Author: Martin W. Sandler
Publisher: Walker Childrens
ISBN: 9780802796660
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
Abraham Lincoln was the first president whose time in office was captured by photography. Lincoln was able to use the camera to shape his image as a man of the people, and Americans responded by electing him during the turbulent times leading up to the Civil War. Inspired by a glass photographic negative recently discovered in the National Archives' Civil War collection that is the only confirmed existing picture of Lincoln before his historic Gettysburg Address, Sandler tells the story behind the photos that document Lincoln's rise from frontiersman to chief executive.
Lincoln Through the Lens
Author: Martin W. Sandler
Publisher: Walker Childrens
ISBN: 9780802796660
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
Abraham Lincoln was the first president whose time in office was captured by photography. Lincoln was able to use the camera to shape his image as a man of the people, and Americans responded by electing him during the turbulent times leading up to the Civil War. Inspired by a glass photographic negative recently discovered in the National Archives' Civil War collection that is the only confirmed existing picture of Lincoln before his historic Gettysburg Address, Sandler tells the story behind the photos that document Lincoln's rise from frontiersman to chief executive.
Publisher: Walker Childrens
ISBN: 9780802796660
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
Abraham Lincoln was the first president whose time in office was captured by photography. Lincoln was able to use the camera to shape his image as a man of the people, and Americans responded by electing him during the turbulent times leading up to the Civil War. Inspired by a glass photographic negative recently discovered in the National Archives' Civil War collection that is the only confirmed existing picture of Lincoln before his historic Gettysburg Address, Sandler tells the story behind the photos that document Lincoln's rise from frontiersman to chief executive.
The Dark Days of Abraham Lincoln's Widow, as Revealed by Her Own Letters
Author: Myra Helmer Pritchard
Publisher: SIU Press
ISBN: 0809386046
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 210
Book Description
Written in 1927 but barred from timely publication by the Lincoln family, The Dark Days of Abraham Lincoln's Widow, as Revealed by Her Own Letters is based on nearly two dozen intimate letters written between Mary Lincoln and her close friend Myra Bradwell mainly during the former's 1875 incarceration in an insane asylum. By the 1920s most accounts of Mrs. Lincoln focused on her negative qualities and dismissed her as "crazy." Bradwell's granddaughter Myra Helmer Pritchard wrote this distinctly sympathetic manuscript at the behest of her mother, who wished to vindicate Mary Lincoln in the public eye by printing the private correspondence. Pritchard fervently defends Mrs. Lincoln's conduct and sanity, arguing that she was not insane but rather the victim of an overzealous son who had his mother committed. The manuscript and letters were thought to have been destroyed, but fortunately the Lincolns' family lawyer stored copies in a trunk, where historian Jason Emerson discovered them in 2005. While leaving the manuscript intact, Emerson has enhanced it with an introduction and detailed annotations. He fills in factual gaps; provides background on names, places, and dates; and analyzes Pritchard's interpretations, making clear where she was right and where her passion to protect Mrs. Lincoln led to less than meticulous research and incorrect conclusions. This volume features an easy-to-follow format that showcases Pritchard's text on the left-hand pages and Emerson's insightful annotations on the right-hand pages. Following one of the most revered and reviled, famous and infamous of the First Ladies, this book provides a unique perspective of Mrs. Lincoln's post-White House years, with an emphasis on her commitment to a sanitarium. Emerson's contributions make this volume a valuable addition to the study of the Lincoln family. This fascinating work gives today's Lincoln enthusiasts the chance to read this intriguing interpretation of the former First Lady that predates nearly every other book written about her.
Publisher: SIU Press
ISBN: 0809386046
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 210
Book Description
Written in 1927 but barred from timely publication by the Lincoln family, The Dark Days of Abraham Lincoln's Widow, as Revealed by Her Own Letters is based on nearly two dozen intimate letters written between Mary Lincoln and her close friend Myra Bradwell mainly during the former's 1875 incarceration in an insane asylum. By the 1920s most accounts of Mrs. Lincoln focused on her negative qualities and dismissed her as "crazy." Bradwell's granddaughter Myra Helmer Pritchard wrote this distinctly sympathetic manuscript at the behest of her mother, who wished to vindicate Mary Lincoln in the public eye by printing the private correspondence. Pritchard fervently defends Mrs. Lincoln's conduct and sanity, arguing that she was not insane but rather the victim of an overzealous son who had his mother committed. The manuscript and letters were thought to have been destroyed, but fortunately the Lincolns' family lawyer stored copies in a trunk, where historian Jason Emerson discovered them in 2005. While leaving the manuscript intact, Emerson has enhanced it with an introduction and detailed annotations. He fills in factual gaps; provides background on names, places, and dates; and analyzes Pritchard's interpretations, making clear where she was right and where her passion to protect Mrs. Lincoln led to less than meticulous research and incorrect conclusions. This volume features an easy-to-follow format that showcases Pritchard's text on the left-hand pages and Emerson's insightful annotations on the right-hand pages. Following one of the most revered and reviled, famous and infamous of the First Ladies, this book provides a unique perspective of Mrs. Lincoln's post-White House years, with an emphasis on her commitment to a sanitarium. Emerson's contributions make this volume a valuable addition to the study of the Lincoln family. This fascinating work gives today's Lincoln enthusiasts the chance to read this intriguing interpretation of the former First Lady that predates nearly every other book written about her.
Looking at Lincoln
Author: Maira Kalman
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0147517982
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 50
Book Description
Fans of Who Was? and Jean Fritz will love this introduction to our sixteenth President by beloved author and illustrator Maira Kalman. Who was Lincoln really? This little girl wants to find out. She discovers, among other things, that our sixteenth president was a man who believed in freedom for all, had a dog named Fido, loved Mozart, apples, and his wife's vanilla cake, and kept his notes in his hat. From his boyhood in a log cabin to his famous presidency and untimely death, Maira Kalman shares Lincoln's remarkable life with young readers in a fresh and exciting way.
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0147517982
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 50
Book Description
Fans of Who Was? and Jean Fritz will love this introduction to our sixteenth President by beloved author and illustrator Maira Kalman. Who was Lincoln really? This little girl wants to find out. She discovers, among other things, that our sixteenth president was a man who believed in freedom for all, had a dog named Fido, loved Mozart, apples, and his wife's vanilla cake, and kept his notes in his hat. From his boyhood in a log cabin to his famous presidency and untimely death, Maira Kalman shares Lincoln's remarkable life with young readers in a fresh and exciting way.
Kennedy Through the Lens
Author: Martin W. Sandler
Publisher: Walker Childrens
ISBN: 9780802721600
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
As the well-reviewed Through the Lens series continues, Sandler aims the spotlight on John F. Kennedy, one of our most photogenic presidents, providing insight into how JFK used the new medium of television and the advances in color photography to further his ambitious agenda. Sandler's extensive research at the Kennedy Library sheds light on key events in Kennedy's lifetime that combine to provide an intimate portrait of the man as a brother, a father, an activist, and a president. Out in time for the 50th anniversary of Kennedy's inauguration, this will be an essential addition to any Kennedy collection.
Publisher: Walker Childrens
ISBN: 9780802721600
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
As the well-reviewed Through the Lens series continues, Sandler aims the spotlight on John F. Kennedy, one of our most photogenic presidents, providing insight into how JFK used the new medium of television and the advances in color photography to further his ambitious agenda. Sandler's extensive research at the Kennedy Library sheds light on key events in Kennedy's lifetime that combine to provide an intimate portrait of the man as a brother, a father, an activist, and a president. Out in time for the 50th anniversary of Kennedy's inauguration, this will be an essential addition to any Kennedy collection.
Summers with Lincoln
Author: James A. Percoco
Publisher: Fordham Univ Press
ISBN: 0823228975
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 284
Book Description
A journey across America revealing “the history of how seven of these monuments came to be . . . and what they mean to us today” (The Washington Times). Across the country, in the middle of busy city squares and hidden on quiet streets, there are nearly two hundred statues erected in memory of Abraham Lincoln. No other American has ever been so widely commemorated. A few years ago, Jim Percoco, a history teacher with a passion for both Lincoln and public sculpture, set off to see what he might learn about some of these monuments—what they meant to their creators and to the public when they were unveiled, and what they mean to us today. The result is a fascinating chronicle of four summers on the road looking for Lincoln stories in statues of marble and bronze. Percoco selects seven emblematic works, among them Thomas Ball’s Emancipation Group, erected east of the Capitol in 1876 with private funds from African Americans and dedicated by Frederick Douglass; Augustus Saint-Gaudens’s majestic Standing Lincoln of 1887 in Chicago; Paul Manship’s 1932 Lincoln the Hoosier Youth, in Fort Wayne, Indiana; and Gutzon Borglum’s 1911 Seated Lincoln, struggling with the pain of leadership, beckoning visitors to sit next to him on his metal bench in Newark, New Jersey. At each stop, Percoco chronicles the history of the monument, spotlighting its artistic, social, political, and cultural origins. His descriptions draw fresh meaning from mute stone and cold metal—raising provocative questions not just about who Lincoln might have been, but about what we’ve wanted him to be in the monuments we’ve built.
Publisher: Fordham Univ Press
ISBN: 0823228975
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 284
Book Description
A journey across America revealing “the history of how seven of these monuments came to be . . . and what they mean to us today” (The Washington Times). Across the country, in the middle of busy city squares and hidden on quiet streets, there are nearly two hundred statues erected in memory of Abraham Lincoln. No other American has ever been so widely commemorated. A few years ago, Jim Percoco, a history teacher with a passion for both Lincoln and public sculpture, set off to see what he might learn about some of these monuments—what they meant to their creators and to the public when they were unveiled, and what they mean to us today. The result is a fascinating chronicle of four summers on the road looking for Lincoln stories in statues of marble and bronze. Percoco selects seven emblematic works, among them Thomas Ball’s Emancipation Group, erected east of the Capitol in 1876 with private funds from African Americans and dedicated by Frederick Douglass; Augustus Saint-Gaudens’s majestic Standing Lincoln of 1887 in Chicago; Paul Manship’s 1932 Lincoln the Hoosier Youth, in Fort Wayne, Indiana; and Gutzon Borglum’s 1911 Seated Lincoln, struggling with the pain of leadership, beckoning visitors to sit next to him on his metal bench in Newark, New Jersey. At each stop, Percoco chronicles the history of the monument, spotlighting its artistic, social, political, and cultural origins. His descriptions draw fresh meaning from mute stone and cold metal—raising provocative questions not just about who Lincoln might have been, but about what we’ve wanted him to be in the monuments we’ve built.
America Through the Lens
Author: Martin W. Sandler
Publisher: Henry Holt and Company (BYR)
ISBN: 1466869097
Category : Young Adult Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 264
Book Description
"If I could tell the story in words, I wouldn't need to lug around a camera."-Lewis Hine A stunning view of America as captured by groundbreaking photographers American history is punctuated by defining moments-some proud, some tragic, some beautiful. Photography has made it possible for these moments to be captured and shared with the public. As the craft has evolved from unwieldy glass negatives to digital imagery, the photographs themselves have changed the way we see the world. From Mathew Brady's startling Civil War photographs to NASA's stunning images of the universe, America Through the Lens by Martin W. Sandler highlights twelve photographers whose work has truly changed the nation.
Publisher: Henry Holt and Company (BYR)
ISBN: 1466869097
Category : Young Adult Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 264
Book Description
"If I could tell the story in words, I wouldn't need to lug around a camera."-Lewis Hine A stunning view of America as captured by groundbreaking photographers American history is punctuated by defining moments-some proud, some tragic, some beautiful. Photography has made it possible for these moments to be captured and shared with the public. As the craft has evolved from unwieldy glass negatives to digital imagery, the photographs themselves have changed the way we see the world. From Mathew Brady's startling Civil War photographs to NASA's stunning images of the universe, America Through the Lens by Martin W. Sandler highlights twelve photographers whose work has truly changed the nation.
The Dust Bowl Through the Lens
Author: Martin W. Sandler
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 0802795471
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 104
Book Description
The Dust Bowl was a time of hardship and environmental and economic disaster. More than 100 million acres of land had turned to dust, causing hundreds of thousands of people to seek new homes and opportunities thousands of miles away, while millions more chose to stay and battle nature to save their land. FDR's army of photographers took to the roads to document this national crisis. Their pictures spoke a thousand words, and a new form of storytelling- photojournalism-was born. With the help of iconic photographs from Dorothea Lange, Walker Evans, Arthur Rothstein, and many more, Martin Sandler tells the story of a nation as it endured its darkest days and the extraordinary courage and spirit of those who survived.
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 0802795471
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 104
Book Description
The Dust Bowl was a time of hardship and environmental and economic disaster. More than 100 million acres of land had turned to dust, causing hundreds of thousands of people to seek new homes and opportunities thousands of miles away, while millions more chose to stay and battle nature to save their land. FDR's army of photographers took to the roads to document this national crisis. Their pictures spoke a thousand words, and a new form of storytelling- photojournalism-was born. With the help of iconic photographs from Dorothea Lange, Walker Evans, Arthur Rothstein, and many more, Martin Sandler tells the story of a nation as it endured its darkest days and the extraordinary courage and spirit of those who survived.
The Lincoln Highway
Author: Amor Towles
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0735222363
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 593
Book Description
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER More than ONE MILLION copies sold A TODAY Show Read with Jenna Book Club Pick A New York Times Notable Book, a New York Times Readers’ Choice Best Book of the Century, and Chosen by Oprah Daily, Time, NPR, The Washington Post, Bill Gates and Barack Obama as a Best Book of the Year “Wise and wildly entertaining . . . permeated with light, wit, youth.” —The New York Times Book Review “A classic that we will read for years to come.” —Jenna Bush Hager, Read with Jenna book club “Fantastic. Set in 1954, Towles uses the story of two brothers to show that our personal journeys are never as linear or predictable as we might hope.” —Bill Gates “A real joyride . . . elegantly constructed and compulsively readable.” —NPR The bestselling author of A Gentleman in Moscow and Rules of Civility and master of absorbing, sophisticated fiction returns with a stylish and propulsive novel set in 1950s America In June, 1954, eighteen-year-old Emmett Watson is driven home to Nebraska by the warden of the juvenile work farm where he has just served fifteen months for involuntary manslaughter. His mother long gone, his father recently deceased, and the family farm foreclosed upon by the bank, Emmett's intention is to pick up his eight-year-old brother, Billy, and head to California where they can start their lives anew. But when the warden drives away, Emmett discovers that two friends from the work farm have hidden themselves in the trunk of the warden's car. Together, they have hatched an altogether different plan for Emmett's future, one that will take them all on a fateful journey in the opposite direction—to the City of New York. Spanning just ten days and told from multiple points of view, Towles's third novel will satisfy fans of his multi-layered literary styling while providing them an array of new and richly imagined settings, characters, and themes. “Once again, I was wowed by Towles’s writing—especially because The Lincoln Highway is so different from A Gentleman in Moscow in terms of setting, plot, and themes. Towles is not a one-trick pony. Like all the best storytellers, he has range. He takes inspiration from famous hero’s journeys, including The Iliad, The Odyssey, Hamlet, Huckleberry Finn, and Of Mice and Men. He seems to be saying that our personal journeys are never as linear or predictable as an interstate highway. But, he suggests, when something (or someone) tries to steer us off course, it is possible to take the wheel.” – Bill Gates
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0735222363
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 593
Book Description
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER More than ONE MILLION copies sold A TODAY Show Read with Jenna Book Club Pick A New York Times Notable Book, a New York Times Readers’ Choice Best Book of the Century, and Chosen by Oprah Daily, Time, NPR, The Washington Post, Bill Gates and Barack Obama as a Best Book of the Year “Wise and wildly entertaining . . . permeated with light, wit, youth.” —The New York Times Book Review “A classic that we will read for years to come.” —Jenna Bush Hager, Read with Jenna book club “Fantastic. Set in 1954, Towles uses the story of two brothers to show that our personal journeys are never as linear or predictable as we might hope.” —Bill Gates “A real joyride . . . elegantly constructed and compulsively readable.” —NPR The bestselling author of A Gentleman in Moscow and Rules of Civility and master of absorbing, sophisticated fiction returns with a stylish and propulsive novel set in 1950s America In June, 1954, eighteen-year-old Emmett Watson is driven home to Nebraska by the warden of the juvenile work farm where he has just served fifteen months for involuntary manslaughter. His mother long gone, his father recently deceased, and the family farm foreclosed upon by the bank, Emmett's intention is to pick up his eight-year-old brother, Billy, and head to California where they can start their lives anew. But when the warden drives away, Emmett discovers that two friends from the work farm have hidden themselves in the trunk of the warden's car. Together, they have hatched an altogether different plan for Emmett's future, one that will take them all on a fateful journey in the opposite direction—to the City of New York. Spanning just ten days and told from multiple points of view, Towles's third novel will satisfy fans of his multi-layered literary styling while providing them an array of new and richly imagined settings, characters, and themes. “Once again, I was wowed by Towles’s writing—especially because The Lincoln Highway is so different from A Gentleman in Moscow in terms of setting, plot, and themes. Towles is not a one-trick pony. Like all the best storytellers, he has range. He takes inspiration from famous hero’s journeys, including The Iliad, The Odyssey, Hamlet, Huckleberry Finn, and Of Mice and Men. He seems to be saying that our personal journeys are never as linear or predictable as an interstate highway. But, he suggests, when something (or someone) tries to steer us off course, it is possible to take the wheel.” – Bill Gates
Lincoln in Private
Author: Ronald C. White
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
ISBN: 1984855115
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 369
Book Description
“An intimate character portrait and fascinating inquiry into the basis of Lincoln’s energetic, curious mind.”—The Wall Street Journal WINNER OF THE BARONDESS/LINCOLN AWARD • From the New York Times bestselling author of A. Lincoln and American Ulysses, a revelatory glimpse into the intellectual journey of our sixteenth president through his private notes to himself, explored together here for the first time A deeply private man, shut off even to those who worked closely with him, Abraham Lincoln often captured “his best thoughts,” as he called them, in short notes to himself. He would work out his personal stances on the biggest issues of the day, never expecting anyone to see these frank, unpolished pieces of writing, which he’d then keep close at hand, in desk drawers and even in his top hat. The profound importance of these notes has been overlooked, because the originals are scattered across several different archives and have never before been brought together and examined as a coherent whole. Now, renowned Lincoln historian Ronald C. White walks readers through twelve of Lincoln’s most important private notes, showcasing our greatest president’s brilliance and empathy, but also his very human anxieties and ambitions. We look over Lincoln’s shoulder as he grapples with the problem of slavery, attempting to find convincing rebuttals to those who supported the evil institution (“As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy.”); prepares for his historic debates with Stephen Douglas; expresses his private feelings after a defeated bid for a Senate seat (“With me, the race of ambition has been a failure—a flat failure”); voices his concerns about the new Republican Party’s long-term prospects; develops an argument for national unity amidst a secession crisis that would ultimately rend the nation in two; and, for a president many have viewed as not religious, develops a sophisticated theological reflection in the midst of the Civil War (“it is quite possible that God’s purpose is something different from the purpose of either party”). Additionally, in a historic first, all 111 Lincoln notes are transcribed in the appendix, a gift to scholars and Lincoln buffs alike. These are notes Lincoln never expected anyone to read, put into context by a writer who has spent his career studying Lincoln’s life and words. The result is a rare glimpse into the mind and soul of one of our nation’s most important figures.
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
ISBN: 1984855115
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 369
Book Description
“An intimate character portrait and fascinating inquiry into the basis of Lincoln’s energetic, curious mind.”—The Wall Street Journal WINNER OF THE BARONDESS/LINCOLN AWARD • From the New York Times bestselling author of A. Lincoln and American Ulysses, a revelatory glimpse into the intellectual journey of our sixteenth president through his private notes to himself, explored together here for the first time A deeply private man, shut off even to those who worked closely with him, Abraham Lincoln often captured “his best thoughts,” as he called them, in short notes to himself. He would work out his personal stances on the biggest issues of the day, never expecting anyone to see these frank, unpolished pieces of writing, which he’d then keep close at hand, in desk drawers and even in his top hat. The profound importance of these notes has been overlooked, because the originals are scattered across several different archives and have never before been brought together and examined as a coherent whole. Now, renowned Lincoln historian Ronald C. White walks readers through twelve of Lincoln’s most important private notes, showcasing our greatest president’s brilliance and empathy, but also his very human anxieties and ambitions. We look over Lincoln’s shoulder as he grapples with the problem of slavery, attempting to find convincing rebuttals to those who supported the evil institution (“As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy.”); prepares for his historic debates with Stephen Douglas; expresses his private feelings after a defeated bid for a Senate seat (“With me, the race of ambition has been a failure—a flat failure”); voices his concerns about the new Republican Party’s long-term prospects; develops an argument for national unity amidst a secession crisis that would ultimately rend the nation in two; and, for a president many have viewed as not religious, develops a sophisticated theological reflection in the midst of the Civil War (“it is quite possible that God’s purpose is something different from the purpose of either party”). Additionally, in a historic first, all 111 Lincoln notes are transcribed in the appendix, a gift to scholars and Lincoln buffs alike. These are notes Lincoln never expected anyone to read, put into context by a writer who has spent his career studying Lincoln’s life and words. The result is a rare glimpse into the mind and soul of one of our nation’s most important figures.
Honor's Voice
Author: Douglas L. Wilson
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0307765814
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 399
Book Description
Abraham Lincoln's remarkable emergence from the rural Midwest and his rise to the presidency have been the stuff of romance and legend. But as Douglas L. Wilson shows us in Honor's Voice, Lincoln's transformation was not one long triumphal march, but a process that was more than once seriously derailed. There were times, in his journey from storekeeper and mill operator to lawyer and member of the Illinois state legislature, when Lincoln lost his nerve and self-confidence - on at least two occasions he became so despondent as to appear suicidal - and when his acute emotional vulnerabilities were exposed. Focusing on the crucial years between 1831 and 1842, Wilson's skillful analysis of the testimonies and writings of Lincoln's contemporaries reveals the individual behind the legends. We see Lincoln as a boy: not the dutiful son studying by firelight, but the stubborn rebel determined to make something of himself. We see him as a young man: not the ascendant statesman, but the canny local politician who was renowned for his talents in wrestling and storytelling (as well as for his extensive store of off-color jokes). Wilson also reconstructs Lincoln's frequently anguished personal life: his religious skepticism, recurrent bouts of depression, and difficult relationships with women - from Ann Rutledge to Mary Owens to Mary Todd. Meticulously researched and well written, this is a fascinating book that makes us reexamine our ideas about one of the icons of American history.
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0307765814
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 399
Book Description
Abraham Lincoln's remarkable emergence from the rural Midwest and his rise to the presidency have been the stuff of romance and legend. But as Douglas L. Wilson shows us in Honor's Voice, Lincoln's transformation was not one long triumphal march, but a process that was more than once seriously derailed. There were times, in his journey from storekeeper and mill operator to lawyer and member of the Illinois state legislature, when Lincoln lost his nerve and self-confidence - on at least two occasions he became so despondent as to appear suicidal - and when his acute emotional vulnerabilities were exposed. Focusing on the crucial years between 1831 and 1842, Wilson's skillful analysis of the testimonies and writings of Lincoln's contemporaries reveals the individual behind the legends. We see Lincoln as a boy: not the dutiful son studying by firelight, but the stubborn rebel determined to make something of himself. We see him as a young man: not the ascendant statesman, but the canny local politician who was renowned for his talents in wrestling and storytelling (as well as for his extensive store of off-color jokes). Wilson also reconstructs Lincoln's frequently anguished personal life: his religious skepticism, recurrent bouts of depression, and difficult relationships with women - from Ann Rutledge to Mary Owens to Mary Todd. Meticulously researched and well written, this is a fascinating book that makes us reexamine our ideas about one of the icons of American history.