MARC Record from Library of Congress

LEADER: 04016cam a22004818i 4500
001 2015027339
003 DLC
005 20151125081901.0
008 151123s2016 nyu b 001 0beng
010 $a 2015027339
020 $a9781476777252 (hardback)
020 $a9781476777269 (trade paper)
020 $z9781476777276 (ebook)
040 $aDLC$beng$erda$cDLC
042 $apcc
043 $an-us-il$an-us---
050 00 $aE457.35$b.B55 2016
082 00 $a973.7092$aB$223
084 $aBIO011000$aHIS036050$aBIO006000$2bisacsh
100 1 $aBlumenthal, Sidney,$d1948-
245 12 $aA self-made man :$bthe political life of Abraham Lincoln, 1809-1849 /$cSidney Blumenthal.
250 $aFirst Simon & Schuster hardcover edition.
263 $a1604
264 1 $aNew York :$bSimon & Schuster,$c2016.
300 $avolumes cm
336 $atext$btxt$2rdacontent
337 $aunmediated$bn$2rdamedia
338 $avolume$bnc$2rdacarrier
520 2 $a"The first of a multi-volume history of Lincoln as a political genius--from his obscure beginnings to his presidency, assassination, and the overthrow of his post-Civil War dreams of Reconstruction. This first volume traces Lincoln from his painful youth, describing himself as 'a slave,' to his emergence as the man we recognize as Abraham Lincoln. From his youth as a 'newsboy,' a voracious newspaper reader, Lincoln became a free thinker, reading Tom Paine, as well as Shakespeare and the Bible, and studying Euclid to sharpen his arguments as a lawyer. Lincoln's anti-slavery thinking began in his childhood amidst the Primitive Baptist antislavery dissidents in backwoods Kentucky and Indiana, the roots of his repudiation of Southern Christian pro-slavery theology. Intensely ambitious, he held political aspirations from his earliest years. Obsessed with Stephen Douglas, his political rival, he battled him for decades. Successful as a circuit lawyer, Lincoln built his team of loyalists. Blumenthal reveals how Douglas and Jefferson Davis acting together made possible Lincoln's rise. Blumenthal describes a socially awkward suitor who had a nervous breakdown over his inability to deal with the opposite sex. His marriage to the upper class Mary Todd was crucial to his social aspirations and his political career. Blumenthal portrays Mary as an asset to her husband, a rare woman of her day with strong political opinions. He discloses the impact on Lincoln's anti-slavery convictions when handling his wife's legal case to recover her father's fortune in which he discovered her cousin was a slave. Blumenthal's robust portrayal is based on prodigious research of Lincoln's record and of the period and its main players. It reflects both Lincoln's time and the struggle that consumes our own political debate"--$cProvided by publisher.
504 $aIncludes bibliographical references and index.
505 0 $aTimeline -- Cast of Characters -- The Slave -- The Reader -- The Age of Reason -- The Slasher -- Paradise Lost -- Old Man Eloquent -- The Springfield Lyceum -- The Rivals -- The Romance -- The Prophet -- The Duelist -- Coup d'Etat -- Infidels -- Great Expectations -- Ranchero Spotty -- The Hayseed -- The Firm -- The Spoils -- A Hundred Keys.
600 10 $aLincoln, Abraham,$d1809-1865$xPolitical career before 1861.
600 10 $aLincoln, Abraham,$d1809-1865$xPolitical and social views.
600 10 $aLincoln, Abraham,$d1809-1865$xChildhood and youth.
600 10 $aLincoln, Abraham,$d1809-1865$xMarriage.
650 0 $aPoliticians$zIllinois$vBiography.
650 0 $aLawyers$zIllinois$zSpringfield$vBiography.
651 0 $aIllinois$xPolitics and government$yTo 1865.
651 0 $aUnited States$xPolitics and government$y1815-1861.
650 0 $aPresidents$zUnited States$vBiography.
650 7 $aBIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Presidents & Heads of State.$2bisacsh
650 7 $aHISTORY / United States / Civil War Period (1850-1877).$2bisacsh
650 7 $aBIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Historical.$2bisacsh