Overview

As 1862 dawned, the American republic was at death's door. The federal government appeared overwhelmed, the U.S. Treasury was broke, and the Union's top general was gravely ill. The Confederacy - with its booming economy, expert military leadership, and commanding position on the battlefield - had a clear view to victory. To a remarkable extent, the survival of the country depended on the judgment, cunning, and resilience of the unschooled frontier lawyer who had recently been elected president. Twelve months later, the Civil War had become a cataclysm but the tide had turned. The Union generals who would win the war had at last emerged, and the Confederate Army had suffered the key losses that would lead to its doom. The blueprint of modern America - an expanding colossus of industrial and financial might - had been indelibly inked. And the man who brought the nation through its darkest hour, Abraham Lincoln, had been forged into a singular leader.

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9781250037800

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Reviews

One of Kansas City Star 's Top 100 Books of 2012Featured in PBS Washington Week Holiday Gift GuideOne of Kirkus Reviews 's Best Nonfiction 2012<p> 1862 was the year of Lincoln's 'Rise to Greatness'... Von Drehle recounts the dramatic military and political events of that year, interspersing them with human-interest stories of ordinary people caught up in extraordinary times... These pages crackle with life and energy. --James McPherson, New York Review of Books <p> Outstanding... Lean, insightful and often lyrical. -- USA Today <p> Spellbinding....Von Drehle has done a masterful job of extracting riveting anecdotes from original sources and balancing them with recent contributions to the field. Blending good research with a gift for page-turning narrative, he adroitly weaves together the complex military, diplomatic, political, legal and moral saga of the 12 months of 1862. -- The Washington Post <p> An invigorating, inspiring and often heartrending portrait of a great man and a troubled country...Von Drehle's deeply researched book provides a degree of detail that Hollywood can't touch . -- Kansas City Star <p> A compelling, sharply written narrative of the events of 1862, when the odds were against the survival of the Union itself...&#12288; Amid the shelves of Civil War tomes, Rise to Greatness stands out as a brisk, compact history of Lincoln's evolution as a leader. Von Drehle persuasively calls 1862 'the hinge of American history'. -- Miami Herald <p> Riveting ... Equal parts war story, political intrigue and character study, the book at times reads as much like a John Grisham page-turner as serious history... For those with an invigorated taste to learn more about Lincoln -- the real man, not the icon -- The Rise of Greatness is a must read. -- The Omaha World-Herald <p> More has been written and discussed about Abraham Lincoln than about any other U.S. president, and for good reason... The Von Drehle book and the Spielberg film effectively serve

Author Information

"David von Drehle is the author of three previous books, including the award-winning Triangle, a history of the Triangle shirtwaist factory fire that The New York Times called ""social history at its best."" An editor-at-large at Time magazine, he and his family live in Kansas City, Missouri."

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