This is an entertaining and well- researched story of an unlikely friendship that influenced the course of history. Period photographs, prints, and drawings enhance this informational text. Source Notes, Bibliography, Historic Sites, Index.

Well written, well illustrated, well constructed, and probably well-researched double biography of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. The merits of this book are its straightforward narrative structure and its well-captioned period illustrations. Its defect is sentences that don't really make any sense, that crop up here and there. For a book published in 2012, however, it is pleasantly free of modern gimmicks.

An interesting point that can be gleaned from the book is the obvious fact that the system of slavery was breaking down. This was not the well-managed slavery of a contemporary science fiction movie, but a very ill-regulated institution indeed. At each step, Douglass was favored by a laxness in the system. As a child he was taught to read, and books were shared with him by local free boys. As a man, he was expected to maintain himself while working in the Baltimore docks alongside many free persons sympathetic to him. He escaped on the train headed north with papers that had been forged for him by associates he had encountered through his employment. ( )

Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass, The Story Behind an American Friendship is a book about the friendship of these two crucial men in history. Frederick Douglass was born a slave in Maryland. He taught himself how to read and write. Douglass escaped to Pennsylvania on September 3, 1838, and there he started his journey as an abolitionist. Douglass married Anna Murray on September 15. Douglass traveled to Britain to become a free man right after he published one of his books, The Life of a Slave. He did this to escape from being brought back into slavery and he started working on his next book. Abraham Lincoln was born in a small town and also taught himself how to read and write. He loved reading because it took him places in his mind that he could not go in real life. Abraham's father made him work for his neighbors to earn money but under law and custom, he had to give it all to his father. Abraham became a legislator while in law school. When Abraham finished law school he gained support from being a legislator to go to the presidency. The tensions between the north and the south were rising. Abraham Lincoln elected as president of the United States. When Douglass was invited to the white house, he believed that blacks should be able to fight for their freedom and that this war should eradicate slavery. Abraham was not very fast on making this decision because he was afraid he would lose troops and support from border states. Abraham and Douglass was working together in the war to bring together both sides. Douglass admired Abraham because he treated Douglass like he treated a white person. The Civil War erupted on April 12, 1861. The Civil War went on for three years, and then there was reelection but luckily, Abraham won. He also gained support to let slaves and frees blacks to fight for their country because the people in the north thought that if they had the blacks fight, the war would end sooner. With the help of Douglass, Abraham had the support of blacks to fight. After the war, Abraham had passed the 13th amendment, which abolished slavery. Douglass took a liking to Abraham as a person they needed each other, and they had many things in common. After Abraham's assassination, his wife Mary sent Douglass a cane as a memento of the friendship between Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass.
In my opinion, this was a good book because slavery was abolished. Another one of the reasons why this was a good book was because these two people in history Douglass and Abraham were prominent figures to the Civil war and society in the future. One of the things that were bad about this book was that it did not explain the hardships that both of them faced discrimination and being poor. Although it was a good book, it did not go into detail about them in their personal lives. The author I think, could have added quotes from both Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass this would have made the story better. ( )

I would use this book in a sixth grade classroom as a book for them to use for research due to the vocabulary and complexity of the text itself.

The little known story of the friendship between Lincoln and Douglas. The book shares that though they only met a few times their work had a lasting mark on civil rights.