Product Description
Abraham Lincoln, the greatest of all American presidents, left us a vast legacy of writings, some of which are among the most famous in our history. Lin-
coln was a marvelous writer--from the humblest letter to his great speeches, including his inaugural addresses, the Emancipation Proclamation, and the Gettysburg Address. His sentences were so memorably crafted that many resonate across the years. "Fourscore and seven years ago," begins the Gettysburg Address, "our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal."
        In 1940, the prolific author and historian Philip Van Doren Stern produced this volume as a guide to Lincoln's life through his writings. Stern's "Life of Abraham Lincoln" is a full biography of the man and includes a detailed chronology. Stern has collected all the essential texts of Lincoln's public life, from his first public address--a stump speech in New Salem, Illinois, in 1832 for an election he went on to lose--to his last piece of public writing, a pass to a congressman who was to visit the president the day after Lincoln went to Ford's Theater on April 14, 1865. Some 275 such documents are collected and placed in their historical context. Together with the "Life" and the Introduction, "Lincoln in His Writings," by noted historian Allan Nevins, they give a full and vivid picture of Abraham Lincoln.

The Modern Library has played a significant role in American cultural life for the better part of a century. The series was founded in 1917 by the publishers Boni and Liveright and eight years later acquired by Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer. It provided the foundation for their next publishing venture, Random House. The Modern Library has been a staple of the American book trade, providing readers with affordable hardbound editions of important works of literature and thought. For the Modern Library's seventy-fifth anniversary, Random House redesigned the series, restoring as its emblem the running torchbearer created by Lucian Bernhard in 1925 and refurbishing jackets, bindings, and type, as well as inaugurating a new program of selecting titles. The Modern Library continues to provide the world's best books, at the best prices.Amazon.com Review
He was the most eloquent of American presidents, with the possible exception of FDR, and the moral vision that sustained the nation during the Civil War illuminates nearly every page in this hefty collection of Abraham Lincoln's speeches, writings, and correspondence. It's not just the famous phrases--"mystic chords of memory" (first inaugural address), "government of the people, by the people, for the people" (Gettysburg Address), "with malice toward none" (second inaugural address)--that resonate. It's an artistic and political genius that could express complex ethical questions in simple, compelling language, as when Lincoln defined slavery's defenders as holding the "same tyrannical principle" as Europe's kings: "the same spirit that says, 'You toil and work and earn bread, and I'll eat it.'" Editor Philip Van Doren Stern's annotations provide helpful background, and his 200-page biographical essay ably encapsulates the principal developments in Lincoln's life and thought as they were known in 1940, when this volume was first published. The extreme privation of his youth, the terrible melancholy that often afflicted him, and the sorrows of his personal life make Lincoln's public achievements all the more staggering. Stern wisely respects the mysterious alchemy by which a plain man became a statesman; this respectful anthology seeks only to present Lincoln, not to explain him. --Wendy Smith ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Excellent collection, decent short bio
This book is out of print, but you can get it used through amazon and others. It's a great collection of Lincoln's speeches, correspondence and other writings, and it includes an approx. 200 page biography. The bio was written around 1940, and no doubt there's more recent scholarship missing, but we're spared the fashionable speculation about whether Lincoln was gay or some other insignifica which seem to be focal points for so many contemporary biographers and historians. Stern, as the reviewer on amazon says, "wisely respects the mysterious alchemy by which a plain man became a statesman; this respectful anthology seeks only to present Lincoln, not to explain him." The bio's a useful bonus, but the real matter belongs to Lincoln, and there's 700 pages of it beyond the bio.Hopefully Modern Library will reissue this book, and it would be great if the bio were to be updated while maintaining the same cautious and sober approach.

Honest Abe
This is a great book.I think the introduction is the best.It is interesting plus you really feel Lincoln was a man of the people.My favorite part was when Lincoln had one of his sons in a wagon.Lincoln wasso much in his thoughts that the child fell out and was crying loudly andLincoln kept walking dragging an empty wagon behind him.

A one-volume Lincoln library.
I have a large Civil War library, and if there was a fire, this is the one Lincoln book I would try to rescue. Despite being written almost 50 years ago, the book's strong point is not its selection of Lincoln's writings(although that is quite good), but its masterful biographical sketch ofLincoln by Stern. Almost seven score since Lincoln's death, there is stillno other satisfying BRIEF biography. In about 200 pages, Stern has managedto capture, in skilfull prose, all the important facts while still havingroom for some less-wordy, interesting comments. Each important event issuccinctly captured in a couple paragraphs. I like that Stern actuallycalls Lincoln "neurotic" in certain personal aspects.I alsolike his passages on Willie Lincoln's death, emancipation, and the war'sclosing. There's really not enough room for any heavypolitically-influenced interpretations of issues like those in modern longbiographies,and that's why Stern's sketch can't be considered outdated.Some people may not like the short description of Lincoln's assassination,and I thought Stern spent too much ink on Lincoln's final attempts tocompensate the South. Since the book predates the most comprehensive,closely-inspected collection of Lincoln's letters, there may be someinaccuracies in the writings reproduced here.However, the selection is anexcellent one, linked together well with intros by Stern. I can't imaginethis was an easy job for Stern and I'm lost why it's been virtuallyignored. But all in all, I can only repeat, if you want to know the mostabout Lincoln in the fewest words, and have your interest held throughout,just buy this book and you're set! ... Read more

Product Description
Traces the life of the president of the Confederacy from his childhood, through his rise in Southern politics, and to his role as leader of the South during the Civil War. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Readable
Very readable one volume life of Lincoln.Pulled things together in a way Sandburg's six volume masterpeice could not.A case of not being able to see the forest for the trees.And made utterly clear exactly what Lincoln was fighting for: that democracy as evidenced by the people's vote at the ballot box might survive as an example to the world.If all the states had voted in elections to let the succeeding states go, then OK.But there was no such election.It was always the Union, never slavery, that was his purpose, although he understood slavery to be at the heart of the matter.

One of the 3 Best 1-Volume Biographies of Lincoln
I have been studying Abraham Lincoln for nearly 40 years.Many Lincoln scholars consider ABRAHAM LINCOLN: A BIOGRAPHY by Benjamin P. Thomas to be one of the three best one-volume biographies of Lincoln written to date.The other two books are LINCOLN by David Herbert Donald and WITH MALICE TOWARD NONE by Stephen B. Oates. ... Read more