One of the best Lincoln books of the season is OUR LINCOLN edited by Eric Foner. The book is a compilation of original essays by some of the leading current Lincoln scholars.
I have long been interested in Lincoln's favoring colonization of African Americans. As a disciple of Henry Clay, Lincoln pushed colonization until as late as December of 1862. Once the Emancipation Proclamation was issued January, 1863, Lincoln said no more about colonization. I have yet to find the Lincoln biographer who says much about colonization. I suppose it's embarassing for Lincoln's admireres, but it's the truth. Lincoln's colonization ideas lead to charges that he wanted an all-white country. You can be harsh or soft with Lincoln on this, but there is no doubt that he is open to this charge.
Eric Foner's essay in this volume is the first lengthy treatment of Lincoln's views on colonization that I have run across. I find it to be very enlightening. Foner puts Lincoln's views in context, but there is no way to obliterate them.
In this book, the James Oakes piece on Lincoln and race is the best summary of this topic, something I will always be interested in, that I have found.
There is a great article by Andrew Delbanco on Lincoln's language. This is another topic that I will always be reading about. I will have more to say about this article later.
In short, this book is cutting-edge Lincoln.
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