Becoming Lincoln
- ISBN-10
- 0813941571
- ISBN-13
- 9780813941578
- Category
- History
- Pages
- 384
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2018-09-25
- Publisher
- University of Virginia Press
- Author
- William W. Freehling
Description
Shortlisted for the 2018 Lincoln Prize Previous biographies of Abraham Lincoln—universally acknowledged as one of America’s greatest presidents—have typically focused on his experiences in the White House. In Becoming Lincoln, renowned historian William Freehling instead emphasizes the prewar years, revealing how Lincoln came to be the extraordinary leader who would guide the nation through its most bitter chapter. Freehling’s engaging narrative focuses anew on Lincoln’s journey. The epic highlights Lincoln’s difficult family life, first with his father and later with his wife. We learn about the staggering number of setbacks and recoveries Lincoln experienced. We witness Lincoln’s famous embodiment of the self-made man (although he sought and received critical help from others). The book traces Lincoln from his tough childhood through incarnations as a bankrupt with few prospects, a superb lawyer, a canny two-party politician, a great orator, a failed state legislator, and a losing senatorial candidate, to a winning presidential contender and a besieged six weeks as a pre-war president. As Lincoln’s individual life unfolds, so does the American nineteenth century. Few great Americans have endured such pain but been rewarded with such success. Few lives have seen so much color and drama. Few mirror so uncannily the great themes of their own society. No one so well illustrates the emergence of our national economy and the causes of the Civil War. The book concludes with a substantial epilogue in which Freehling turns to Lincoln’s wartime presidency to assess how the preceding fifty-one years of experience shaped the Great Emancipator’s final four years. Extensively illustrated, nuanced but swiftly paced, and full of examples that vividly bring Lincoln to life for the modern reader, this new biography shows how an ordinary young man from the Midwest prepared to become, against almost absurd odds, our most tested and successful president.
Get the book
Similar books
-
Becoming Abraham Lincoln: The Coming of Age of Our Greatest President
By Richard KigelBecoming Abraham Lincoln: The Coming of Age of Our Greatest President tells the true story of how this great American hero grew up and became a man.
-
The Life of Abraham Lincoln
By Henry KetchamAn excellent read. The author covers the timeline of Lincoln's life in a concise but descriptive manner. The book is a primer that guides you through the numerous facets of Lincoln life.
-
Lincoln and the Fight for Peace
By John AvlonAs US General Lucius Clay, architect of the post-WWII German occupation, said when asked what guided his decisions: “I tried to think of the kind of occupation the South would have had if Abraham Lincoln had lived.” Lincoln and the ...
-
Abe Lincoln: The Boy Who Loved Books
By Kay WintersLearn about the early life of Abraham Lincoln in this picture book biography that Kirkus Reviews calls “a moving tribute to the power of books and words.” In a tiny log cabin a boy listened with delight to the storytelling of his ma and ...
-
Rise to Greatness: Abraham Lincoln and America's Most Perilous Year
By David Von DrehleVoorhees, Daniel W. “The Liberty of the Citizen.” In Speeches ofDaniel W. Voorhees, of Indiana, Embracing His Most Prominent Forensic, Political, Occasional, and Literary Addresses. . . with a Short Biographical Sketch.
-
Abraham Lincoln
By John M. Hay, John G. NicolayThis new replica edition features all the original illustrations.
-
American Legends: the Life of Abraham Lincoln
By Charles River Charles River EditorsSchoolchildren can recite the life story of Lincoln, the "Westerner" who educated himself and became a self made man, rising from lawyer to leader of the new Republican Party before becoming the 16th President of the United States.
-
Abe Lincoln at Last!
By Mary Pope OsborneThe magic tree house whisks Jack and Annie to Washington D.C. in the 1860s where they meet Abraham Lincoln and collect a feather that will help break a magic spell.
-
Speeches and Letters of Abraham Lincoln: By Abraham Lincoln - Illustrated
By Abraham Abraham LincolnHow is this book unique?
-
Lincoln and the Election of 1860
By Michael S. GreenHis other choice, Orville Browning, remained so Whiggish that he told Lincoln that he preferred Bates—and Lincoln dealt with his friend so carefully and subtly that Browning thought he agreed. But after twenty years of friendship, ...