A. Lincoln: A Biography

Everyone wants to define the man who signed his name “A. Lincoln.” In his lifetime and ever since, friend and foe have taken it upon themselves to characterize Lincoln according to their own label or libel. In this magnificent book, Ronald C. White, Jr., offers a fresh and compelling definition of Lincoln as a man of integrity—what today's commentators would call “authenticity”—whose moral compass holds the key to understanding his life. Through meticulous research of the newly completed Lincoln Legal Papers, as well as of recently discovered letters and photographs, White provides a portrait of Lincoln's personal, political, and moral evolution. A transcendent, sweeping, passionately written Volume that expands our knowledge and understanding of its subject, A. Lincoln will engage a whole new generation of Americans.

The Barnes & Noble Review

"A. Lincoln" was the way our greatest president most often signed his name, providing the title of Ronald C. White Jr.'s biography. Maybe that modest job of rebranding will make White's interpretation look more idiosyncratic to history buffs, and if so, Random House will say hosannah. Anything to stand out from the truckloads of Lincolnania rumbling toward bookstores in the bicentennial year of his birth.

Ronald C. White, Jr., is the author of two bestselling books on Abraham Lincoln: The Eloquent President and Lincoln’s Greatest Speech, a New York Times Notable Book. White earned his Ph.D. at Princeton and has lectured on Lincoln at hundreds of universities and organizations, and at Gettysburg and the White House. He is a Fellow at the Huntington Library and a Visiting Professor of History at UCLA. He lives with his wife, Cynthia, in La Cañada, California.