With the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln’s birth just around the corner, readers are about to be swamped by a veritable deluge of books about our 16th president. Readers hoping to avoid getting swept away by this innundation of Lincoln works would do well to latch onto this book. In this extremely short and accessible work, the Pulitzer-prize winning historian presents an up-to-date encapsulation of Lincoln’s life and times. The presentation of Lincoln’s life is surprisingly balanced; though the Civil War years occupy the majority of the text, due attention is also spent on his early years in Indiana and Illinois.

Perhaps the most surprising aspect of the book is its freshness. Though the story of Lincoln’s life has been told innumerable times in virtually every medium, the abbreviated scope of McPherson’s work leads him to adopt a broader perspective. While nothing new is revealed about the man, the book nonetheless give a sense of his life that is hard to find in larger accounts of Lincoln’s life. It is this quality which makes McPherson’s biography an ideal starting point for understanding Lincoln’s life, while the useful bibliography at the end will help steer the newly informed reader to the next step towards discovering more about this remarkable man. ( )

The point of this book is to provide a short overview of the life of Abraham Lincoln. McPherson scholarship is sound, and he writes well either at length (Battle Cry of Freedom) or in a brief book like this. What I found exceptional in the book was McPherson’s ability to summarize great swaths of history with with brief descriptions that not only cover the salient events but provide new insights almost because of the brevity of the treatment. If you ever want to spend just a couple hours and come away with some insights about Lincoln, and how his steady leadership and lack of pettiness won the Civil War and saved the Union, this is the book you should pick up. ( )

Autobiography/Biography

This chapter book accurately depicts the life of Abe Lincoln's legendary role in the Civil War as the President of the United States. It goes into detail about his encounters with Stephen Douglas.

This would be great to use in conjunction with a history unit on the Civil War, abolition, etc.

Basically a long magazine article, perfectly fine but not much to it. ( )

Basically a long magazine article, perfectly fine but not much to it. ( )