The Enduring Appeal of Abraham Lincoln

The vast amount of literature on Abraham Lincoln (1809–65) is almost unmatched in the English language, behind only that on Jesus and William Shakespeare. Interest in the 16th president of the United States has never abated, but the bicentennial of Lincoln’s birth (2009) along with the sesquicentennials of the Civil War (2011) and Lincoln’s death (2015) have spurred even more interest in his character and the consequences of his presidency.
~Randall M. Miller, "Lincoln, 150 Years On"

There's still time this year to observe the sesquicentennial of the death of Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States. There is indeed a wealth of material to delve into - besides the non-fiction list we've assembled below, there have been two recent related feature films, Lincoln and The Conspirator, there's a book and a movie about Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter, and Jennifer Chiaverini, best known for her quilting novels, has been writing loosely related historical fiction set in the Civil War period which directly references the Lincoln family, most notably Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker. Our society's fascination with Lincoln extends to our presidents - earlier this year, The New York Times published an article called "Abraham Lincoln, the One President All of Them Want to Be More Like". His funeral train, his hat, his poetry - everything has been discussed, it seems.


The Gettysburg Gospel: The Lincoln Speech That Nobody Knows by Gabor Boritt 

Lincoln's Gamble: The Tumultuous Six Months That Gave America the Emancipation Proclamation and Changed the Course of the Civil War by Todd Brewster

Abraham Lincoln and White America by Brian R. Dirck

Year of Meteors: Stephen Douglas, Abraham Lincoln, and the Election That Brought On the Civil War by Douglas R. Egerton

The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery by Eric Foner

Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin

Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation: The End of Slavery in America by Allen C. Guelzo

Lincoln and the Power of the Press: The War for Public Opinion by Harold Holzer

Writing the Gettysburg Address by Martin P. Johnson

Lincoln: The Biography of a Writer by Fred Kaplan

Tried By War: Abraham Lincoln as Commander in Chief by James M. McPherson

Mr. Lincoln Goes to War by William Marvel

Lincoln and the Jews: A History by Jonathan D. Sarna and Benjamin Shapell 

Lincoln and the Triumph of the Nation: Constitutional Conflict in the American Civil War by Mark E. Neely [eBook] 

Lincoln's War: The Untold Story of America's Greatest President as Commander in Chief by Geoffrey Perret  

Lincoln's Body: A Cultural History by Richard Wightman Fox 

Giants: The Parallel Lives of Frederick Douglass & Abraham Lincoln by John Stauffer 

The Eloquent President: A Portrait of Lincoln Through His Words by Ronald C. White, Jr.

 House of Abraham: Lincoln and the Todds, A Family Divided By War by Stephen Berry 

  

DVDs

You Are There: Abraham Lincoln's Great Moments 

The Address

Looking at Lincoln (J) 


For more new items in the library catalog, try a subject search of "Abraham Lincoln" sorted by date. 

Links

Abraham Lincoln Historical Digitization Project 

This useful resource offers documents, articles, images, biographical videos featuring major Lincoln scholars and interactive resources on the president’s Illinois years.

Abraham Lincoln’s Classroom

Cartoons, biographies, articles, book excerpts, maps, quizzes, bio-sketches of Lincoln-era figures and his life.

App

Abe App

Available for Google Play and iTunes. For students of all ages, an interactive resource produced in conjunction with the Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation.