Angels and Ages : A Short Book about Darwin, Lincoln, and Modern Life

from themulhern

Starts out poorly, gets more and more interesting, and then concludes fatuously. I listened to an audiobook, the author reads his own work. He makes Darwin sound very pert, and as far as I can remember, gives Lincoln no special voice at all. I think he is trying to sneak up on his thesis just lik...

from michaelbartley

I really liked this book, it shows how two men from very different backgrounds showed the way to our age. Both Darwin and Lincoln, sharing the same birthday, were products of the enlightment. Certainly more for Darwin, but each of them using reason expanded the spirital values of the world. A won...

from bruchu

Celebrating Two Great Men Essayist Adam Gopnik attempts to tackle the connections between intellectuals Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln, both born on 1809 (coinciding with the bicentennial anniversary). The title "Angels and Ages" refers to the dispute over what Edwin Stanton was alleged to ha...

from ronsea

An excellent small book very well written and thought out. Although the characters are used to illustrate a grander point, it is an important meditation especially on Lincoln.

from OccassionalRead

Gopnik takes a simple conceit, the fact that Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin were born on the same day, and uses this as a launching point for a discursive, free form essay, about each man's contribution to the age of modernity. Gopnik praises Lincoln for his ability to distil complex legal ar...