Abraham Lincoln and Civil War America: A Biography

by William E. Gienapp

In Abraham Lincoln and Civil War America, historian William Gienapp provides a remarkably concise, up-to-date, and vibrant biography of the most revered figure in United States history. While the heart of the book focuses on the Civil War, Gienapp begins with a finely etched portrait of Lincoln's early life, from pioneer farm boy to politician and lawyer in Springfield, to his stunning election as sixteenth president of the United States. Students will see how Lincoln grew during his years in office, how he developed a keen aptitude for military strategy and displayed enormous skill in dealing with his generals, and how his war strategy evolved from a desire to preserve the Union to emancipation and total war.
Gienapp shows how Lincoln's early years influenced his skills as commander-in-chief and demonstrates that, throughout the stresses of the war years, Lincoln's basic character shone his good will and fundamental decency, his remarkable self-confidence matched with genuine humility, his immunity to the passions and hatreds the war spawned, his extraordinary patience, and his timeless devotion.
A former backwoodsman and country lawyer, Abraham Lincoln rose to become one of our greatest presidents. This biography offers a vivid account of Lincoln's dramatic ascension to the pinnacle of American history.

Genres: History, Biography, Civil War, Nonfiction, American History, American Civil War, School

256 pages, Paperback

First published April 8, 2002

About the author

An American historian specializing in the Civil War era, William Gienapp was professor of history at Harvard University. He earned both a BA and a Ph.D. at the University of California, Berkeley and an MA from Yale University. In 1988 he received the Avery O. Craven Award for his book The Origins of the Republican Party, 1852-1856. His essay, "The Antebellum Era", appeared in the Encyclopedia of Social History (1992).

Reviews

[Lou · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exceptionally well-done book. I recommend it to anyone. The most notable thing I can say about it is that it highlights in a most brilliant way, the development and wielding of President Lincoln's leadership and people skills.

Lincoln's nature was one of patience and good humor and in spite of the burdens he bore, leading the country through its darkest times, he maintained his good demeanor and his good will toward all men.

Mr. Gienapp has done a spectacularly good job with his book.

--Wag--

[Aine]

Ok, just started this one last night. I was a bit intimidated -- and thinking it was going to be boring/dry -- because it'd been a while since I'd read a politician's biography. But I've been sucked right in. I also want to read "A Team of Rivals" by Doris Kearns Goodwin. Let me get through this one first though. :)

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was excellent; one of my favorites! Gienapp was an incredible historian. His book offers readers an intimate, fact-based interpretation of Abraham Lincoln’s life. His historiographical approach to writing this book is admirable.

10/10 would recommend

[Catherine Triebwasser · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's quite a dense book

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love History books. This was not well written. It violates the number one rule for journalism: "Show don't tell." Don't say, "By the time Congress adjourned in August, Lincoln had largely developed his style of leadership" without showing us this is true.

Characters were introduced then quickly dropped. Tell more about his family life. What happened to his children--too much stuff was left out to make it an easy read.

[Poppy Milliken · Rating 3 out of 5]

A brief biography of Lincoln. Does not go into great depths, but makes for a nice overview. I wanted to know more about his personal life in the white house, but that was not in the scope of this particular book. Luckily, there are hundreds of books on the man and none of them cover everything.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great biography on Lincoln. It's an easy read even though it was a required book for my Civil War history class.

[Thomas Mackie · Rating 5 out of 5]

We use this for our introduction Lincoln class at LMU.

[Jenna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read for school. Highly addictive, very readable bio of one of the most awesome American Presidents who ever lived.

[Mary · Rating 1 out of 5]

Had some good info, but it overall was pretty dry

[Kerstin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book! Biographies can typically be 1000+ pages, this book is only about 200ish pages. But in that shorter length it still covers Lincoln's life really well. I really enjoyed it. It held my interest. Gienapp did a great job of presenting facts and not attacking one way or the other. He presented lots of sides to let you see the whole picture. Overall he showed what a great man Lincoln was. I will be looking at other books by this author. Highly recommend!

It had a few swear words from historical quotes. It was mild in battle description.

[Luke Graff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great option for a concise overview of Lincoln's life, highlights as Commander-in-Chief, and the political context in which he operated. If you don't care to get lost in the weeds of a 1,500 page biographical work, this is the one for you!

[Jquick99 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thought the book was rather dry.

One of my fav “quotes”, supposedly from Mary…from my relocation….at the very beginning of their relationship, Abe approached Mary and said he wanted to dance with her in the worst way, and then proceeded to do so.

[Maeve M · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are so many great books on this topic this one is simply mediocre. It made me upset how Lincoln was caring strays in every chapter. He’s a hero but you’re gonna call him out for being awkward around women? Wtf?!

[Nathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-written and provides some interesting insights on Lincoln's growth as a leader, but almost ridiculously short.

[Briana · Rating 2 out of 5]

This had good information but it was written in away that made it just boring.

[Penelope · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very coherent and interesting.

[Rachel DeWeese · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a nice overview of Lincoln's presidency and the Civil War. The ending made me sad. :(

[strawbebelivi · Rating 3 out of 5]

good book Abe was baller but not my style

[sophia · Rating 2 out of 5]

read it for school and now i know way more then i ever wanted to about abraham lincoln

(also the author definitely has a little crush on him he made it way too obvious)

[Elle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love a good presidential biography, especially when they're not 1000 pages long. I do wish that this one focused a little more on Lincoln's personal life and less on all the military details.

[Aidan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was Good.

[Johnnyc · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great short Bio. Focus is on War years but you get plenty on what made the man.

[Legens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent, concise biography which brings out the politician and the man Lincoln alike whose greatness lay in overcoming his faults – and those of his country.

[Alyssa Caraher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Abraham Lincoln and Civil War America: A Biography is an extremely informative book of the life of our 16th president. It starts out with his life as a young boy, soon growing into his life as an adult. He was raised as a pioneer child who was usually expected to work on the farm, though, however, he instead hated it and tried his best to read whenever possible to educate himself, and soon grew into a great politician. He stuck to his morals, and with his bravery of stopping slaver, he went on to create the civil war. Nevertheless, Abraham Lincoln was more than a tall man, with an even taller hat.

My reaction to this book was that it was a bit boring. Now of course this is a bit objective because history and most non-fiction books do tend to bore me to death. Though it wasn't as boring as anticipated, and was somewhat enjoyable- It is definitely not something that I would want to reread. The book provided me with an immense amount of facts, pictures and firsthand quotes from the president and his colleagues. Though at times this became somewhat overwhelming. Some things in the book surprised me, for I did not know things about him. However, I mainly found the book informative but dry.

I would most likely recommend this book to students who need to do a report. This is because it is informative and to the point and would get you enough facts on Abraham Lincoln. Though I didn't like the book, it did help me in my report so I do think it would help others. I would also recommend this book to historians who would want to learn more about the 16th president. It would provide them with a lot of information and is a very clean biography with no biased opinions.

[Diwakar · Rating 4 out of 5]

A crisp, concise account of a great man's life. Set in the harsh backdrop of 19th century America, the book brings out the conflicts of the time and how the question of slavery was viewed by most white Americans. Some of the arguments put forward in Lincoln's public speeches are eye opening, especially his views on colonisation to migrate black salves as a solution. Biographies tend to be too wordy with many views imposed upon the reader. This book avoids that pitfall. However, the conciseness also means that there are many names thrown about without enough information on those characters which had me frequently looking up things on the internet.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great biography of Lincoln that's easy to read without sacrificing accuracy. It's very accessible and avoids hyperbole or speculation one way or another. My only problem with this was the depiction of Mary Todd Lincoln, who is described repeatedly as hysterical. Hysteria is so loaded in the context of the Victorian era that I would have expected a historian to challenge that instead of just accepting the "diagnosis", but since this is not a Mary Lincoln biography that was not his focus. Otherwise well recommended.

[Gordon Leidner · Rating 5 out of 5]

For a short biography, Gienapp's work is insightful, thorough, and a great read. I've read a lot of Lincoln biographies, most of which are much longer, but I still learned a lot about Lincoln in this book. I believe Allen Guelzo's "Reedemer President" is the best of the longer biographies of Lincoln, but Gienapp's "Abraham Lincoln and Civil War America: A Biography" is the best that is under 300 pages. He provides the reader with a balanced picture of Lincoln and the times he lived in.

[Alicia Farmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am embarrassed by how little I know about the Civil War and Abraham Lincoln. Probably because of my ignorance, I learned a great deal about both the war and its President in this short book. I suspect it's all old news for anyone well-versed in the era. But as an introduction to Lincoln's missteps and strengths, as well as the Civil War's socio-political context, it was great.

[Alisha Helton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was wonderful and historically accurate. I hate e it 4 stars because it wasn't as detailed as it could have been. There were some more personal stories of Abraham Lincoln that could have been mentioned to help give the reader a better understanding of him. However, this book has taught me a lot about that particular time in history.