Horn Book

Despite meeting only three times, Lincoln and Douglass formed a lasting friendship based on mutual admiration, respect, and trust. Through this friendship--an extremely effective structure--Freedman surveys the tenor of the times regarding slavery, abolition, the Civil War, and emancipation. Included are period illustrations and a generous assortment of the subjects' own words. Notes. Bib., ind.

Starred Review ALA Booklist

Starred Review This handsome book opens in 1863 with a scene in the White House. Frederick Douglass, the well-known writer, editor, speaker, abolitionist, and former slave, is the only black man waiting in the crowded room outside Lincoln's office in hopes of meeting the president. After backtracking to tell the dramatic story of Douglass' rise from slave to free man to influential public figure, the discussion shifts to Lincoln, focusing first on his life and later on his conduct of the Civil War and the issue of slavery. Returning to the opening scene, the final chapters consider the men's different points of view and trace the respectful, increasingly warm relationship between Lincoln and Douglass through the remainder of the war. Freedman writes with clarity, intelligence, and a fine sense of vivid detail. He doesn't just point out that both these self-educated men had read and studied The Columbian Orator, he also includes the book's three-page Dialogue between a Master and Slave in the back matter. Also appended are source notes, a selected bibliography, a discussion of historical sites related to Lincoln and Douglass, and a list of credits for the well-chosen illustrations, which include period photos, prints, drawings, paintings, and documents. A well-researched, wonderfully readable book on Lincoln's brief but telling friendship with Frederick Douglass.

Starred Review for Kirkus Reviews

Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass met only three times, but their friendship changed a nation. Lincoln was white and president of the United States; Douglass was black and a former slave. Yet they were kindred spirits: Both had risen from poverty to prominence, both were self-educated men and both had a book in common, Caleb Bingham's The Columbian Orator. In fact, 12-year-old Douglass was secretly reading the book of speeches and dialogues in Baltimore at the same time Lincoln was reading it in Illinois, and the appendix here presents an excerpt, "Dialogue between a Master and Slave." When they first met, in 1863, the nation was at war. Lincoln struggled to keep the nation together, while Douglass welcomed war as a first step toward ending slavery; Douglass was ever the voice of moral conscience, nudging Lincoln to do the right thing on behalf of the enslaved. In this slim volume, Freedman makes a narrative challenge look effortless. He tells the stories of two prominent Americans, traces the debate over slavery from the Missouri Compromise to the Kansas-Nebraska Act and the Dred Scott decision and explains how these events created a momentum that pushed the nation toward war. He does all of this in a lucid and fascinating narrative that never sacrifices depth and intellectual rigor. A marvel of history writing that makes complicated history clear and interesting. (selected bibliography, notes, picture credits) (Nonfiction. 9-14)

School Library Journal Starred Review

Gr 5-10 Freedman tells the story of a friendship between two men who shared many characteristics. Lincoln and Douglass were both self-educated, born into poverty, and, through relentless effort and hard work, reached great success. Both men fought for freedom and equality for all Americans, both black and white, as promised in the Declaration of Independence. Divided into 10 chapters, the book offers biographical details for each man, an overview of the Civil War, Lincoln's changing attitude toward African Americans, Douglass's endeavors to create black regiments within the Union army, and descriptions of the men's face-to-face meetings. Captioned black-and-white photographs and reproductions are found on almost every page. An appendix, a selected bibliography, notes, and a list of historic sites complete the volume. Douglass's quotes are largely taken from his three autobiographies, and the Lincoln quotes, while taken from secondary sources, are from definitive and modern standard sources. A first-rate volume for classroom study and general reading.— Patricia Ann Owens, Illinois Eastern Community Colleges

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Freedman revisits the subject of his Newbery-winning Lincoln: A Photobiography (1987), but this time the 16th president shares billing with his friend and ally, abolitionist Frederick Douglass. The story opens with Douglass anxiously waiting to meet Lincoln for the first time to air grievances about the treatment of African-American soldiers during the Civil War. -At forty-five... he was a commanding figure, taller than most men, with a powerful athlete-s build, graying hair, penetrating brown eyes and a carefully trimmed beard.- Subsequent chapters detail the leaders- often parallel biographies. Both were self-made and shared a passion for reading, rising from poverty to prominence. In clear, accessible storytelling, Freedman brings the book back full circle to the pair-s first meeting. Reprints of b&w photographs, engravings, political cartoons, and posters appear throughout (the most graphic of which depicts the hanging of a captured African-American soldier). Appendices, source notes, and a bibliography conclude what is not only the story of two powerful men who shaped the course of the United States, but also a brief history of the war that raged while they forged a fast but deep friendship. Ages 9-12. (June) -

Kirkus Reviews (Fri Oct 04 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass met only three times, but their friendship changed a nation. Lincoln was white and president of the United States; Douglass was black and a former slave. Yet they were kindred spirits: Both had risen from poverty to prominence, both were self-educated men and both had a book in common, Caleb Bingham's The Columbian Orator. In fact, 12-year-old Douglass was secretly reading the book of speeches and dialogues in Baltimore at the same time Lincoln was reading it in Illinois, and the appendix here presents an excerpt, "Dialogue between a Master and Slave." When they first met, in 1863, the nation was at war. Lincoln struggled to keep the nation together, while Douglass welcomed war as a first step toward ending slavery; Douglass was ever the voice of moral conscience, nudging Lincoln to do the right thing on behalf of the enslaved. In this slim volume, Freedman makes a narrative challenge look effortless. He tells the stories of two prominent Americans, traces the debate over slavery from the Missouri Compromise to the Kansas-Nebraska Act and the Dred Scott decision and explains how these events created a momentum that pushed the nation toward war. He does all of this in a lucid and fascinating narrative that never sacrifices depth and intellectual rigor. A marvel of history writing that makes complicated history clear and interesting. (selected bibliography, notes, picture credits) (Nonfiction. 9-14)