
Our Ancient Faith
Lincoln, Democracy, and the American Experiment
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Narrated by:
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Justin Price
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By:
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Allen C. Guelzo
About this listen
An intimate study of Abraham Lincoln’s powerful vision of democracy, which guided him through the Civil War and is still relevant today—by a best-selling historian and three-time winner of the Lincoln Prize
*Winner of the 2024 Abraham Lincoln Institute Book Prize*
*Finalist for the 2025 Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize*
"It is altogether fitting and proper that, with this meditation on democracy and its most subtle defender, Allen Guelzo again demonstrates that he is today’s most profound interpreter of this nation’s history and significance."—George F. Will
Abraham Lincoln grappled with the greatest crisis of democracy that has ever confronted the United States. While many books have been written about his temperament, judgment, and steady hand in guiding the country through the Civil War, we know less about Lincoln’s penetrating ideas and beliefs about democracy, which were every bit as important as his character in sustaining him through the crisis.
Allen C. Guelzo, one of America’s foremost experts on Lincoln, captures the president’s firmly held belief that democracy was the greatest political achievement in human history. He shows how Lincoln’s deep commitment to the balance between majority and minority rule enabled him to stand firm against secession while also committing the Union to reconciliation rather than recrimination in the aftermath of war. In bringing his subject to life as a rigorous and visionary thinker, Guelzo assesses Lincoln’s actions on civil liberties and his views on race, and explains why his vision for the role of government would have made him a pivotal president even if there had been no Civil War. Our Ancient Faith gives us a deeper understanding of this endlessly fascinating man and shows how his ideas are still sharp and relevant more than 150 years later.
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Critic reviews
“Guelzo looks to the 19th century to identify the challenges of sustaining a free society. He argues compellingly that Abraham Lincoln, who fought to defend the American republic against autocratic forces in the South while restricting civil liberties in the North, can help us figure out how to strike a balance.” —Parker Henry, The New York Times
“Brim[s] with worthy insights and well-selected quotations . . . Writing in the shadow of what he knows are despairing political times—the brink of a presidential contest that few seem to want—Allen Guelzo offers us the solace of Abraham Lincoln’s belief in democracy . . . Thus his gift to readers: ‘I offer this man’s example.’” —Roger Lowenstein, The Wall Street Journal
"It is impossible to read Our Ancient Faith without feeling that Guelzo wrote this book as much for himself as for us, to fortify himself for the 2024 election battle to come; and to share an illuminating and ennobling story with a people short on hope and—just as important and just as troubling—perspective." —David Shirbman, The Boston Globe
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Story
The Titans of the Twentieth Century addresses an age-old question: what is the impact of individuals on history? The first half of the twentieth century offered political leaders enormous scope for changing the world. This book consists of essays about eight who, for better and for worse, did just that. Individually, each chapter offers fresh and often surprising portraits of the twentieth century's titans. Collectively, the essays present a vivid and revealing portrait of a turbulent half-century that shaped the world of today.
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Reconstruction
- A Concise History
- By: Allen C. Guelzo
- Narrated by: Bob Souer
- Length: 4 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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The era known as Reconstruction is one of the unhappiest times in American history. It succeeded in reuniting the nation politically after the Civil War but in little else. Conflict shifted from the battlefield to the Capitol as Congress warred with President Andrew Johnson over just what to do with the South. Johnson's plan of Presidential Reconstruction, which was sympathetic to the former Confederacy, would ultimately lead to his impeachment and the institution of Radical Reconstruction.
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Very Well Done
- By Rob Welch on 08-20-21
By: Allen C. Guelzo
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Abraham Lincoln
- Redeemer President
- By: Allen C. Guelzo
- Narrated by: Edward Lewis
- Length: 18 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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This unique intellectual portrait explores the role of ideas in Lincoln’s life. Guelzo presents Lincoln as a serious thinker deeply involved in the problems of 19th-century thought, including those of classical liberalism, the Lockean Enlightenment, Victorian unbelief, and Calvinist spirituality.
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Allen Guelzo is always superb
- By Reformed Reader on 03-15-17
By: Allen C. Guelzo
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Reconstruction
- A Very Short Introduction
- By: Allen C. Guelzo
- Narrated by: Bob Souer
- Length: 4 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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The era known as Reconstruction is one of the unhappiest times in American history. It succeeded in reuniting the nation politically after the Civil War but in little else. Among its chief failures was the inability to chart a progressive course for race relations after the abolition of slavery and rise of Jim Crow. Reconstruction also struggled to successfully manage the Southern resistance towards a Northern, free-labor pattern. But the failures cannot obscure a number of notable accomplishments, with decisive long-term consequences for American life.
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Fairly standard history of Reconstruction
- By Adam Shields on 05-28-24
By: Allen C. Guelzo
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Churchill
- Walking with Destiny
- By: Andrew Roberts
- Narrated by: Stephen Thorne
- Length: 50 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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When we seek an example of great leaders with unalloyed courage, the person who comes to mind is Winston Churchill: the iconic, visionary war leader immune from the consensus of the day, who stood firmly for his beliefs when everyone doubted him. But how did young Winston become Churchill? What gave him the strength to take on the superior force of Nazi Germany when bombs rained on London and so many others had caved? In this landmark biography of Winston Churchill based on extensive new material, the true genius of the man, statesman, and leader can finally be fully understood.
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Superb Biography
- By Jean on 03-03-19
By: Andrew Roberts
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The American Civil War
- By: Gary W. Gallagher, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Gary W. Gallagher
- Length: 24 hrs and 37 mins
- Original Recording
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Between 1861 and 1865, the clash of the greatest armies the Western hemisphere had ever seen turned small towns, little-known streams, and obscure meadows in the American countryside into names we will always remember. In those great battles, those streams ran red with blood-and the United States was truly born.
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Excellent Series
- By Rodney on 07-09-13
By: Gary W. Gallagher, and others
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Rebel Yell
- The Violence, Passion, and Redemption of Stonewall Jackson
- By: S. C. Gwynne
- Narrated by: Cotter Smith
- Length: 24 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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General Stonewall Jackson was like no one anyone had ever seen. In April of 1862 he was merely another Confederate general with only a single battle credential in an army fighting in what seemed to be a losing cause. By middle June he had engineered perhaps the greatest military campaign in American history and was one of the most famous men in the Western World. He had given the Confederate cause what it had recently lacked: hope.
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Candidate for "My Daguerreotype Boyfriend"
- By Dorothy on 01-10-15
By: S. C. Gwynne
What listeners say about Our Ancient Faith
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Robert V. Vecchi
- 03-20-24
Tremendous and timely
Once again Allen Guelzo shows us that he is the best living historian of American history
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- Amazon reader
- 02-09-24
Excellent thread
Superb history with great relevance to the democratic dilemmas of today - Lincoln’s character and humility come through clearly
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- Max
- 02-07-24
Great
Very relevant to today’s problems. Would recommend it to everyone. Heard a bout it on NPR and was pleasantly surprised by it.
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- Lindsey
- 03-03-24
enjoyable discussion on the history of US democracy
some faith restored, citizen. certainly Lincoln focused, but at a unique time in the US journey.
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- Trebla
- 03-07-24
Excellent academic evaluation in words I can understand
Ideas and possible motivations which I had not before connected to Abe and his struggle with slavery
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- Dr Kenneth Thomas
- 02-25-24
Enlightening
The conflicts and resolutions of the past are applicable to our country today. Let's hope we will not attempt to solve our current problems with another civil war.
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