"The first of a multi-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...