A mostly unknown story of President Lincoln's openness to African Americans in the White House. Meeting with them as advisors on topics important in the pursuit of ending slavery. It is not the typical biography; but, does share a lot of facts and figures. I listened to the audio of this book. The narrator was good but I found it hard to stay engaged with the book throughout. Recommend for those who like historical fiction.

There’s perhaps no better time to look back at past presidents than in an election year. In this audiobook, historical records of the impact and influence Black people had on Lincoln and the White House specifically are examined. Lincoln, while held up in history as "The Great Emancipator" was still a white man in the mid-19th century, and he had all the influences that entailed. I think this book is attempting to do a lot of "see Lincoln was so great because of XYZ" in light of some recent commentary about Lincoln upholding white supremacy. I'm not commenting on that here, but I do feel like there's a tone of justification in the book overall.
As an audiobook, I like most of the voices and the portrayals. However Lincoln's voice is almost laughable and takes the listener out of the moment.

A House Built by Slaves was an incredibly interesting book about the interactions between Abraham Lincoln and numerous African Americans, some who are well-known and others whose names I had never heard before. President Lincoln was more of the thread that tied these people and their stories together through history than the actual focal point of the narrative.

My only complaint is with the narration. There are books where the narrator changing accent & voices helps with the clarity & impact of the story. This book was not one of them. The narrator’s normal voice was good. However, the different vocalizations for each character, especially that of President Lincoln, were very distracting. I felt it took away from the gravity of the history being shared.

Overall, the information was engaging and interesting. However, I would have preferred reading this book as opposed to listening to the audiobook.

This is a very well done audiobook, with notable voices for each main character. I very much enjoyed the musical interludes. There was a lot of week researched history that is not as well known as it should be. Definitely pick this up if you want to know more about Lincoln, and more about the struggle to end slavery.

A House Built by Slaves: African American Visitors to the Lincoln White House
by Jonathan W. White

A historical look at Abraham Lincoln’s association with both well-known and lesser-known African-Americans during his Presidency (1861-1865). A well-researched look at Lincoln’s evolutionary views on slavery and emancipation.

I listened to the audio version of this book and that was a big mistake. The main narrator, Jesse Lipscombe (spelled incorrectly on the audiobook’s cover!) had a decent voice but most quotes throughout the book, including Lincoln’s, were voiced by somewhat comedic narrators. This changed a 4-star rating to only three stars.

Thank you NetGalley and Post Hypnotic Press for an ARC of this book. All opinions are mine.

4.5 stars! ⭐️

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this audiobook. A House Built by Slaves is a book in which the positively surprising amount of information and gripping writing style are in perfect harmony. I can definitely recommend this audiobook to both beginners and experts who wish to learn more about Abraham Lincoln’s presidency from different perspectives and first-hand accounts.

I greatly appreciate the opportunity to listen to such an informative book about such a controversial president in our history.

The things I loved:
That it was extremely educational
That it brought in letters and memoirs from people who knew President Lincoln and/or slaves that were affected by his proclamation.
That it gave views from the former slaves as well.
That the book did not try to paint Lincoln in a heroes light as he too was flawed.

Things I did not like:
Some things were very repetitive
The narrator was very drone and monotone
Some chapters were WAY too long and could have been split up into smaller chapters or made smaller by not being repetitive.
I dont like the strange voice Lincoln was given by the narrator.
The narrator just sounds incredibly racist in giving slaves and/or black people in general such awful voices that sound very stereotypical. It seemed very disrespectful.
I guess my biggest issue was the narrator.

I do recommend this book to anyone who loves history though! I think I may try to read a physical copy so Im not so distracted by the narrator.

A House Built By Slaves, African-American visitors to the Lincoln White House by Jonathan W White this is a book that explores many popular myths and questions about Abraham Lincoln in relation to his viewpoint on slavery and The African-American in general. It covers the first black man to visit the White House that wasn’t an employee the first black dignitary and even discusses Abraham Lincoln‘s detractors and supporters. It even talked about how president Lincoln looked as if he was letting the African-American population down by implementing slavery retrieval laws, fair pay for black soldiers ET see this book really covers everything from the criticism to the things we celebrate about Abraham Lincoln is all covered in this great book including the African Americans that were welcome to the White House. This is a fabulous exploration about Abraham Lincoln and his feeling for a population who definitely needed a hero Who could change laws it’s so history put him in the right place at the right time. The narrator of this book Jesse Lipscomb is a great performer he did the voice is so well it was so on point and even put in a little comedic relief when doing some of the white racist which made me laugh out loud. Kudos to Mr. Lipscomb and Mr. White for an absolutely great audiobook. I want to thank post hip Nautic press for my free arc copy via NetGalley. Please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

An interesting look at Lincolns civil rights record and how he tiptoed the line to emancipation and abolition. Not perfect but man was he good.

This was the most descriptive and enjoyable book I have read on Abraham Lincoln to date. Told from the perspective of the black peoples of the time, it was a story of real love and trust of a great man who welcomed each and every man and woman as if they were family. The narrator was fabulous and brought this book to life. Well researched and narrated, it is a book that even young school children can understand and appreciate. I highly recommend this book and I am grateful for the opportunity to have listened to it and learned from it.

This was a great book about something in history I didn't have a great grasp on. I enjoyed the weaving of the story however the audiobook did confuse me at times as it transitioned from quotes to story. Over all this was an enjoyable book that left me with a better grasp on history.

I enjoy books that teach me things I do not know about the times of the past. This book provided a unique look at Lincoln, along with his interactions with various Black people during a time when Black people were not valued and seen as property. It was nice to learn more about Lincoln than the standard facts I learned in school. This is a powerful read that provides great insight into Lincoln's meetings with black leaders. I learned so much listening to this audiobook, and it kept me so engrossed in it's content.

The narration was great, and I truly enjoyed the immersive listening experience. This was a 5 star delight that I truly enjoyed!

Thank you to NetGalley and Post Hypnotic Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Let me get this out of the way first: I experienced the audio version of this book, which I do not recommend. The book's format of weaving together quotes from primary sources undoubtedly made it a challenge for the audio format, and the choice to use different voices for quotes than the author's text makes sense -but just going with a single other narrator or voice would have suited the tone of the book far better than the cartoonish and sometimes offensively stereotypical accents that seriously detract from the content. The frequent mispronunciations of names and places plus the odd misreadings of repeated words also present a challenge. The audiobook would generously rate one star - but since there isn't a specific Goodreads option for the audio, my rating is based upon the content of the book and disregards the audio-specific issues.

That said - this is a very good non-academic overview of Abraham Lincoln's evolution over the course of his time in the White House. By using the framework of individual visits by Black guests over the course of his presidency (preceded by a brief overview of both Lincoln's pre-presidency life and a survey of the few non-white visitors received by his White House predecessors), it avoids the usual pitfall of parsing the individual words of letters, speeches, etc. to speculate on motivation. The author even points out on several occasions how this approach has led to nearly nonsensical interpretations of Lincoln's thoughts and actions becoming accepted truths among the general public. The infamous colonization meeting is discussed at some length, early on, which demonstrates why this chronological approach works so well - it's a cliché at this point, but history happens forward to back, so reading it in any other order takes away the context. Yes, the meeting went as badly as we think, and also yes, that was because of Lincoln's racism and arrogance - but The Meeting(tm) wasn't the end of the story - or the beginning.

What really sets this one apart, though, is the way that the primary sources tell the story. Mr. White has clearly spent some time online and recognizes that Twitter wars and comments sections are only new in their format - the same collision of extreme positions, disingenuous arguments, and people existing in different realities from one another has been a thing since communication began. The quoted sources talk past each other, write things they would likely never say aloud or after a good night's sleep, make sweeping generalizations, etc. - and the author stands back and lets them do it. For infrequent readers of history, this should help to overcome the perception that our current times are "unprecedented" and that "those people" are worse than they ever were before - whoever "those people" are for you.

Whatever you think you think about Abraham Lincoln, the presidency in general, white supremacy, Frederick Douglass, or our current political climate, I hope you'll put this one on your list and let it broaden your horizons.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

I’m a fan of Jonathan White’s other books, and while White is a long-time scholar of Lincoln and this book in particular is well researched, I often found myself feeling like the stories and justification of responding to White’s central premise was repetitive. Beyond that, I went back and forth with enjoying the audiobook’s narration. Some character voices for quotes were fine, and orally made the quotations stand out but some voices were very far-fetched and out of place in my opinion.

A longtime scholar of Abraham Lincoln, author Jonathan W. White delves into the minutiae of Lincoln's time in the White House receiving visitors. As White recounts, Lincoln received any person off the street who lined up to come in for an audience with the president twice a week — an apparent norm of the time. What is continuously recounted in these pages is the experiences of black ministers, abolitionists, soldiers, formerly enslaved people, and others treated with dignity and equity by the president. (Likely considered to be quite radical at the time.) The book is compiled from research of letters, news articles, speeches, and recollections of those present. While most of these look favorably on Lincoln from a contemporary standard when viewed with a lens of its day, White does not shy from criticism of the president known as "the Great Emancipator."
I found the book an excellent way to learn more about a man who is held up as one of our greatest American presidents but whom we learn little about beyond surface facts in school. White delivered a deeper understanding of Abraham Lincoln and some of his beliefs, as evidenced by his writings, speeches, and actions.
I received White's title in audiobook format via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Jesse Lipscombe's narration could be jarring at times, with his very specific artistic choices. Sometimes, I would need to remind myself that it was Lincoln's words I was hearing. Each time I did, I also appreciated these artistic choices and why I surmise Lipscombe made them.

A House Build by Slaves gives context to Abraham Lincoln's personal friendships with and treatment of people of color during his presidency, making the argument that his views developed and went far beyond the strategic and political need to emancipate the enslaved. The book recognizes that his earlier beliefs and commentary on the institution of slavery were negative but not abolitionist in nature, Further, he did go through a period where he believed colonization in Africa or South America would best. However, over and over the book illustrates that Lincoln offered each person of color he met dignity, recognized their humanity and used them as valued advisors as he grew. in his views. What more can we expect of anyone, particularly in the contact of his life and times? Great book. Very good narration.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC of this book.

This was very informative and showed how African Americans thought of Lincoln when they met him through their own words. Most of the testimonies were positive and therefore show Lincoln in a positive light. I liked how this book showed how the country looked throughout Lincoln’s life and after. It’s important to learn about such a pivotal point in our nation’s history from the people who were affected most.

Thank you to #NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

This was a great read. I loved the information and different views on Lincoln and the African American population. I really feel that this was written beautifully. I also think that the narrator did a fantastic job.

A House Built by Slaves: African American Visitors to the Lincoln White House
by Jonathan W. White
A philosophical and historical look at first person accounts of the life and times of Abraham Lincoln. The problem of historical understanding of events is that it can change with the concept of the time. The prejudice and usage of political ideology can change the observation of history. Current ideology about Lincoln has been fluid. Some of the conceptions and misconceptions about Lincoln, and his white house is controversial, and contradictory. Many of the disruptions in his history come from the fluid nature of racial interactions. Stories printed directly in his times, or just after his murder are different from those during racial equality, or during the race problems after covid. The difference can be the miss conception of Lincoln and his polices, or just the misconceptions of the people he interacted with at his time. The great emancipator has been loved and villainized by many in the times since his death. Many of these contradictions are addressed in this book, going from first sources as much as possible. The author brings a compelling look at Lincoln's time, how he was viewed in office and how political ideals and interest influence the viewers of his time.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review. I may not be as impartial of a reader here as I adamently adore Lincoln and hurt for all the sorrow he had in his life. Because I read a lot of books on him, I was a bit surprised to find some new information (at least to me) in this book. "A House Build by Slaves" is a story about different black visitors Lincoln met with while he occupied the White House. It tells of those meetings and the impressions of LIncoln straight from the words of these people who met with him. I believe the book claims to do this because of the recent backlash stating that Lincoln was racist. This book mostly contains positive stories and claims that Lincoln was welcoming and sympathetic to the causes both of anti-slavery and also movement to allow social and political rights to those communities. There is no doubt that Lincoln said some decisive things and at times said things that seemed to contradict his expressed beliefs. Obviously this was a different time and looking at the era and ways of the world in which he was raised, it is fair to say that Lincoln probably did waiver some. But he was a young man when he first saw slaves working in a field and was immediately saddened and resolved in his belief that man is man and should not be subject to ownership by another. To be honest, I think there is room for disagreement and diaglogue on the matter of Lincoln's beliefs but I didn't have that too much in mind as I read this book. I mostly found enjoyment in the different conversations with the people he met and his belief in an almost open door policy for the White House....something his successor immediately reversed. He took action as well from many of these meetings including giving major miliatry roles to black citizens and helping advance black doctors. These were all bits of new to me information that I enjoyed learning.
Link to the Goodreads review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6284676591