
Abraham Lincoln
A Life
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Narrated by:
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Douglas R Pratt
About this listen
Hailed as the definitive portrait of the sixteenth president, Lincoln scholar Michael Burlingame's impressive two-volume biography has been masterfully abridged and revised.
Based on deep research in unpublished sources as well as newly digitized sources, this work reveals how Lincoln's character and personality were the North's secret weapon in the Civil War, the key variables that spelled the difference between victory and defeat. He was a model of psychological maturity and a fully individuated man whose influence remains unrivaled in the history of American public life.
Burlingame chronicles Lincoln's childhood and early development, romantic attachments and losses, his love of learning, legal training, and courtroom career as well as his political ambition, his term as congressman in the late 1840s, and his serious bouts of depression in early adulthood. Burlingame recounts, in fresh detail, the Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln marriage and traces the mounting moral criticism of slavery that revived his political career and won this Springfield lawyer the presidency in 1860. This abridgment delivers Burlingame's signature insight into Lincoln as a young man, a father, and a politician.
The book is published by Johns Hopkins University Press. The audiobook is published by University Press Audiobooks.
©2023 Johns Hopkins University Press (P)2024 Redwood AudiobooksListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
"A brilliant work of depth and detail. A monumental and indeed vital achievement." Jon Meacham, author of And There Was Light)
"Thanks to this expertly crafted abridgement, Michael Burlingame's monumental biography of Lincoln is more readily accessible." James Oakes, author of The Crooked Path to Abolition)
"This skillful one-volume abridgement...now adds the attraction of accessibility to greatness." (Allen C. Guelzo, Princeton University)
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- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 32 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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The high command of the Army of the Potomac was a changeable, often dysfunctional band of brothers, going through the fires of war under seven commanding generals in three years, until Grant came east in 1864. The men in charge all too frequently appeared to be fighting against the administration in Washington instead of for it, increasingly cast as political pawns facing down a vindictive congressional Committee on the Conduct of the War.
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Good, but not what I thought
- By Paul S. on 08-10-17
By: Stephen W. Sears
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An Unfinished Life
- John F. Kennedy, 1917-1963
- By: Robert Dallek
- Narrated by: Richard McGonagle
- Length: 9 hrs and 15 mins
- Abridged
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An Unfinished Life is the first authoritative single-volume life of John F. Kennedy to be written by a historian in nearly four decades. Drawing upon firsthand sources, freshly unearthed documents, and never-before-opened archives, prizewinning historian Robert Dallek reveals more than we ever knew about Jack Kennedy forever changing the way we think about his life, his presidency, and his legacy.
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It’s abridged!!
- By Brad on 02-17-18
By: Robert Dallek
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George Washington
- The Political Rise of America's Founding Father
- By: David O. Stewart
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 18 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Washington's rise constitutes one of the greatest self-reinventions in history. In his mid-20s, this third son of a modest Virginia planter had ruined his own military career thanks to an outrageous ego. But by his mid-40s, that headstrong, unwise young man had evolved into an unassailable leader chosen as the commander in chief of the fledgling Continental Army. By his mid-50s, he was unanimously elected the nation's first president. How did Washington emerge from the wilderness to become the central founder of the United States of America?
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The man I never knew.
- By Paul on 05-18-22
By: David O. Stewart
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Impeached
- The Trial of President Andrew Johnson and the Fight for Lincoln's Legacy
- By: David O. Stewart
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 15 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1868 Congress impeached President Andrew Johnson of Tennessee, the man who had succeeded the murdered Lincoln, bringing the nation to the brink of a second civil war. Enraged to see the freed slaves abandoned to brutal violence at the hands of their former owners, distraught that former rebels threatened to regain control of Southern state governments, and disgusted by Johnson's brawling political style, congressional Republicans seized on a legal technicality as the basis for impeachment - whether Johnson had the legal right to fire his own secretary of war, Edwin Stanton.
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Highly recommended
- By Eric on 12-12-19
By: David O. Stewart
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Lincoln vs. Davis
- The War of the Presidents
- By: Nigel Hamilton
- Narrated by: Rick Adamson
- Length: 32 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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From a renowned biographer comes the greatest untold story of the Civil War: how two American presidents faced off as the fate of the nation hung in the balance—and how Abraham Lincoln came to embrace emancipation as the last, best chance to save the Union. With a cast of unforgettable characters, from first ladies to fugitive coachmen to treasonous cabinet officials, Lincoln vs. Davis is a spellbinding dual biography from renowned presidential chronicler Nigel Hamilton: a saga that will surprise, touch, and enthrall.
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Disappointing
- By J B Tipton on 02-14-25
By: Nigel Hamilton
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Lincoln's Peace
- The Struggle to End the American Civil War
- By: Michael Vorenberg
- Narrated by: Landon Woodson
- Length: 16 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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We set out on the James River, March 25, 1865, aboard the paddle steamboat River Queen. President Lincoln is on his way to General Grant’s headquarters at City Point, Virginia, and he’s decided he won’t return to Washington until he’s witnessed, or perhaps even orchestrated, the end of the Civil War. Now, it turns out, more than a century and a half later, historians are still searching for that end.
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Evan's Review
- By Evan on 06-22-25
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James Monroe
- A Life
- By: Tim McGrath
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 28 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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The extraordinary life of James Monroe: Soldier, senator, diplomat, and the last Founding Father to hold the presidency, a man who helped transform 13 colonies into a vibrant and mighty republic.
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Large and inconsistent, much like Monroe himself.
- By Kindle Customer on 01-31-21
By: Tim McGrath
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The Path to Power
- The Years of Lyndon Johnson
- By: Robert A. Caro
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 40 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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This is the story of the rise to national power of a desperately poor young man from the Texas Hill Country. The Path to Power reveals in extraordinary detail the genesis of the almost superhuman drive, energy, and ambition that set LBJ apart. It follows him from the Hill Country to New Deal Washington, from his boyhood through the years of the Depression to his debut as Congressman, his heartbreaking defeat in his first race for the Senate, and his attainment, nonetheless, at age 31, of the national power for which he hungered.
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The Best of all Biographies
- By David C. Daggett on 12-14-13
By: Robert A. Caro
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Washington
- A Life
- By: Ron Chernow
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 41 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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In Washington: A Life celebrated biographer Ron Chernow provides a richly nuanced portrait of the father of our nation. This crisply paced narrative carries the reader through his troubled boyhood, his precocious feats in the French and Indian War, his creation of Mount Vernon, his heroic exploits with the Continental Army, his presiding over the Constitutional Convention, and his magnificent performance as America's first president.
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A sad day when my book was done!
- By ButterLegume on 12-13-10
By: Ron Chernow
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American Civil Wars
- A Continental History, 1850-1873
- By: Alan Taylor
- Narrated by: Graham Winton
- Length: 17 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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The American Civil War stands at the center of the story, its military history and the drama of emancipation the highlights. Taylor relies on vivid characters to carry the story, from Joseph Hooker, whose timidity in crisis was exploited by Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson in the Union defeat at Chancellorsville, to Martin Delany and Mary Ann Shadd Cary, Black abolitionists whose critical work in Canada and the United States advanced emancipation and the enrollment of Black soldiers in Union armies.
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fascinating!
- By Brandon Marken on 07-12-24
By: Alan Taylor
The narrator grew on me! Kind of a coarse voice, and he made frequent mistakes with the text, but he lent welcome humor to many passages, and he read with feeling.
What an Extraordinary Human Being!
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Well done!
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Listener received this title free
I have finished listening to the audio book, Abraham Lincoln: A Life, masterfully read by @Douglaspratt. The audio book is taken from a condensed version of the original. As it is, there are 36 chapters of narrative. It covers Lincoln’s life from his childhood to his final day.
The chapters on his family and early years give insights into the formation of his anti-slavery views, and aspects of his character.
What struck me most were Lincoln’s responses to the political issues of his day, the foremost being the slavery issue and with that, the preservation of the Union.
While Lincoln declared openly that he thought slavery to be wrong, his stated priority as President was to preserve the Union.
As I listened to Lincoln’s life unfold, I could not help but draw parallels to today's politics. It has led me to conclude that politics has not changed all that much.
In his attempts to thread the needle regarding the slavery question and preservation of the Union, I wonder how Lincoln would have fared against the true believers and the issues of today.
Lincoln faced problems not entirely unlike those encountered by the most recent Presidents. Abolitionists thought him to be too compromising, while pro-slavery opponents considered him to be too uncompromising. His party was splintered. He was at times forced to remove cabinet officials or generals who were convinced that their way was so much better that they would resort to subterfuge to have it.
The military was unprepared to fight against the Rebellion. The highest ranking generals were incompetent. Newspapers were sometimes vicious in their attacks, particularly the New York newspapers. He was sometimes described as ape-like, a baboon, or coarse and uncouth, but he was more the wise man and diplomat than any of his critics.
Lincoln seemed to be filled with a rare degree of humility and kindness. When Lincoln was forced to remove a man from office or transfer him to a less prominent position, he often expressed his great satisfaction with the best performances in the post from which he was removing him.
Constitutional questions arose concerning property rights and habeas corpus. Lincoln sometimes found himself in uncharted territory concerning the Constitution and its application. He was accused by some of being a tyrant. His appeal to the unusual circumstances of the time is controversial to some even now. Some of Lincoln’s statements would brand him a racist by today’s standards, but he was a man of the times and understood the opinions of the populace well.
Lincoln is shown in the book to be a politician of the highest ability and a man of integrity in spite of the pressures upon him. Those of us who enjoy history, biography, and politics, will find this audio book to be a thorough and thoughtful treatment of one of Americas great Presidents.
A Deep Look Into the Life and Times of Lincoln
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