Synopses & Reviews
This self-made man from a log cabin-the great orator, the Emancipator, the savior of the Union, the martyr-was arguably our greatest president; but it takes a master storyteller like Thomas Keneally, author of the award-winning novel that inspired the film
Schindler's List, to bring alive the history behind the myth. Acclaimed for his recent Civil War biography,
American Scoundrel, Keneally delves with relish-and a keen, fresh eye-into Lincoln's complicated persona.
Abraham Lincoln depicts all the amazing man's triumphs, insecurities, and crushing defeats with uncanny insight: his early poverty and the ambition that propelled him out of it; the shaping of the man and his political philosophy by youthful exposure to Christianity, slavery, and business; his tempestuous marriage and his fatherly love. We see him, elected to the presidency by a twist of fate, unswerving in the grim day-to-day conduct of the war as his vision and acumen led the country forward. Abraham Lincoln is an incisive study of a turning point in our history and a revealing portrait of its pivotal figure, his greatness etched even more clearly in this very touching human story.
Review
"The subject of Lincoln has been thoroughly mined, yet this author's skill at characterization reveals a new angle: a sensitive discernment of Lincoln's anxieties....Keneally succinctly and insightfully presents a humanized Lincoln." Booklist
Review
"Like Lincoln, Keneally tells a good story, finding the right anecdote to make his case and never forgetting the moral of the tale....This is an epic compressed into a tightly written biography that all Americans might read with profit." Library Journal
Synopsis
Includes bibliographical references (p. 177-183).
Synopsis
The ideal concise biography of an American icon- now available in paperback for the bicentennial of his birth The self -mad e man from a log cabin, the great orator, the Emancipator, the Savior of the Union, the martyr-Lincoln's story is at the very heart of American history. But who was he, really? In this outstanding biography, award-winning author Thomas Keneally follows Lincoln from his impoverished birth through his education and presidency. From the development of his political philosophy to his troubled family life and his actions during the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln is an incisive study of a turning point in our history and a revealing portrait of a pivotal figure.
About the Author
Thomas Keneally has won international acclaim for his novels Schindler's Ark, Confederates, Gossip from the Forest, Playmaker, Woman of the Inner Sea, and A River Town. He is most recently the author of the biography American Scoundrel: The Life of the Notorious Civil War General Dan Sickles.