Old Abe - by John Cribb (Paperback)

About the Book

"Old Abe: a novel recounts the last five years of Abraham Lincoln's life, the most cataclysmic years in America's history. We are at Lincoln's side on every page of this vivid novel as he presses forward amid disaster and comes to life once again fighting to save the country. The story begins in the spring of 1860 in Illinois and follows Lincoln through his election and the calamity of the Civil War to his assassination at the height of power. As Lincoln's journey unfolds, Old Abe probes the enduring character and spirit of America. This story portrays Lincoln not only as a flesh-and-blood man, but a hero who embodies his country's finest ideals. Set amid America's most devastating tragedy, Old Abe captures the triumphs and defeats of one of the greatest leaders in US history, the one who set a divided country on track to become a great nation"--

Book Synopsis

Old Abe, the sweeping historical novel from New York Times bestselling author John Cribb, brings America's greatest president to life the way no other book has before.

Old Abe is the story of the last five years of Abraham Lincoln's life, the most cataclysmic years in American history. We are at Lincoln's side on every page as he presses forward amid disaster and fights to save the country. Beginning in the spring of 1860, the story follows Lincoln through his election and the calamity of the Civil War. During the war, he walks bloody battlefields in the North and the South. He peers down the Potomac River with a spyglass amid terrifying reports of approaching Confederate gunboats. Death stalks him: one summer evening, a would-be assassin fires a shot at him, and the bullet passes through his hat. At the White House, he weeps over the body of Willie, his second son to die in childhood. As he tries desperately to hold the Union together, he searches for a general who will fight and finds him at last in Ulysses S. Grant. Amid national and personal tragedy, he struggles to find meaning in the Civil War and bring freedom to Southern slaves. Central to this biographical novel is a love story--the story of Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln's sometimes stormy yet devoted marriage. Mary's strong will and ambition for her husband have helped drive him to the White House. But the presidency takes an awful toll on her, and she grows increasingly frightened and insecure. Lincoln watches helplessly as she becomes emotionally unstable, and he grasps for ways to support her. As Lincoln's journey unfolds, Old Abe chronicles the final five, tumultuous years of his life until his eventual assassination at the height of power. Full of epic scenes from American history, such as the Gettysburg Address and the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, it probes the character and spirit of America. Old Abe portrays Lincoln not only as a flesh-and-blood man, but a hero who embodies his country's finest ideals, the hero who sets the United States on track to become a great nation.

About the Author

John Cribb is a bestselling author who has written about subjects ranging from history to education. His previous work includes coauthoring The American Patriot's Almanac and The Educated Child, both New York Times bestsellers; co-editing The Human Odyssey, a 3-volume world history text, and developing on-line history courses. John also worked as former U.S. Secretary of Education Bill Bennett's collaborator on the New York Times #1 bestseller The Book of Virtues. His writing has been published in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, the Chicago Tribune, National Review Online, and several other publications. During the Reagan administration, he worked at the Department of Justice, the Department of Education, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. A native of Spartanburg, SC, John studied literature at Vanderbilt University. He serves on the board of trustees of the Spartanburg County Public Libraries and the board of directors of the Hub City Writers Project, an award-winning publisher of Southern fiction and nonfiction. He and his wife, Kirsten, and are the proud parents of two daughters, Molly and Sarah.