Lincoln's Youth

[Gene C]

Written in 1959 by Louis Warren. About 215 pages of text with another 54 pages of footnotes. Very interesting well written. Covers the years of 1816-1830. Two things struck me as unique about this book, Thomas Lincoln is portrayed in a very favorable manner.
For example, "Thomas Lincoln by example, apparently played the most important role in his son's character building".

A lot of attention in this book is given to the books that Lincoln read as a young person. The focus was on their moral and patriotic content and the influences they may have had on him. There are several quotes from many of these books to emphasize this point.

I would highly recommend this book if you are interested in this time period of Abraham Lincoln's life. Reasonably priced.

http://www.amazon.com/Lincolns-Youth-Ind...%27s+Youth

[LincolnMan]

This is great Gene. Too bad I'm so far behind on all my reading. A lot of my books now are audiobooks that I listen to when I'm driving. I just today started listening to the James Garfield book that was recommended here at the Forum ages ago. Oh well, better late than never.

[RJNorton]

(05-18-2014 06:35 PM)Gene C Wrote:  I would highly recommend this book if you are interested in this time period of Abraham Lincoln's life. Reasonably priced.

I would like to second Gene on this excellent book. Among the many topics covered are all the girls who may have had a crush on young Abraham, and all the girls whom Abraham may have had a crush on. Although many of the memories are almost certainly embellished I think it's still fascinating to read about. Dr. Warren's book is the source of a few of the trivia questions I've posted over the past (nearly) two years regarding Abraham and the girls that were in his life during the younger years.

Other good books about this time period are There I Grew Up: Remembering Abraham Lincoln's Indiana Youth by William E. Bartelt and Lincoln's Boyhood: A Chronicle of His Indiana Years by Francis Marion Van Natter.

[Gene C]

This just in from Joe Di Cola

I also agree about the Lincoln boyhood books. The Van Natter book can be downloaded and saved from the web since it is very expensive both on Alibris and Amazon. There is another book I can recommend about the Indiana years. It is by Bess Ehrmann and is entitled "The Missing Chapter in the Life of Abraham Lincoln". It has some excellent photos and line drawings, too. I got my copy from the Spencer County Historical Society (Rockport, IN) for $20 plus $5 for shipping

All the best, Joe


Here is the web site for the Spencer Historical Society. Please don't buy them all until I get my copy. (and it's a lot less expensive than Amazon)
http://www.spencercountyhistory.org/booksales.cfm