Lincoln: A Photobiography

Author: Russell Freedman

Publishing:  Clarion Books

Number of Pages: Paperback—150 pages

Genre:  Biography

Reading Level:  Ages 9-12

Summary: This book is about the life of Abraham Lincoln.  It starts out talking about “The Mysterious Mr. Lincoln” which is just a brief overview of the kind of man that he was.  It then talks about his life growing up and it talks about how he never did have much schooling at all.  The chapter talks about Law and Politics that Lincoln was involved in and it kind of just explains how he got involved in everything and the things that he did.  Next talks about the dilemma of slavery; it gives Lincoln’s views on everything about slavery and what he wanted to do.  It also talks about how Lincoln became a speaker for the anti-slave people.  The next chapter talks about the Emancipation Proclamation that Lincoln set forth and the reaction that was received from it.  It goes into great detail of what was included in the Proclamation and the things that were talked about in it.  It also talks a little about the start of the Civil War.  The next chapter goes into greater detail of the Civil War and Lincoln’s involvement in it.  The last chapter talks about Lincoln’s last days as president and his assassination.  Throughout the whole book photographs and paintings are shown which really adds to the interest of the book.  There are also tons of quotes that give you a better idea of the man that Lincoln was.  Overall this is a great book packed with great information.

My Reaction to the Book:  I thought that this book was actually pretty interesting.  It had a lot of good information and it was set up in a nice, understandable way. 

Potential Problems:  This is a book about Lincoln’s life so it does talk about things like the Civil War, which could be a problem for some. 

Recommendations:  I think I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who wanted to know more about Abraham Lincoln and the life that he lived.