National Geographic: Radical Lincoln (ePub)

Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, held a nation together during a brutal Civil War and changed the course of history by ending slavery. He has more books written about him than any other President of the United States but what do we really know about the "man" himself? There are a handful of facts: he was from the frontier, was raised in a poor farmer family, had a passion for learning, was quiet, and a skeptic. Millions of words have been spilled over the details of his life. But who was the real Lincoln?

In this daring ebook short, K.M. Kostyal uses the facts of Lincoln's early life to build a psychological profile of the man who would change the course of history. She examines his early life to understand how this bright frontier lawyer would come to lead a nation, noting especially the dramatic influence of Lincoln's hard-driving father and his brilliant, political, and often misunderstood wife Mary in challenging him to reach for the highest office in the United States. She further looks at just how such a brilliant political mind was able to maintain his connection to simple country folk, and how that connection has amplified over the decades so that the 'cult of Lincoln' that only grows larger with each passing year.

Bringing fresh insights and a brilliant grasp of history to one of history's most enigmatic characters, Kostyal paints a compulsively readable portrait that will be a popular read for years to come.