Summary: What can be gained from another biography of Abraham Lincoln? A lot, it turns out. Michael Burlingame has been researching the life and times of Abraham Lincoln during his entire career as a historian. As he explains in this interview, Abraham Lincoln: A Life (Paperback; Johns Hopkins University Press, 2013) is based on decades of archival research, much of it stemming from the observations of personal secretaries, journalists, colleagues, and other people who knew Abraham Lincoln personally. Burlingame does not hesitate to make bold assessments about Lincoln’s personality, his relationship with his wife and father, and his evolution as a war leader. Those interpretations, combined with new source materials and a highly readable style, will make this new biography the definitive one for Lincoln studies for years to come.
