Rebel Giants or Markings

Rebel Giants: The Revolutionary Lives of Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin

Author: David R Contosta

February 12, 2009, will mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of two of the most extraordinary and influential men in recent history-Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin. While the coincidence of these two men being born on exactly the same day might fill astrologers with glee, further reflection points to many parallels and intersections in their lives. In this unique approach to history and biography, historian David R. Contosta examines the lives and careers of Lincoln (the political rebel) and Darwin (the scientific rebel), and notes many surprising and illuminating points of comparison.
• Contosta points out that despite obvious differences-one born to a poorly educated, impoverished family on the American frontier, the other to a wealthy and prominent English family; one largely self-taught, the other with a degree from Cambridge; one a politician seeking the crowd's approval, the other a reclusive scientist-there are striking similarities between these seemingly disparate individuals. Both Lincoln and Darwin:

• Lost their mothers in childhood and later lost beloved children at young ages.
• Had strained relations with their fathers.
• Went through years of searching for a direction to their lives.
• Struggled with religious doubt.
• Were latter-day sons of the Enlightenment who elevated reason over religious revelation.
• Suffered from severe bouts of depression.
• Were ambitious as well as patient, with sure and steady mental powers rather than quick minds.
• Possessed an excellent sense of pacing that allowed them to wait until the time was ripe for their ideas and leadership.

Contosta makes a compelling case that by studying the similarities (along with the differences) between these two giants of history we are able to understand each man better than by examining their lives in isolation. This approach also affords many insights into the factors that impel special individuals to lead great paradigm shifts. Today, as American society still struggles to come to grips with the impact of racial integration and controversies over the teaching of evolution, it is more important than ever to understand how two 19th-century rebels with revolutionary ideas helped to shape the present.

Publishers Weekly

On February 12, 2009, numerous observances, conferences and books will celebrate the bicentennials of two major 19th-century figures: Lincoln and Darwin. Historian Contosta (Henry Adams and His World) uses the coincidence of their shared birth date as the basis for a thin, sophomoric comparison of the two men. Both, according to Contosta, introduced paradigm shifts in how people thought about humanity, whether human dignity or our place in the natural world; both men struggled against attempts, such as slavery, to dehumanize people. And both were self-made men: Lincoln in the more usual sense of the term, Darwin because he rejected the path his father had chosen and found his own calling. At first glance, the author notes, Lincoln and Darwin are very different: the former from a frontier family who had little formal education; the latter, from a wealthy family, graduated from Cambridge. Yet they both lost their mothers at an early age; both struggled with doubts about religion, were ambitious and had quick minds. But Contosta mainly catalogues these differences and similarities without delving deeply into their significance, yielding no new insights into these two well-known lives. (Apr.)

Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information

Table of Contents:

Acknowledgments 9

Introduction 13

Ch. 1 Intersecting Worlds 21

Ch. 2 Who and Where 53

Ch. 3 Love and Work 85

Ch. 4 Career and Family 125

Ch. 5 Time and Place 159

Ch. 6 Crisis and Revolution 187

Ch. 7 Triumph and Torment 219

Ch. 8 Afterlives 263

Ch. 9 Legacies 297

Bibliography 335

Index 347

Interesting textbook: Working with Human Service Organisations or Global Business Regulation

Markings

Author: Dag Hammarskjold

A book of meditations. A revealing spiritual self-portrait by one of the great peacmakers of our times.
Maturity: Among other things, the unclouded happiness of the child at play who takes it for granted that he is at one with his playmates.
Never, "for the sake of peace and quiet," deny your own experience or convictions.
The only kind of dignity which is genuine is that which is not diminished by the indifference of others.
Pray that your loneliness may spur you into finding something to live for, great enough to die for.
Never measure the height of a mountain until you have reached the top. Then you will see how low it was.

Library Journal

This posthumous 1964 title by the UN general secretary and Nobel Peace Prize winner makes no reference at all to his noted career. Instead, it is a diary of sorts of his personal creed, poems, and meditations in which he reflects on himself and his fellow human beings. The book can provide spiritual guidance even to those who aren't necessarily religious. Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.