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Henry Jaffa's Crisis of the House Divided is a different kind of book than I anticipated. Instead of a history or retelling of the Lincoln-Douglas debates, it is an analysis of Lincoln and Douglas's arguments as political philosophy. The debates are treated not as events of the summer of 1858, but as timeless dialogues. Jaffa goes back to earlier speeches by both men to reconstruct their positions, tying them into a philosophical family tree extending back to Plato and Aristotle.

I doubt that Jaffa and I would agree on much politically (he was an advisor to Barry Goldwater's 1964 presidential campaign), but he is an outstanding thinker and writer. He makes the best possible case for Stephen A. Douglas's position on popular sovereignty, along with its weaknesses. Similarly, he points out occasional inconsistencies in Lincoln's arguments without denigrating his greatness.

This is a great book that will appeal to anyone interested in politics.