More books have been written about Abraham Lincoln than perhaps any other figure in Western civilization, save Jesus of Nazareth, and with so much material available on Lincoln, it can be difficult to sift through all the biographies and recollections to get at the essence of one of the great Americans of all time. In this book-both history and biography, informative as well as entertaining, meant to be read in whole or in bite-sized chunks-historian Thomas Flagel distills the life and legacy of Abraham Lincoln in twenty-five annotated lists. Flagel's lists present a cross-section of Lincoln's life, career, and presidency: -Homes and jobs -Mentors, friends, and allies -Books and readings -Legal cases -Acts as an Illinois state representative and U.S. congressman -Best and worst days as president -Favorite sanctuaries in Washington, DC -Monuments, memorials, and historic sites -Greatest speeches and addresses -And more For uninitiated readers, these lists offer a quick but informative (and informed) entrée into Abraham Lincoln. For buffs and historians, the lists will be the starting point for debates and arguments. For everyone, Flagel's annotated lists present an opportunity for readers to draw their own conclusions about Lincoln, based on the facts of his life. In these twenty-five lists, Flagel offers a unique lens through which to view our sixteenth president.
About the Author: Dr. Thomas R. Flagel is a professor of history at Columbia State Community College in Tennessee. He holds master's degrees in history and international relations and a doctorate in public history. He serves on the Tennessee Preservation Trust board of directors, is the historical adviser to the Granger House Museum in Iowa, and works with other preservation groups, including the Civil War Trust and the National Park Service. He has written articles for Hallowed Ground, the membership magazine of the Civil War Trust, continues to give talks at Gettysburg, and has contributed entries to the Essential Civil War Curriculum, an online encyclopedia sponsored by Virginia Tech. For Cumberland House, Flagel has written The History Buff's Guide to the Civil War, The History Buff's Guide to Gettysburg, The History Buff's Guide to World War II, and The History Buff's Guide to the Presidents. He is also author of Battle Briefings: Gettysburg (Stackpole, May 2019) and War, Memory, and the 1913 Gettysburg Reunion (Kent State, May 2019). He lives near Nashville, Tennessee.