Which Abraham Lincoln biography is the Best One?

June 15, 2010 | Winstonwolf33

[winstonwolf33]

I'm planning on reading a biography of Abraham Lincoln for a nice non-fiction change of pace. As you can imagine, there's so many Lincoln biographies out there I wouldn't know where to begin! Certainly, I would like to begin with the cream of the crop, but which one would it be? Even if I do a search in Amazon.com for Abraham Lincoln biographies sorted by five-star average customer reviews, a truckload of titles pop out.

Here's just a few of those titles:

Lincoln and His Admirals by Craig L. Symonds

Lincoln's Sword: The Presidency and the Power of Words (Vintage) by Douglas L. Wilson

Lincoln: An Illustrated Biography by Jr. Philip B. Kunhardt, Philip B. Kunhardt III, Peter W. Kunhardt, and David Herbert Donald

The Eloquent President: A Portrait of Lincoln Through His Words by Ronald C. White

Lincoln as I Knew Him: Gossip, Tributes and Revelations from His Best Friends and Worst Enemies by Harold Holzer

A. Lincoln: His Last 24 Hours by W. Emerson Reck

The Physical Lincoln Complete by John G. Sotos

Abraham Lincoln: The Prairie Years & the War Years (Library of the Presidents) by Carl Sandburg

The Unpopular Mr. Lincoln: The Story of America's Most Reviled President by Larry Tagg

Abe's Honest Words: The Life of Abraham Lincoln by Doreen Rappaport and Kadir Nelson

Lincoln's Other White House: The Untold Story of the Man and His Presidency by Elizabeth Smith Brownstein

Abraham Lincoln For The Defense by Warren Bull (Paperback - June 9, 2003)

Herndon's Lincoln: The True Story of a Great Life : The History and Personal Recollections of Abraham Lincoln by William Henry Herndon and Jesse William Weik

Abraham Lincoln: The Man & His Faith by G. Frederick Owen

Tell Me of Lincoln: Memories of Abraham Lincoln, the Civil War, and Life in Old New York by James Edward Kelly, William B. Styple, and James E. Kelly

The Essential Lincoln by Tim Davidson

With Charity for All: Lincoln and the Restoration of the Union by William C. Harris (Paperback - June 24, 1999)

So after a while, I pretty much gave up on Amazon and decided to just jump in here and see if I can get some feedback from my fellow Freepers. Any recommendations?

[ml/nj]

I can't enter into someone else's thoughts or expectations.

Why not? Don't we do this all the time?

I don't know what your situation is but I can tell you that if I sensed danger enough to flee, I would do my best to convey that sense of danger to my wife and family and try to get them to flee with me. I guess if you would just run away from your family, then you wouldn't see anything wrong in Lincoln's action, but I think it defines him.

ML/NJ

[SUSSA]

LOL That figures. I’m sure Barack does too.

[mac_truck]

The Times reporter was a known writer of fables.

Are you referring to Joe Howard, author of the 'Great Civil War Gold Hoax'?

Now there's a credible source....lol!

[Genoa]

Yep, same guy.

[rockrr]

Of this there is little doubt.

[Non-Sequitur]

What does it say about a man who would attempt to flee in disguise while leaving his wife and children to the troops he was fleeing from? But I guess that doesn't count...

[Genoa]

Lincoln certainly was a lightning rod for controversy in the media, wasn't he?

[FlGoldwingGuy]

I would like to recommend two books to you on Lincoln. While technically “novels” they are both well researched and presented. The major difference from most biographies on Lincoln, is that these two books are written in the first person. The books are as follows:

Whirlwinds of War, Voices in the Storm by Stephan B. Oates - review from Amazon:

The middle book in an anticipated trilogy, The Whirlwind of War is a unique study of the Civil War. Oates recounts the great struggle through a series of first-person monologues told in the voices of prominent figures such as Abraham Lincoln, Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis, William Tecumseh Sherman, Mary Boykin Chestnut, Ulysses S. Grant, Frederick Douglass, John Wilkes Booth, and others. This original narrative technique brings a kind of freshness to an old and familiar story. It seems as if the characters speak directly to the reader; and Oates, an accomplished historian and biographer, is scrupulous about sticking as close to the historical record as he can. The book’s one weakness is that it doesn’t deliver a totally comprehensive telling of the Civil War despite its length of more than 700 pages. But the flip side is its strength: the way it helps readers understand the motives, perceptions, and behavior of the Civil War’s most important actors. Sometimes it seems like there are too many books written on the Civil War. Oates nonetheless provides a welcome contribution to the field. —John Miller

This particular book is one of my favorites. A fantastic read.

The second book is : Lincoln, by Gore Vidal. I also enjoyed reading this book.

Good Luck,
flgoldwingguy

[Non-Sequitur]

If you’re looking for fictional accounts of Lincoln, I think I’d recommend “Freedom” by William Safire over Vidal’s book.

[FlGoldwingGuy]

I would most assuredly agree. Freedom was a good book as well. My suggestions were the first that jumped into my head. Safire’s book is an excellent addition..Thanks.

[Bubba Ho-Tep]

Donald is some guy who wrote a sugar coated history, apparently without footnotes, in 1996.

"Apparently without footnotes"? Now you reveal yourself to be either ignorant or an out and out liar. The book has over 80 pages of footnotes, most of which you can see at Google books preview.

[ml/nj]

Not sure what I'm looking at.

Explain please.

ML/NJ

[Genoa]

The notes are easier to see if you actually own the book.

[Genoa]

It's a scurrilous anti-Lincoln cartoon. This time he's in drag. Another dubious contemporary source.

[ml/nj]

Now you reveal yourself to be either ignorant or an out and out liar.

I looked at the preview available at Amazon some time ago and saw no footnotes. You really are a bit harsh aren't you? I said "apparently" which should have indicated to a native English speaker that I hadn't actually seen the book.

ML/NJ

[Genoa]

You ought to order a copy. It's a good one.

[stainlessbanner]

Thanks for the suggestions FlGoldwingGuy - appreciate the ping!

[Bubba Ho-Tep]

So you haven’t actually read the book, but you feel no hesitation in labeling it “sugar coated.” I guess that between the options I listed before I’ll go with the former.

[Bubba Ho-Tep]

I looked at the preview available at Amazon some time ago and saw no footnotes.

Funny thing, I had no trouble at all finding the footnotes on the Amazon preview. You remind me of a man who opens a Bible to one page, doesn't see the Ten Commandments on them and announces that they are nowhere to be found in the book.

[rockrr]

Actually it is a depiction of Jeff Davis leaving town after the “unpleasantness” concluded.

It came to mind with ml/nj’s post, replete with his note of certainty (”Of this there is little doubt”). I posted it, along with ml/nj’s statement of certainty, to illustrate that doubt appears proximate to how closely one’s ox is being gored...