A lively, illustrated biography of America’s 16th president from his humble beginnings to his historic leadership during the Civil War.
Abraham Lincoln was, to put it mildly, an unlikely candidate for president. Raised on the frontier and mostly self-taught, the gangly farmer had little in common with the Founding Fathers, with one exception: a deep and abiding belief in America’s still-fragile experiment in democracy.
Turning his quick mind and gregarious personality to politics, Lincoln ascended through state and national government, before being elected president in 1860 on the eve of the Civil War. During that bloody and devastating conflict, Lincoln’s tenacity, strategic brilliance, and plain-spoken eloquence not only helped keep the nation together through its darkest hours but also set the course for a reconciliation that he would not live to see.
Filled with historical drama and packed with rare illustrations, Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America weaves the fascinating biography of Abraham Lincoln into the story of the most perilous period in American history.
David J. Kent is currently the Vice President of Programs for the Lincoln Group of the District of Columbia and a member of the Abraham Lincoln Association, Abraham Lincoln Institute, and the Lincoln Forum. His Lincoln writing has appeared in the Lincolnian, the Smithsonian Civil War Studies online newsletter, and a variety of other outlets. David is also an award-winning scientist.