Rating:  Summary: If you're new to Lincoln, please start here Review: Russell Freedman has done a masterful job with this Lincoln biography, primarily intended for younger readers. Though touted as a "photobiography," there are not an abundance of Lincoln photos, though there is an excellent assortment of photographs of the time period, as well as pictures of his wife and children. The Lincoln portraits that are printed are among the greatest Brady albumen's ever taken of a prominent person, and show Lincoln's world-weary countenance in the face of the raging storm of the Civil War.Freedman writes well and he focuses on Lincoln as an individual. I was pleased to see so much space devoted to Lincoln's complex relationship with Mary Todd, the woman who became his wife. The adversity this couple endured is sobering: the loss of Eddie and Willie at young ages, Lincoln's melancholia and spells of profound depression, as well as the strains of the Presidency. Who can imagine the torment of trying to keep a nation together while millions of American boys died in combat? The strain Lincoln endured is beyond imagination. Freedman tries to have the young reader put themselves in Lincoln's shoes. This is an instructive technique. Freedman also devotes considerable time to Lincoln's special father-son relationship with Tad, and his account of the assassination is excellent. Readers of all ages can glean something from this book, but the target age range would be from 10-15. For young people first starting to learn about Lincoln, look no farther than here. This is a first-rate example of biography for the younger audience.
Rating:  Summary: If you're new to Lincoln, please start here Review: Russell Freedman has done a masterful job with this Lincoln biography, primarily intended for younger readers. Though touted as a "photobiography," there are not an abundance of Lincoln photos, though there is an excellent assortment of photographs of the time period, as well as pictures of his wife and children. The Lincoln portraits that are printed are among the greatest Brady albumen's ever taken of a prominent person, and show Lincoln's world-weary countenance in the face of the raging storm of the Civil War. Freedman writes well and he focuses on Lincoln as an individual. I was pleased to see so much space devoted to Lincoln's complex relationship with Mary Todd, the woman who became his wife. The adversity this couple endured is sobering: the loss of Eddie and Willie at young ages, Lincoln's melancholia and spells of profound depression, as well as the strains of the Presidency. Who can imagine the torment of trying to keep a nation together while millions of American boys died in combat? The strain Lincoln endured is beyond imagination. Freedman tries to have the young reader put themselves in Lincoln's shoes. This is an instructive technique. Freedman also devotes considerable time to Lincoln's special father-son relationship with Tad, and his account of the assassination is excellent. Readers of all ages can glean something from this book, but the target age range would be from 10-15. For young people first starting to learn about Lincoln, look no farther than here. This is a first-rate example of biography for the younger audience.
Rating:  Summary: The best intermediate biography of Abraham Lincoln Review: Russell Freedman's "Lincoln: A Photobiography" represents the ideal book for students who want something more about this subject than a book for younger readers, like George Sullivan's "In Their Own Words: Abraham Lincoln," but who are not yet ready to tackle an adult work like Carl Sandburg's three volume Lincoln biography. Freedman provides a new level of information for those who have read only juvenile biographies of Lincoln. For example, he goes into much more details about Lincoln's courtship of Mary Todd and the strain the war and death of two children caused on their marriage. For many younger readers this will be the first time they read about the complex issues that confronted Lincoln during the Civil War. In the end, students will have a greater appreciation not only for Lincoln's successes but for the problems and failures that troubled him during his years in the White House. Finally, if such things matter to you in tipping the scales, this book received the John Newbery Medal. In the back of this book you will find "A Lincoln Sampler," which consists of things Lincoln said throughout his life, "In Lincoln's Footsteps," which lists historic sites from Lincoln's life that readers can visit, and "Books About Lincoln" for those interested in reading much more about Lincoln. Yes, the title "A Photobiography" might lead you to believe that this is a book of pictures with detailed captions explaining Lincoln's life. While this is not the case Freedman has included 88 photographs, etchings, paintings, reproductions and such in his 150-page volume. Yes, not all of the illustrations are of Lincoln, but it is perfectly allright in a biography to have pictures of the places and people, not to mention events, important in the subject's life. There were only a certain number of photographs taken of Lincoln in his life and my guess that most of them would be included in here. There is even the one surviving photograph of Lincoln in death, although you will not find the photograph of him right after his speech at Gettysburg. The illustrations remain a strength of this photobiography.
Rating:  Summary: a misleading title Review: Since this book was called a photobiography, I expected that most, if not all, of the photographs and line drawings would be of Lincoln. Actually, the great majority of the illustrations were of anyone or anything but Lincoln. Considering the actual content of the illustrations, a better title would have been something about the life and times of Lincoln. Maybe it is just me but I think the title is misleading (somewhat).
Rating:  Summary: lincoln Review: The book I read was lincoln by russell freedman before I read lincoln I thought he came from a poor family and became rich but I was wrong. He did come for a poor family but did not become rich till later in his life. When he was ten years old his mother died. When he was eigth years old he moved to indian with his father and mother. Before he could get started in his carrer he was in the back hawk war. Later he went to law school and went in to the illions legislature for eigth years. While he was in the legislature he married mary todd and had four children but only one survived past maturity. His wife had a bad money spending problem. his fellow lawerys helped him get out of debt. He disided to move forward in his political life so he moved north and ran for preisdency. As the new president he was troubled because of the civil war. He then made a dision to free the slaves. the north was sadisifed butr the south was furious. Soon after he went to a play and was shot in the head and died the next day. by jp bell
Rating:  Summary: Fabulous Introduction On Abraham Lincoln Review: This is a wonderful book about Abraham Lincoln. It's the very first book that I read on him when i was about eleven or twelve years old. It's still one of my favorites because it has quick easy to read information. The pictures are beautiful to look at. This is also a really good way to get kids interested in Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War. It's what got me started really. All though it seems kind of childish to me now. it still really is a very good book to learn from. With this references book, you will also learn about some key figures in Lincoln's life. Such as Mary Ann Todd and Josuah F. Speed. There is also some good information on them from an introduction on Lincoln. What I also like about the book is that it doesn't really talk on about the myth of Lincoln. But the author tries to talk about the man himself instead. There are also some pictures of Abraham and Mary's first house in Springfield. Illinois, and a lot of other nice pictures. I very much recommend this book to any one who is knew at learning about the 16th President of the United States of America.
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