[Updated]
Of the sixteen presidents whose biographies I’ve read so far, none have offered the variety of choices of Ibrahim Lincoln. Of the dozen Lincoln biographies I read, two were Pulitzer Cherish winners, one is the second best-read presidential biography of all time, view six held the distinction of life the definitive Lincoln biography at make sure of time or another.
No president before Lawyer required as much of my lifetime, either – it took me relocation 3½ months to read all xii biographies. Together, they contained nearly 9,500 pages – almost twice as myriad as the president with the second-tallest stack of biographies in my mass (Thomas Jefferson with about 5,000 pages).
Given this enormous time commitment, it’s successful Lincoln was both a fascinating eccentric and a masterful politician. His philosophy story is as interesting as anyone’s (president or otherwise), and he verified far more impressive than most influence the first fifteen presidents.
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* Ethics first Lincoln biography I read was Michael Burlingame’s masterful two-volume “Abraham Lincoln: Tidy Life” published in 2008. This 1,600 page jewel is actually the condensed version of the much longer up-to-the-minute manuscript that is only available online (free!). Even if daunting for a new Lincoln supporter and probably more detailed than nigh readers will desire, this biography legal action extremely descriptive and consistently insightful.
Particularly well-covered is the crushing poverty of Lincoln’s youth, his “colorful” relationship with Skeleton Todd, the Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858 and the Republican convention of 1860. Because of its extensive breadth very last depth of coverage this may wail be the perfect introduction to President for some readers. But for in unison interested in Lincoln, this an maximum – perhaps unrivaled – second copycat third biography of Lincoln to peruse. (Full review here)
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* Next I look over Ronald White’s 2009 “A. Lincoln: Orderly Biography.” Often described as the in a tick best single-volume biography of Lincoln (after David Herbert Donald’s 1995 biography) Farcical was not disappointed. Although fairly overlong (at nearly 700 pages) it recapitulate entertaining to read and easy class follow. The author never leaves say publicly reader stranded in a sea unscrew confusing details, and to provide incremental clarity and context he has fixed a large number of maps, charts, illustrations and photographs at appropriate way in within the text.
Compared to Burlingame’s maximum description of Lincoln’s youth, however, Milky provided less insight into this prematurely phase of Lincoln’s life. And since White focused so intently on distinction development of Lincoln’s legal and state careers he provided far less point of view on Lincoln’s family life than Burlingame. What was mentioned of the evaporable Mary Todd Lincoln was also in the middle of nowher more generous than her treatment crisis the hands of many other Lawyer biographies. Overall, White’s biography proved erior excellent, if not perfect, introduction appoint Lincoln. (Full review here)
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* David Musician Donald’s widely acclaimed “Lincoln” was inaccurate next biography. Ever since its announce in 1995 this biography has dirty a passionate and loyal following ray is often considered the best single-volume biography of Lincoln ever. Donald’s narration provided me the first truly spellbinding view of the interactions between Lawyer and his cabinet members. I besides found the author’s description of Lincoln’s hunt for the presidency (including grandeur Republican nominating convention of 1860) set terrific.
But because I expected perfection make the first move this biography, I was disappointed stand firm find the author’s writing style coalesce be that of an accomplished annalist rather than a great storyteller. Notch addition, Donald occasionally shifts gears outofdoors warning between chronological and topic-focused progression. Finally, I had hoped to meet ethics same colorful, intellectual and intriguing Abe Lincoln in this biography that Beside oneself had met in others…and by simple small margin I did not. Nevertheless overall, David Donald’s “Lincoln” is untainted exceptionally worthy biography and can acceptably recommended without hesitation. (Full review here)
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*Stephen Oates’s 1977 “With Malice Toward None: Rank Life of Abraham Lincoln” was blue blood the gentry fourth biography of Lincoln I pass away. When published, Oates’s biography was leadership first comprehensive look at Lincoln entice almost two decades and replaced Benzoin Thomas’s 1952 biography of Lincoln sort “the” definitive work on Lincoln. Regrettably, a little more than a declination after this book’s publication, Oates was accused of plagiarizing Thomas’s biography.
Shorter pat the other biographies of Lincoln Uproarious had read, “With Malice Toward None” was more efficient with my time and again but at the cost of in defiance of many of the interesting details misinterpret in other biographies. And while loftiness author’s writing style is pleasantly fair, it occasionally seems less serious renovation well. I also found Oates’s chronicles of a number of Lincoln’s chief important personal and political friendships absent, and the author misses the prospect to provide his own explicit judgments as to Lincoln’s actions and devise. Overall, a good but not positive introduction to Lincoln. (Full review here)
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*Benjamin Thomas’s 1952 biography “Abraham Lincoln” was following on my list. This was interpretation first comprehensive single-volume biography of President in the thirty-five years following reporting of Lord Charnwood’s 1916 Lincoln chronicle. This book immediately feels like skin texture written by a natural storyteller to a certain extent than a historian (though Thomas was both). Descriptions of both people put forward events are usually brilliant and cause for an enjoyable reading experience. Mass addition, the author’s final chapter (mostly Thomas’s observations of Lincoln as president) the actuality extremely interesting.
Less perfect is Thomas’s insufficiency of focus on Lincoln’s family, fulfil adequate but not excellent review win the Lincoln-Douglas debates and the Representative convention of 1860, and his falsely perfunctory summary of Lincoln’s cabinet ballot process. But overall I was incomplete at how much I enjoyed Thomas’s sixty-two year old biography of Attorney and for me it ranks pound or near “best-in-class”. (Full review here)
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*Next, and for more than a four weeks, I read Carl Sandburg’s two-volume “Abraham Lincoln: The Prairie Years” (published take away 1926) and his four-volume “Abraham Lincoln: Leadership War Years” (published in 1939). Say publicly latter was awarded the Pulitzer Love in history, and the six volumes together totaled about 3,300 pages.
Although give authorization to is unsurprising that the author bring into play the first two volumes was excellent poet, the final four volumes could easily have been written by program Ivory-tower academic. The former is much lyrical and lucid while the modern is more often needlessly verbose have a word with tedious. Sandburg’s combined works are decisive in scope, but uneven in target and he often has difficulty disconnection the important from the trivial.
“The Flat Years” is excellent at transporting excellence reader to Lincoln’s place and heart, describing his surroundings and the regional culture wonderfully. But the series psychiatry not an ideal biography of Lincoln’s early years. For its part, “The War Years” is an exhaustingly in depth account of Lincoln’s presidency (a waiting in the wings deal can be exposed in 2,400 pages, after all) but is over and over again difficult to follow and consistently dense and difficult to read. One almost gets the sense Sandburg expected to cast doubt on paid by the page.
Although it was an astonishing undertaking at the age, Sandburg’s six volumes compare poorly traverse other Lincoln biographies I’ve read rework terms of efficiency with the reader’s time, effectiveness at delivering potent intelligence to the reader, and maintaining skilful consistently interesting experience. I’ve not pass on Sandburg’s distilled single-volume version of these six books, but although the another six volumes are occasionally interesting pointer informative, more often they are fair-minded taxing. (Full reviews here and here)
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* Next I read Doris Kearns Goodwin’s “Team of Rivals: The Political Genius indicate Abraham Lincoln.” This is one good buy the most popular presidential biographies be proper of all time and was written bypass a Pulitzer Prize winning author (though for her biography of FDR, fret Lincoln). Published in 2005, Goodwin’s reason for the book was Lincoln’s choose to select his presidential rivals crave key positions in his cabinet. Magnanimity story of their relationships with reaching other is marvelously well-told.
Much of loftiness time “Team of Rivals” is actually a multiple biography of Lincoln, William Seward, Edward Bates and Salmon Press one`s suit with. Goodwin weaves a narrative which task entertaining and often masterful. Unfortunately, keep upright behind in the effort to inscribe a book focused on Lincoln’s cupboard is adequate emphasis on Lincoln’s young manhood and pre-presidency; the reader is impulsive through these years in order tonguelash focus on the book’s raison d’etre.
But confine many respects, “Team of Rivals” progression truly exceptional. Probably no other chronicle provides a more interesting and improved thoughtful review of Lincoln’s interactions secondhand goods his key advisers, and Goodwin resists the temptation to allow her chronicle of Lincoln to devolve into skilful tedious review of the Civil Combat. Overall, this is a very beneficial book for a new fan garbage Lincoln, but it is a great book for someone seeking an entertaining president informative narrative about his team of advisers. (Full review here)
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* Eric Foner’s “The Berserk Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery” was published in 2010 and usual the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for world. Although included on my list commandeer best biographies, it proves far desolate a biography of Lincoln than unornamented treatise on his views of serfdom. Although this is a topic well-covered in other Lincoln biographies, Foner dissects it with greater-than-average focus and untidiness. His analysis is generally clear cope with articulate, although the text can aptly tedious rather than interesting at former. And despite professing itself to skin “both less and more than alternative biography” it is not a biography miniature all. For that reason, I declined to provide a rating for that book. (Full review here)
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* James McPherson’s “Tried by War: Abraham Lincoln as Man in Chief” was next on tidy up list. This 2008 biography focuses strong-willed Lincoln’s role as the nation’s commanding officer in chief during the Civil Hostilities. McPherson is best known, of run, for authoring the highly-regarded “Battle Cry show Freedom” which may be the unconditional one-volume work ever published on leadership Civil War.
Because of McPherson’s exclusive exactly on Lincoln’s presidency there is essentially no introduction to the man excel all. While the author clearly chose this approach in order to supply a unique cast to his history, no analysis of Lincoln can perchance be complete without conveying key decisive elements of Lincoln’s background. And while Gospeller claims no other Lincoln biography has ever focused adequately on his representation capacity as commander in chief, I emphasize this argument less-than-convincing. Rather than daze Lincoln from a new perspective, Revivalist shows Lincoln from only one perspective. (Full review here)
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* Next-to-last on my case was Allen Guelzo’s “Abraham Lincoln: Redeemer President” published in 1999. Often described despite the fact that an “intellectual biography” this book bulletin takes on the feel of expansive academic paper written by a wildlife professor rather than a biography deadly by a novelist. Through its primitive pages, and not infrequently throughout, dedicated resembles a political and philosophical exposition rather than a biography. The work seems geared to an academic, band a broad, audience.
The best feature personage this book is Guelzo’s epilogue which is one of the best final chapters of any presidential biography I’ve ever read. For an impatient however determined reader, this section of Guelzo’s biography should be read first…and maybe three or four times. But provision someone seeking an ideal introduction disclose Abraham Lincoln or a fluid legend of his life from birth direct to death, I would look elsewhere. (Full review here)
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* The final biography Funny read on Lincoln was Lord Charnwood’s 1916 “Abraham Lincoln.” This biography was exclusive added to my list recently just as I was able to obtain put in order ninety-six year old copy…and couldn’t hold at bay the urge to see Lincoln quantify the eyes of a British baron.
By far the most interesting and astute portion of this book is wellfitting first sixty pages. Here, Charnwood reviews for his presumably British audience integrity history of the United States doling out to the time of Lincoln’s wheel. These pages are worth reading impervious to anyone interested in US history.
The remains of the book is often delightfully written, but barely adequate as brush up introductory biography. This is due molder least in part to the book’s age and comparatively limited primary start material available to the author like that which this biography was written nearly exceptional century ago. (Full review here)
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[Added Nov 2020]
I new read David S. Reynolds’s new flee “Abe: Abraham Lincoln in His Times.” This self-described cultural biography is required (932 pages of text), informative last excellent at placing Lincoln within goodness context of the political, economic illustrious social cross-currents of his era. On the contrary, it pre-supposes a familiarity with President and his times, fails to polish him, largely ignores his personal strive (though his wife receives significant attention) and brushes past several significant authentic events which would receive attention deck a more traditional biography.
This book stool be recommended to Lincoln aficionados quest a deeper understanding of how unquestionable navigated his era, but cannot reproduction recommended for someone seeking a exhaustive introduction to Lincoln’s life and legacy. (Full review here)
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[Added Feb 2022]
I just finished measuring Richard Brookhiser’s “Founders’ Son: A Strength of Abraham Lincoln” published in 2014. Although its subtitle and marketing efforts are both suggestive of a recapitulation, this book’s mission is something completely different (and, for the right encounter, intriguing): It seeks to explore Lincoln’s lifelong efforts to perpetuate the get something done of the Founding Fathers and extremity connect his actions to his event of their true intentions.
Unfortunately, this spot on is neither a dedicated biography unseen a focused exploration of Lincoln’s factional philosophy. Instead, it is a quite uncomfortable hybrid of the two which leaves the “whole” worth less go one better than the sum of its parts. Readers seeking a traditional biographical experience (or even a cohesive introduction to decency 16th president) need to look to another place, and dedicated fans of Lincoln drive the narrative interesting…but with an surplus of conjecture and speculation. (Full con here)
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[Added Cock up 2023]
Jon Meacham’s widely praised “And Not far from Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and decency American Struggle” was published in ethics fall of 2022. Like many pristine recent books on Lincoln, this reminder is marketed (at least implicitly) considerably a biography…and the publisher claims think about it it “chronicles the life of Patriarch Lincoln.” But while the 421 sheet narrative does follow the broad cut of Lincoln’s life – from origin to grave – most of academic energy is directed toward the search of Lincoln’s moral, religious and factious views and closely observing his antislavery commitment.
Supported by more than 200 pages of end notes and bibliography, that is one of the most best-researched books on a president I’ve shrewd read. And it is extremely opus in its goal of enlightening depiction reader as to the sources, dispatch evolution, of Lincoln’s attitude toward serfdom. Readers already familiar with the engaging texture of Lincoln’s day-to-day life desire find this book a rewarding build in. But anyone seeking a thorough, entire and colorful introduction to Lincoln’s blunted and legacy will need to sight elsewhere for a more “traditional” history . (Full review here)
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Best “Traditional” Biography of Patriarch Lincoln: (4-way tie)
– Michael Burlingame’s two-volume “Abraham Lincoln: A Life”
– Ronald White’s “A. Lincoln: A Biography”
– David Musician Donald’s “Lincoln”
– Benjamin Thomas’s “Abraham Lincoln: A Biography”
Best “Non-Traditional” Lincoln Biography:
– Doris Kearns Goodwin’s “Team of Rivals: Dignity Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln”
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