Team of Rivals

Just finished reading this epic biography by Doris Keanes Goodwin on Abe Lincoln and his cabinet ministers. This book, to borrow Lincoln's Gettysburg phrase gives "the last full measure of devotion" to the great man and his superb statesmanship.
Finding parallels to current statesmen, we are rarely able to see even a few of these qualities in our current lot.Obama, an ardent admirer of Lincoln, and this book, is yet to show good on the initial promise.From an Indian perspective, Prime Minister Doc. Manmohan Singh seems to possess the patience and calm demeanor that helped Lincoln anchor a nation during turbulent times.
The book provides a searing account of civil war politics and one can't but help appreciate the revolutionary ideals of those times. It brings out various facets of Lincoln's magnanimous and wise leadership abilities that helped him become from a prairie lawyer to the most famous US president and leader of the world for times to come. Must read for any fan of history and the various sobering lessons it teaches from its personalities, events and quirks of time.
My closing thoughts after reading the book was, "What would have happened if the confederates would have won?". I would definitely want to know if there is any account written from the confederate point of view,although i know history is never written by the vanquished but by the victors.Still its a sobering thought to imagine how the world and America would have shaped had slavery continued in it.