The first of a three-volume history of Lincoln as a political genius—from his obscure beginnings to his presidency, assassination, and the overthrow of his post-Civil War dreams of Reconstruction. This first volume traces Lincoln from his painful youth, describing himself as “a slave,” to his emergence as the man we recognize as Abraham Lincoln. From his youth as a “newsboy,” a voracious newspaper reader, Lincoln became a free thinker, reading Tom Paine, as well as Shakespeare and the Bible, and studying Euclid to sharpen his arguments as a lawyer. Lincoln’s anti-slavery thinking began in his childhood amidst the Primitive Baptist antislavery dissidents in backwoods Kentucky and Indiana, the roots of his repudiation of Southern Christian pro-slavery theology. Intensely ambitious, he held political aspirations from his earliest years. Obsessed with Stephen Douglas, his political rival, he battled him for decades. Successful as a circuit lawyer, Lincoln built his team of loyalists. Blumenthal reveals how Douglas and Jefferson Davis acting together made possible Lincoln’s rise. Blumenthal describes a socially awkward suitor who had a nervous breakdown over his inability to deal with the opposite sex. His marriage to the upper class Mary Todd was crucial to his social aspirations and his political career. Blumenthal portrays Mary as an asset to her husband, a rare woman of her day with strong political opinions. He discloses the impact on Lincoln’s anti-slavery convictions when handling his wife’s legal case to recover her father’s fortune in which he discovered her cousin was a slave. Blumenthal’s robust portrayal is based on prodigious research of Lincoln’s record and of the period and its main players. It reflects both Lincoln’s time and the struggle that consumes our own political debate.

《仁者无敌：林肯的政治天才》超越了目前任何一本林肯的个人传记。作者讲述了一个关于林肯和他生活的整个时代以及他如何以高尚的人格力量和高超的政治智慧，化对手为良伴、化宿敌为诤友的故事，耐人寻味，堪称经典。 除林肯之外，作者耗费了几乎与之相同的篇幅，分别叙述了林肯内阁中最重要的四位政治家——国务卿苏厄德、财政部部长蔡斯、总检察长贝茨和后来入阁的陆军部部长斯坦顿的生平和从政经历，以及他们如何在林肯高尚人格的感召下，从林肯的竞争对手转变成为林肯内阁中最得力的干将。 作者把林肯的生平、性格和殉难，放在同时代最杰出的政治家群体中去对比、描摹和刻画，使林肯在强劲的竞争对手面前，显得更加崇高、丰满而富有立体感。这是迄今为止，所有的林肯传记中无人尝试过的写法。

美国命悬一线：挺过去，是霸主崛起，否则就是分崩离析。——这就是1942年普利策奖获奖作品《华盛顿的起床号》讲述的故事。 1860年：美国首都正在散乱扩张，这里破碎又肮脏，爱国与叛国激烈相争，而很快要将举国卷入血海的不同政治路线，更将其彻底撕裂。这座混乱而腐败的年轻城市中，到处是好战的国会议员、谋叛的阴谋家和心比天高的妓女。志愿军士兵从国会大厦穹顶晃出，刺客在大道上阔步，而亚伯拉罕·林肯则在联邦迈向战争的时候，全力捍卫自己作为总统的合法性。 《华盛顿的起床号》中的焦点，是内战期间华盛顿的日常政治，以及火烧眉毛的诸般要务。从横七竖八堆满街道的尸体散发的恶臭，到玛丽·林肯晚礼服上的开领花边，玛格丽特·利奇以亲切而迷人的细节，写活了这座城市和其中那些名震后世的大人物——亚伯拉罕·林肯、杰斐逊·戴维斯、罗伯特·李、威廉·西华德以及玛丽·苏拉特。 利奇的这部经典杰作，至今被公认为既是令人叹服的学术成就，又是一部罕见的引人入胜的历史著作。

In the midst of the Civil War, President Lincoln went to Gettysburg, the place of America's greatest suffering, to offer his "few appropriate remarks" at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery. In 272 words he redefined the meaning of the war, explained to a wounded nation why the bloodletting must continue--what was worth fighting and dying for. "The Gettysburg Address" investigates the five extant copies of Lincoln's famous speech, separating fact from fiction along the way. Lincoln's greater journey to Gettysburg is chronicled, from his early anti-slavery sentiments as a poor farmer's son to his rousing orations as one of America's greatest leaders. In a spirit not dissimilar to Lincoln's transcending proposition of rebirth at Gettysburg, the film investigates for the first time the speech's many cultural and historical significances, both then and now. Featuring interviews with the country's leading historians, politicians, Civil Rights leaders, Women's Rights ... Written by Rising Picture Company

关于林肯的图书浩如烟海，中文读者如要阅读林肯，首先应当做取舍：不仅要知道应当读什么，更要知道天下关于林肯的书是读不完的，因此有些关于林肯的著作是未必要读的… 这就是我翻译麦克弗森教授这本出版于2009年的《林肯传》的出发点，它篇幅简约，但内容并不简单，是典型的“大家小书”。麦克弗森教授出生于1936年，1963年在约翰·霍普金斯大学取得历史学博士学位，自1962年起即执教于普林斯顿大学历史系，现为该系乔治·亨利·戴维斯86级美国史讲席教授。麦克弗森教授是美国内战史研究的执牛耳者，在1988年出版了代表作《自由之号角：美国内战时代》，该书在出版后获得了1989年的普利策奖，《纽约时报书评》称这本书是“最高水准的史学写作”，自出版之日起就成为美国内战史最佳的单卷本读物。 特别要指出，中文版的《林肯传》不仅包括了麦克弗森教授的传记部分，我还重译了林肯在其漫长政治生涯内发表的六篇经典演说，在这六篇演说中，最早的一篇发表于1838年，那时的林肯尚且不满29岁，未及而立之年，余下五篇均为林肯总统任期内的演讲，最后一篇是林肯的第二次总统就职演说，那时的林肯已经走到了自己人生的边上，距离他遇刺还只有四十多天的时间。我目前将这六篇演讲称为“林肯六篇”。在我看来，这“林肯六篇”，属于理解林肯及其所推动的共和再造以及宪法转型的“经典教义（canons）”，其内部构筑着一个解读“林肯之前”这段美国早期宪法史的编码系统和意义世界。这六篇演讲作为附录收在传记之后，意在追求两种阅读传统的一次融合。我衷心希望，这种“经史互证”的编排，可以让这本书成为理解林肯及其宪法意义的非常特别乃至不可替代的读本。