# What would you suggest for a Lincoln biography?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-suggest-for-a-lincoln-biography/459461>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 10, 2008, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-suggest-for-a-lincoln-biography/459461 "2008-08-10T01:26:30Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\
**Post date:** [August 10, 2008, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-suggest-for-a-lincoln-biography/459461/1 "2008-08-10T01:26:30Z")

</div>

I’m looking for a good in-depth biography of Lincoln, preferably one that doesn’t go into mind-numbing detail (with the realization that “mind-numbing” is completely subjective.) I also want it to be willing to deal with some Lincoln’s more unsavory decisions (i.e. I don’t want a glorifying apologetic.) I see two probabilities:

_Lincoln_ by David Herbert Donald – The appears to be the most popular of the modern biographies.

_Abraham Lincoln_ by Carl Sandberg – I’ve heard this is the classic Lincoln biography. My concern is that it’s older (thus missing any new scholarship) and was written by a man more known for his poetry than his histories.

Doris Kearns’ book is another possibility but it looks like it’s more about the men around Lincoln. Any input would be appreciated. Thanks.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![nivlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3bc359/32.png) [@nivlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nivlac)\
**Post date:** [August 10, 2008, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-suggest-for-a-lincoln-biography/459461/2 "2008-08-10T01:39:52Z")

</div>

Already discussed [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=473777).

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\
**Post date:** [August 10, 2008, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-suggest-for-a-lincoln-biography/459461/3 "2008-08-10T02:49:24Z")

</div>

Oy, my bad. Thanks for the link.