Author(s): Cheryl Harness
Format: Paperback
No. of Pages: 48
Publisher: National Geographic Society
Language: English
Date Published: 2009-02-01
Dimensions: 210.82 x 271.78 x 25.4mm
Publication City/Country: Hanover, PA, United States
Edition: 2nd ed.
Illustrations: 48 colour illustrations

Cheryl Harness creates a vivid picture of the Springfield, Illinois, years when Abe Lincoln met and married a pretty Kentucky lady, and became increasingly well known as a lawyer and politician. Then she offers us a tremendously moving account of the tensions that were pulling the nation into a civil war as Lincoln was rising to become the president. Richly-imagined illustrations show Lincoln in many moods: happy and gangly during his first dance with Mary Todd, playful with his sons, and attentive in the White House. We see Lincoln rising to the challenge of the crisis as he drafts the Emancipation Proclamation and delivers the Gettysburg Address. Brilliantly detailed maps and battle scenes add to our understanding of what the civil war meant to the United States, and why Abraham Lincoln will always be regarded as one of the greatest presidents.