The first third of this novel feels very dated, and the protagonist was not very likable by today's standards. However, the narrative became much more compelling as it went on, and the main character became much more easy to relate to. Overall it is a memorable story and could be considered essential reading for people who enjoy time-travel fiction. ( )

The power of time travel to open up the past provides the starting point of Wilson Tucker’s novel. In the 26th century, a business specializing in time travel is hired to record a speech made by Abraham Lincoln in 1856. What seems like an ordinary assignment, though, is soon complicated by an error that sends the team leader, Benjamin Steward, to the morning after speech. Now risking a fatal paradox that may lead to his death, he travels back with his team to the day of the speech itself, where he faces complications that threaten to undermine his mission and may lead even to his death.

Tucker’s novel is a short and engaging venture about the perils and complications of time travel. His premise of a history only half-remembered is an entertaining one and his characters, while somewhat dated, are interesting and sympathetic. While not as good as his later time-travel novel, , Wilson provides one of the better efforts at a time travel novel and an enjoyable adventure that entertains the reader. ( )

It is a good title especially for a Time travel story. But Tucker is not a great stylist, just an adequate practitioner in his genre. I may not reread this one. ( )

I like reading books by Wilson Tucker. He is one of the unexpected surprises I received when I began reviewing classic SF. That said, this one is very average. It started out great and then began to fade. It's as if the author had to finish in a hurry or just didn't know to finish it. Either way, it will not stop me from reading every Tucker book I find. ( )

This 1958 time-travel story is about retrieving the text of Lincoln's 'lost speech' made in Bloomington, Illinois in 1856 at the beginning of his political career. It is told from the perspective of researchers from a distant future where much historical knowledge has been lost. The scene-setting is good, and the time paradox nature of the story, though it works specifically on contrived plot devices, is well carried through.

The big problem for me was the central character, the time-travelling researcher, Benjamin Steward. Tucker makes a lot out of his (and his colleagues') acting skills which are required for them to blend into the background of whatever era they are visiting. However, Tucker makes this character speak in a mix of 1950s slang and cod-Shakespearean archaic English. The overall effect, for me at least, was to make him completely bogus, which is a shame. He displays admirable qualities of responsibility and leadership, but I just kept on getting irritated with him.

In passing, I learnt some more American history, which was interesting when put into the perspective of current-day political arguments coming out of America. And Tucker's depiction of Future America, shown to us in odd snippets, had interesting resonances with our own time. But the story hardly involves Abraham Lincoln at all, and it employs two or three turns of plot along different tracks before we reach the conclusion. There are more worthwhile books to spend your time on. ( )