Abraham Lincoln

A Life

By: Michael Burlingame

Narrated by: Douglas R Pratt

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Based on deep research in unpublished sources as well as newly digitized sources, this work reveals how Lincoln's character and personality were the North's secret weapon in the Civil War, the key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 Audiobooks

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)

What an Extraordinary Human Being!

This was an excellent account of an extraordinary man who faced opposition and struggles throughout most of his life. His childhood was heartbreakingly devoid of love and attention. His deeply rooted sense of fairness and his incredible compassion made him a successful lawyer, and later a great president - despite facing secession and soon after, a civil war.
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.

Well done!

Succinct but sufficient. Good narration, well written. Lots of primary and secondary sources. Gratifying to hear his contemporaries give praise to him. Lincoln is my oldest hero.

A Deep Look Into the Life and Times of Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln: A Life

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.