A book of superb legal and philosophic analysis, though reading it today one is put off by the degree to which it is fixated on historiographic disputes of the 1950s. Jaffa undertakes a thorough but mostly fair defense of Abraham Lincoln, pre-presidency, against historians of his day who were taking the side of Stephen Douglas and his "popular sovereignty" doctrine.

Lincoln's star has risen somewhat since this work's original publication — perhaps in no small part BECAUSE of this work's publication. But its careful reading and contextualization of Lincoln's speeches, as well as a shorter preceding explication of Douglas's point of view, remains sharp and still relevant today.

The book does presume a fairly hefty preknowledge of the life and career of Abraham Lincoln and the major political controversies of the 1850s — not merely a basic understanding of "popular sovereignty," "Bleeding Kansas" and "Dred Scott" but details of particular speeches and the exact path certain laws took through Congress. The book is still readable with a moderate historical background, but the occasional omission of important context combines with its already intricate political philosophy to make this a pretty tough slog, though always fascinating. ( )