White, Jr., A. Lincoln

A Biography

Abstract

Writing in 1936, historian James G. Randall questioned whether there could be anything new about Abraham Lincoln. Over seventy years later and as the bicentennial of his birth wanes, it is abundantly clear that the answer is a resounding, yes! While dozens of books have appeared in recent years touting some novel or revisited perspective of Lincoln's life, only Ronald C. White, Jr. attempted to write a full-length, single-volume biography. His task was a daunting one to be sure. Previous works, from Benjamin Thomas's Abraham Lincoln (1952) to Stephen Oates's With Malice Toward None (1977) to David Donald's Lincoln (1995), met with varying degrees of acclaim, the latter winning the Pulitzer Prize for biography. White's A. Lincoln (the title taken from the manner in which Lincoln signed his correspondence) will be no exception and, in some respects, will be hailed as the best.