Lincoln photobiography chapter summaries
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Lincoln: A Photobiography Themes & Characters
Freedman notes at the very beginning of his biography that while almost every American becomes familiar at an early age with the gaunt face and tall figure of Abraham Lincoln, much about him remains a mystery. Even his contemporaries did not really know him.
Despite this, Lincoln has become the most mythologized subject in American political history. The reasons for this are complex, but Lincoln's reticence about his early life has certainly contributed to his popular image. He did not enjoy remembering the life he had led in frontier Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois. His Republican campaigners in the election of 1860 made much of Lincoln the onetime rail-splitter, working man, and humble son of the common people, but even though Lincoln was an expert with his axe, he preferred to forget the backbreaking labor of farm life. An ambitious person who realized that he possessed...
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Lincoln: A Photobiography
The opening chapter of this unique biographytakes an unusual vantage point right from the start. Freedman explains that while Lincoln was indeed captured on film frequently throughout his life, there exists no photograph that could possibly do him justice. Photographers, artists, and writers have all tried to capture the "real" Abraham Lincoln, but the truth of the matter, from Freedman's perspective, is that Lincoln remains somewhat elusive today. The Lincoln the author has come to know through his research was a carefully guarded man who di
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Lincoln: A Photobiography
1987 book by Russell Freedman
Lincoln: A Photobiography is an illustrated biography of Abraham Lincoln written by Russell Freedman, and published in 1987.[1] The book won the Newbery Medal in 1988. It was the first nonfiction book to do so in 30 years.[2]
The photobiography covers Lincoln's entire life: his childhood, his stint as a lawyer, his courtship and marriage to Mary Todd Lincoln, as well as his ascent from Congressman to President. The final chapter is an account of Lincoln's assassination and death.
The photographs and drawings that fill the book are drawn from many sources, including the Abraham Lincoln Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, and other historical archives. Many of the photographs are portraits of Lincoln. Freedman uses them as a focal point in his narrative. In the opening chapter, he talks about how Lincoln viewed himself and often made fun of his own appearance. Later, Freedman places four portraits of Lincoln on one page to show how much he aged throughout the Civil War.
Critical reception
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