{"product_id":"giants-the-parallel-lives-of-frederick-douglass-and-abraham-lincoln-9780446698986","title":"Giants: The Parallel Lives of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln","description":"Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln were the preeminent self-made men of their time. In this masterful dual biography, award-winning Harvard University scholar John Stauffer describes the transformations in the lives of these two giants during a major shift in cultural history, when men rejected the status quo and embraced new ideals of personal liberty. As Douglass and Lincoln reinvented themselves and ultimately became friends, they transformed America. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Lincoln was born dirt poor, had less than one year of formal schooling, and became the nation's greatest president. Douglass spent the first twenty years of his life as a slave, had no formal schooling-in fact, his masters forbade him to read or write-and became one of the nation's greatest writers and activists, as well as a spellbinding orator and messenger of audacious hope, the pioneer who blazed the path traveled by future African-American leaders. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e At a time when most whites would not let a black man cross their threshold, Lincoln invited Douglass into the White House. Lincoln recognized that he needed Douglass to help him destroy the Confederacy and preserve the Union; Douglass realized that Lincoln's shrewd sense of public opinion would serve his own goal of freeing the nation's blacks. Their relationship shifted in response to the country's debate over slavery, abolition, and emancipation. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Both were ambitious men. They had great faith in the moral and technological progress of their nation. And they were not always consistent in their views. John Stauffer describes their personal and political struggles with a keen understanding of the dilemmas Douglass and Lincoln confronted and the social context in which they occurred. What emerges is a brilliant portrait of how two of America's greatest leaders lived.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Twelve\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 11\/12\/2009\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780446698986\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 448\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.03lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.32w x 1.16d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations: \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e 12\/13\/2009 pg. 28\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"John Stauffer","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52403360235701,"sku":"9780446698986","price":21.24,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/files\/img_75c457c1-322d-4fcc-85f5-8d72b0cd788c.jpg?v=1774968929","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/giants-the-parallel-lives-of-frederick-douglass-and-abraham-lincoln-9780446698986","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}