Abraham Lincoln: A Life - Paperback

by Michael Burlingame (Author)

Now in paperback, this award-winning biography has been hailed as the definitive portrait of Lincoln.

Named One of the 10 Top Lincoln Books by Chicago TribuneNamed One of the 5 Best Books of 2009 by The AtlanticWinner, 2008 PROSE Award for Best Book in U.S. History and Biography/Autobiography, Association of American PublishersWinner, 2010 Lincoln Prize from the Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College

In the first multi-volume biography of Abraham Lincoln to be published in decades, Lincoln scholar Michael Burlingame offers a fresh look at the life of one of America's greatest presidents. Incorporating the field notes of earlier biographers, along with decades of research in multiple manuscript archives and long-neglected newspapers, this remarkable work will both alter and reinforce our current understanding of America's sixteenth president.

Volume 1 covers Lincoln's early childhood, his experiences as a farm boy in Indiana and Illinois, his legal training, and the political ambition that led to a term in Congress in the 1840s. In volume 2, Burlingame examines Lincoln's life during his presidency and the Civil War, narrating in fascinating detail the crisis over Fort Sumter and Lincoln's own battles with relentless office seekers, hostile newspaper editors, and incompetent field commanders. Burlingame also offers new interpretations of Lincoln's private life, discussing his marriage to Mary Todd and the untimely deaths of two sons to disease.

But through it all--his difficult childhood, his contentious political career, a fratricidal war, and tragic personal losses--Lincoln preserved a keen sense of humor and acquired a psychological maturity that proved to be the North's most valuable asset in winning the Civil War.

Published to coincide with the 200th anniversary of Lincoln's birth, this landmark publication establishes Burlingame as the most assiduous Lincoln biographer of recent memory and brings Lincoln alive to modern readers as never before.

Front Jacket

Lincoln Prize, Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College
Cowinner, Book Award, Abraham Lincoln Institute
Russell P. Strange Book Award, Illinois State Historical Society
PROSE Award for Best Book in U.S. History and Biography/Autobiography, Professional and Scholarly Publishing Division, Association of American Publishers
Named One of the 5 Best Books of 2009 by The Atlantic
Named One of the 10 Top Lincoln Books by Chicago Tribune

In the first multi-volume biography of Abraham Lincoln to be published in decades, Lincoln scholar Michael Burlingame offers a fresh look at the life of one of America's greatest presidents. Incorporating the field notes of earlier biographers, along with decades of research in multiple manuscript archives and long-neglected newspapers, this remarkable work will both alter and reinforce current understanding of America's sixteenth president.

Volume 1 covers Lincoln's early childhood, his experiences as a farm boy in Indiana and Illinois, his troubled relationship with his father, his legal training, the political ambition that led to a term in Congress in the 1840s, and the great personal transformation he experienced in the mid-1850s.

A magisterial enterprise.--William Safire, New York Times

No review could do complete justice to the magnificent two-volume biography that has been so well-wrought by Michael Burlingame.--Christopher Hitchens, Atlantic Monthly

The author knows more about Lincoln than any other living person.--James McPherson, New York Review of Books

This book supplants [Carl] Sandburg and supersedes all other biographies. Future Lincoln books cannot be written without it, and from no other book can a general reader learn so much about Abraham Lincoln. It is the essential title for the bicentennial.--James L. Swanson, Publishers Weekly

Burlingame is a towering figure in Lincoln scholarship, and students of the 16th president have been waiting for this book for years. For all his learning--Burlingame may know more about Lincoln and his era than anyone in the world--his take on his subject is fresh, and he doesn't gloss over Lincoln's less appealing attributes. Abraham Lincoln comes as close to being the definitive biography as anything the world has seen in decades.--Time

Back Jacket

Lincoln Prize, Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College
Cowinner, Book Award, Abraham Lincoln Institute
Russell P. Strange Book Award, Illinois State Historical Society
PROSE Award for Best Book in U.S. History and Biography/Autobiography, Professional and Scholarly Publishing Division, Association of American Publishers
Named One of the 5 Best Books of 2009 by The Atlantic
Named One of the 10 Top Lincoln Books by Chicago Tribune

In the first multi-volume biography of Abraham Lincoln to be published in decades, Lincoln scholar Michael Burlingame offers a fresh look at the life of one of America's greatest presidents. Incorporating the field notes of earlier biographers, along with decades of research in multiple manuscript archives and long-neglected newspapers, this remarkable work will both alter and reinforce current understanding of America's sixteenth president.

Volume 1 covers Lincoln's early childhood, his experiences as a farm boy in Indiana and Illinois, his troubled relationship with his father, his legal training, the political ambition that led to a term in Congress in the 1840s, and the great personal transformation he experienced in the mid-1850s.

"A magisterial enterprise."--William Safire, New York Times

"No review could do complete justice to the magnificent two-volume biography that has been so well-wrought by Michael Burlingame."--Christopher Hitchens, Atlantic Monthly

"The author knows more about Lincoln than any other living person."--James McPherson, New York Review of Books

"This book supplants [Carl] Sandburg and supersedes all other biographies. Future Lincoln books cannot be written without it, and from no other book can a general reader learn so much about Abraham Lincoln. It is the essential title for the bicentennial."--James L. Swanson, Publishers Weekly

"Burlingame is a towering figure in Lincoln scholarship, and students of the 16th president have been waiting for this book for years. For all his learning--Burlingame may know more about Lincoln and his era than anyone in the world--his take on his subject is fresh, and he doesn't gloss over Lincoln's less appealing attributes. Abraham Lincoln comes as close to being the definitive biography as anything the world has seen in decades."--Time

Author Biography

Michael Burlingame is Chancellor Naomi B. Lynn Distinguished Chair in Lincoln Studies at the University of Illinois Springfield. He is the author or editor of several books about Lincoln, including Lincoln Observed: Civil War Dispatches of Noah Brooks, published by Johns Hopkins, and The Inner World of Abraham Lincoln.