) who want to learn something new without wading through dense and dry tomes.

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The Ultra Thin Man by Patrick Swenson

Published by Tor Books on August 12, 2014

Although The Ultra Thin Man does feature two detectives, Dashiell Hammett this isn't. Neither Patrick Swenson's unremarkable prose nor the plot of his science fiction mystery excited me. While I would not condemn The Ultra Thin Man as a bad novel, there are so many sf mysteries more worthy of attention that I cannot recommend this one.

The Union consists of human and alien worlds. The two nonhuman members of the Union are the Memor (good aliens that gave humans the technology to travel between worlds) and the Helk (unfriendly aliens that apparently resemble bald-headed wookies). Ribon is the largest world in the Union, but any human colonists on the planet who are unable to flee will soon be wiped out by Ribon's moon, which is fragmenting as the result of antimatter explosions.

Former private investigators David Crowell and Alan Brindos are now under contract to the Network Intelligence Organization. Their primary concern is the Movement of Worlds and its Helk leader, Terl Plenko. They suspect that Plenko is responsible for the destruction of Ribon's moon and other mayhem. While Brindos goes off in search of Plenko, Crowell discovers that bad guys within the NIO are setting him up for a fall.

The plot centers upon an ultra thin wire that allows a combination of particle acceleration and nanotechnology to do something (I won't say what) to life forms. Brindos experiences the effects of this technology in ways that are probably meant to add excitement to the plot. Unfortunately, Brindos is such an empty character I didn't care what happened to him. The novel's title notwithstanding, he's no Ultra Nick Charles. Crowell, who narrates half the chapters in the first person, is equally devoid of personality. We don't see much of the reclusive Memor but the Helk we encounter do not seem any more alien than a typical All Star Wrestler.

I don't want to describe the plot since it is so dependent upon surprises. Suffice it to say that the convoluted conspiracy did not engage me. The novel lacks dramatic tension but it does contain a fair amount of action and it moves at a brisk pace. Had the characters been better, perhaps I would have found the plot more involving, if not convincing.

A hundred years in the future, are people going to be saying "I needed to stay on the down low?" I doubt it. I'm not sure how many people still use that expression today. That's only one example of a writer who didn't give enough thought to his prose. Swenson's writing style isn't awful by any means, but it too often lacks polish. The epilog seems to set up the possibility of a sequel but nothing about this novel tempts me to read the next one.

NOT RECOMMENDED

City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett

Published by Broadway Books on September 9, 2014

I always look forward to reading a Robert Jackson Bennett novel. City of Stairs has all the hallmarks of Bennett's work, including a fiercely imagined world, offbeat humor, a thoroughly enjoyable story, and characters who, despite being from a different world or universe, illuminate what means to be human.

As a background to the complex plot, Bennett has invented a mythology. In the world Bennett creates, gods (recast as Divinities) once existed; the miracles attributed to them actually occurred. Prior to the Great War, Bulikov was a city of miracles, protected by the Divinities who occupied the Continent. Saypur was a Continental colony across the sea until a Saypuri named Kaj killed the six Divinities ... or so history records. After that, the miracles were locked away and forgotten.

Seventy-five years after Great War, Saypur rules the Continent. The people who inhabit Bulikov hate their occupiers, in part because the Saypuri have outlawed their divine symbols and all works that mention or acknowledge their Divinities.

The novel begins with the murder of Efram Pangyui, a Saypuri who was studying the Divinities and trying to learn how Kaj managed to kill them. Saypur sends Pangyui's mentor, a woman named Shara, to investigate. Shara, who does not want the Continentals to know that she is the great-granddaughter of Kaj, pursues mysteries and conspiracies that go much deeper than Pangyui's murder. Her investigation is impeded both by an uncooperative superior in Saypur and by Continentals who miraculously vanish on Bulikov's streets.

In addition to Shara, the novel's strongest characters include Shara's former lover, now a wealthy Continental; Shara's aunt, who operates Saypur's Ministry of Foreign Affairs while serving her own hidden agenda; and a rough-and-tumble Saypuri woman who is charged with governing Bulikov. The best character is Shara's assistant, Sigrud, who might be described as a philosopher-barbarian. Each character has a fully formed, carefully considered personality.

In many ways, the novel is allegorical. It can be seen as an exploration of leadership, of ruling by fiat versus leading by example. It can also be seen as a critique of religion, particularly religions that micromanage diets, dress, and sex acts, enforcing prohibitions by visiting inhumane punishments upon transgressors. Religious edicts that deny the experience of joy deprive their followers of a part of their humanity, while blind adherence to arbitrary rules, even when made by deities, is antithetical to progress and enlightenment -- or so the novel suggests.

Another of the novel's themes is the tendency of the oppressed to become oppressors once they seize power. Another concerns the consequences that befall wealthy nations when they allow oppressed nations to wallow in poverty. Yet another is how we deal with history when the history we learned turns out to be a lie, and how easily we forget that we all share a common history. This novel isn't a political or ethical tome but it scores points for illustrating meaningful lessons, always within the context of the plot and without lecturing. It scores even more points for using exceptional characters to tell a fascinating story.

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Neverhome by Laird Hunt

Published by Little, Brown and Co. on September 9, 2014

Leaving Bartholomew to take care of the farm in Indiana, Ash Thompson goes off to join the war, defending the Republic against the Rebels. Ash is a better shot, a braver soul, and the logical choice to go to war if (as Ash believes) one of them must. Ash has a secret, but Laird Hunt doesn't try very hard to keep it a secret from the reader. Ash's true nature becomes likely within a few pages and is confirmed by additional clues as the story moves forward but not expressly revealed until a quarter of the novel has passed.

Ash, alternately gallant and deadly, offers a unique perspective on the horrors of war. Battles are fierce but Ash more often describes (and more fully absorbs) the aftermath of war: bodies strewn in fields, broken wagons, abandoned bugles, charred towns. After a time, the point of the war is lost on those like Ash who bear its ugliness. Yet every war has tender moments and Ash is better positioned than most soldiers to notice and appreciate them.

Ash notes that in books written after the war, "women are saints and angels and men are courageous noble folk and everything they do gets done nice and quick and nothing smells like blood." The story Ash tells is a counterpoint to the glory of war. It is a story of humanity lost and found. It showcases the evil of which men and women are capable (not just in war), but the evil is offset by gentle people and by the resilience of the human spirit. People are damaged by war but some, Ash observes, find ways to cope with the damage.

The story is told in the first person. Hunt manages the difficult trick of telling the story in an uneducated but convincing dialect while creating striking images and remarkable paragraphs. Neverhome is a short but eventful novel. Perhaps the novel is too short -- time is so collapsed that many scenes would have benefited from additional flesh -- although it leads to a conclusion that is both powerful and unexpected. Still, the novel's greatest strength is its characterization of Ash, a person who is both ordinary and extraordinary, an "uncommon soldier" (to borrow the title of a reference work Hunt credits) who refuses to turn away from battle, whose greatest virtue is the ability to confront adversity -- in and out of war -- head-on.

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Worst. Person. Ever. by Douglas Coupland

Published by Blue Rider Press on April 3, 2014

Raymond Gunt, a cameraman of little distinction, reluctantly takes an assignment offered by his ex-wife that involves shooting footage for an American reality TV show in the remote island nation of Kiribati. It's the kind of show (Gunt is told) where people shag each other for a few weeks and then turn into cannibals. Recruiting a personal assistant from the cardboard box in which he dwells, Gunt begins his travels. The world tour of detention facilities is not what he had in mind, but he perseveres.

Douglas Coupland (via Gunt) pokes fun at Americans and our "ghastly" pseudonews channels and general dreadfulness, although he also belittles Mr. Bean and other British exports. He takes equal delight in skewering Peruvians, Mexicans, Chinese, Samoans, and pretty much everyone else on the planet. Some of his humor is less than politically correct (children who suffer from conditions that inhibit self-control, homeless people, and the obese are among his targets) but he doesn't cross boundaries in a way that most readers who have a sense of humor would find excessively offensive. After all, you can't expect enlightened sensitivity from the Worst. Person. Ever.

Some of Coupland's humor is too obvious (a product of choosing easy targets) and there are several comedic lulls during the course of the novel. Even so, Coupland has a gift for crafting funny sentences, many of which made me laugh out loud (although I admit that I'm a sucker for camel toe humor; it is possible that more mature readers will be less amused). In addition to Gunt's nonstop commentary on life (including conversations that routinely get Gunt and his assistant thrown out of vans and buses), the novel is peppered with fun factoids resembling Wikipedia entries that are about half fact and half clever invention.

The plot, to the extent that there is one, has little to do with the reality TV show. The novel's weakness is that there isn't much of a story here. Worst. Person. Ever. is amusing in a meandering way but it often seems to be searching for a purpose that it never finds. There is nothing wrong with humor for the sake of humor, but the novel's steadfast avoidance of meaning is disappointing. So is Gunt, who never quite lives up to the novel's title. Worst. Person. Ever. delivered enough laughs to earn my recommendation but did not deliver enough substance to earn unmitigated praise.

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