Having poured over several books on Abraham Lincoln as of late, I can safely say that Ronald C. White Jr's A.LINCOLN is by far the best portrait of not only one of the greatest presidents America has ever elected, but also one of the greatest human beings that has ever walked the earth. This book is not biased; it portrays Lincoln in a very real, honest and flawed manner. He was not perfect, there are questionable decisions that he made while leading the Union to victory during the Civil War, but the end result shows an honest man with an unshakable conviction to preserve this great nation.

Having recently visited Abraham's hometown where his tomb, house and a fantastic museum dedicated to him resides, this book had an even more profound affect on me as I read it. I feel like I know him now; having walked where he walked and read about virtually everything he did in his incredible life, Lincoln's life is more of a reality to me now.

Right at 800 pages, A. LINCOLN is one of the greatest biographies that I have ever read. The hardships and trials that Lincoln went through, combined with his naturally honorable spirit and unrelenting determination are all realized in lucid detail in this book. I give this book my HIGHEST recommendation and easily 5/5!

If I could I'd have gone 4 1/2 -- alas.

This is a very readable and insightful biography about one of our most fascinating presidents. White dives deeply into the events that formed Lincoln -- growing up in Kentucky with a demanding and abusive father, moving to Illinois and starting his life in a prairie "town" before eventually moving to Springfield and teaching himself the law, dealing with nearly intolerable tragedies (his mother, sister and first love all died suddenly). White also does an excellent job of showing how Lincoln evolved and grew, from fighting the Civil War to preserve the union to eventually earning the admiration of Frederick Douglass with his second inauguration speech by calling for an end to slavery.

Highly recommend to those who want to learn about Lincoln, or dive into him even more.

Good single volume biographies of Lincoln are hard to come by. Sandburg's Lincoln is great literature, but not great history. Lincoln comes off as being made of marble. Conversely, there has been a trend over the last decade or two by iconoclastic revisionists to portray Lincoln as a malevolent racist. The last good, credible biography was Davd Herbert Donald's "Lincoln."

Ronald White's "A. Lincoln" is a welcome addition to Lincoln literature for those reasons. I've read dozens of books about every aspect of Lincoln's life and career and so I didn't expect to find much new here. I'm happy to admit I was wrong.

White is perhaps the world's leading expert on Lincoln's writings. Analyzing Lincoln's letters, speeches, notes to himself, and written meditations, White is able to form a picture of Lincoln's development as a lawyer, politician, and man. He goes past the quotes we're all familiar with, which is informative. By putting famous phrases into context he gives us a new portrait of Lincoln. For instance, the well-known phrase "I plainly confess that I have not controlled events, but they have controlled me" appears to show Lincoln as taking a passive stance. But White illustrates that that cherry-picked phrase is only part of a much larger logical argument Lincoln was making.

What I was surpised by is that while White does an adequate job of explaining events, there are times when he omits quotes that could illuminate the point. While he delves deep into Lincoln's written words, he does not use quotes much. For example, White writes that following the battle of Gettysburg, Lincoln was upset that Meade allowed Lee to escape into Virginia, claiming he threw the enemy out of "our" land. For some reason, White doesn't mention Lincoln's angry response "my God, don't they realize it's *all* our land?" There are a couple other examples, but overall this is a minor criticism and doesn't detract from the quality of the writing.

The book is thin on Lincoln's personality and interpersonal relationships. If you are looking for a book about his troubles with Mary, his various friendships, what food he liked etc. there are plenty of places to look, but this is not the book for you. It's more of a professional biography than a personal one. It accomplishes that aim admirably.

One of the most outstanding books I've ever read. Mr. White is not exhaustive, but reveals Lincoln in the flesh. I felt that I was a part of the establishment that didn't take him seriously, but as time went on, they recognized his genius, and proven character, and grew to believe that he was God's man for our country during this turbulent time. If you only rear one book about Lincoln, make it this one! HIGHLY recommended!

Reads very much like a text book. Great documentation and analysis of his speeches. Much detail about his early life. 4 instead of 5 stars for me because of the time it took to read. Its definitely a book you have to peck away at.

I'm surprised to be caught up in the Civil War Sesquicentennial, but it seemed time to catch up with modern Lincoln scholarship. This one has an interesting focus on Lincoln's religious and philosophical thought, based on a review of the scraps and notes that Lincoln scrawled for himself throughout his life. it's rare that I read a biography and feel that it was too brief, but I really did feel like I could have done with more detail at various points. Lincoln's election as president feels like an accident in this telling, as though he'd woken up one morning and found he'd won the lottery.

A wonderfully composed biography of a truly great man. I have always, from a distance, admired Abraham Lincoln, but this book truly revealed to me the depth of his character through speeches, letters, accounts from friends, family, even rivals and those who opposed him. Very thorough, covering every aspect of this man's life. Truly, a book worth reading.

Abraham Lincoln is an iconic figure. Considered to be among the greatest, if not the greatest President, of the United States. During much of his Presidency he was considered by many to be anything but great. After all, he presided over the disintegration of a nation and had placed thousands in harms way. Having no executive experience when he took office he had to learn on the job, and for the entirety of his presidency was consumed by the need to guide the war effort. It wasn't until Grant took over the leadership of the army that he could actually let go of the reins.

This biography is not a short read -- at nearly 700 pages of text plus notes. It takes us on a journey from his birth in the Kentucky Wilderness to his years as a lawyer and budding politician to dark horse candidate for President. Ron White doesn't try to psychoanalyze Lincoln, but instead teases out Lincoln's views from the historical record -- including Lincoln's own letters and speeches.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this biography, perhaps because it is written by a practicing historian who has made Lincoln's speeches a focus of his research. There is another reason why I appreciated this book -- Ron White is trained as historian of American Christianity, and thus more than most biographers of Lincoln has the capacity to understand Lincoln's theological musings. We discover a Lincoln very different from the one we often are confronted with -- either the free thinker or the evangelical. He was neither, but he was a person who believed and was influenced by the Bible and Christian theology. It is good to remember that during his time in Washington he was a regular attendee of New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, pastored by an Old School Presbyterian who was trained by Charles Hodge.

To understand the American reality, we need to understand its seminal figures. Lincoln is one, and I can think of no better guide than Ronald White.

I started this book hoping to learn something new about one of this country's favorite presidents. That wasn't the case but the book was still worth the read. The writing was very good & interesting.

This was a great one volume biography on Lincoln. I am glad I read it and feel like I got a good overview of Lincoln's life. There were times in the first half of the book that were a tad boring, but once the book got to Lincoln's presidency and the Civil War, it was firing on all cylinders. Would recommend to anyone looking for a readable, entertaining one volume book on Lincoln's life.