Biography / Autobiography

Now in paperback, this award-winning biography has been hailed as the definitive portrait of Lincoln.

Named One of the 10 Top Lincoln Books by Chicago TribuneNamed One of the 5 Best Books of 2009 by The AtlanticWinner, 2008 PROSE Award for Best Book in U.S. History and Biography/Autobiography, Association of American PublishersWinner, 2010 Lincoln Prize from the Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College

In the first multi-volume biography of Abraham Lincoln to be published in decades, Lincoln scholar Michael Burlingame offers a fresh look at the life of one of America's greatest presidents. Incorporating the field notes of earlier biographers, along with decades of research in multiple manuscript archives and long-neglected newspapers, this remarkable work will both alter and reinforce our current understanding of America's sixteenth president.

Volume 1 covers Lincoln's early childhood, his experiences as a farm boy in Indiana and Illinois, his legal training, and the political ambition that led to a term in Congress in the 1840s. In volume 2, Burlingame examines Lincoln's life during his presidency and the Civil War, narrating in fascinating detail the crisis over Fort Sumter and Lincoln's own battles with relentless office seekers, hostile newspaper editors, and incompetent field commanders. Burlingame also offers new interpretations of Lincoln's private life, discussing his marriage to Mary Todd and the untimely deaths of two sons to disease.

But through it all--his difficult childhood, his contentious political career, a fratricidal war, and tragic personal losses--Lincoln preserved a keen sense of humor and acquired a psychological maturity that proved to be the North's most valuable asset in winning the Civil War.

Published to coincide with the 200th anniversary of Lincoln's birth, this landmark publication establishes Burlingame as the most assiduous Lincoln biographer of recent memory and brings Lincoln alive to modern readers as never before.

How did Abraham Lincoln's lifelong study of scripture influence him as a man and, ultimately, as president? Historian Gordon Leidner believes the impact was profound--more than previously recognized--and has investigated all the known writings of Abraham Lincoln to identify, catalog, and study every instance in which Lincoln quoted from or alluded to the Bible. Rather than dwelling on the never-ending debate about Lincoln's religious beliefs, Leidner shows how scripture affected Lincoln personally, professionally, and politically.

Leidner offers first a short biography that focuses on Lincoln's use of the Bible, how it shaped him as a person, how its influence changed over time, and how biblical quotations peppered his letters, speeches, and conversations. The book concludes with an unparalleled appendix that tabulates nearly 200 instances of Lincoln's quoting from or alluding to scripture, giving locators for the Bible and Roy P. Basler's nine volume Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln and quotations from both sources. The appendix also includes when and where Lincoln used each quote, providing valuable context, whether the use was in personal letters such as one to Queen Victoria after the death of Prince Albert, political speeches such as the Gettysburg Address, or state addresses such as the Second Inaugural Address.

By showcasing Lincoln's specific biblical references and influences, Leidner reframes the question of Lincoln's religious beliefs so that readers may evaluate for themselves what solace and guidance the Bible afforded the sixteenth president.

The self -mad e man from a log cabin, the great orator, the Emancipator, the Savior of the Union, the martyr-Lincoln's story is at the very heart of American history. But who was he, really? In this outstanding biography, award-winning author Thomas Keneally follows Lincoln from his impoverished birth through his education and presidency. From the development of his political philosophy to his troubled family life and his actions during the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln is an incisive study of a turning point in our history and a revealing portrait of a pivotal figure.

From journalist, mental health advocate, and software engineer Emi Nietfeld, this searing coming-of-age story is both a chronicle of the American Dream and an indictment of it. Exposing the price of trading a troubled past for the promise of a bright future, Nietfeld explores whether any amount of success can make trauma worth it. With a ribbon of dark humor, Acceptance challenges our ideas of what it means to overcome--and live on your own terms.

Movie stars establish themselves as brands--and Taylor's brand, in its most memorable outings, has repeatedly introduced a broad audience to feminist ideas. In her breakout film, "National Velvet" (1944), Taylor's character challenges gender discrimination: Forbidden as a girl to ride her beloved horse in an important race, she poses as a male jockey. Her next milestone, "A Place in the Sun" (1951), can be seen as an abortion rights movie--a cautionary tale from a time before women had ready access to birth control. In "Butterfield 8" (1960), for which she won an Oscar, Taylor isn't censured because she's a prostitute, but because she chooses the men: she controls her sexuality, a core tenet of the third-wave feminism that emerged in the 1990s. Even "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" (1966) depicts the anguish that befalls a woman when the only way she can express herself is through her husband's stalled career and children.

The legendary actress has lived her life defiantly in public--undermining post-war reactionary sex roles, helping directors thwart the Hollywood Production Code, which censored film content between 1934 and 1967. Defying death threats she spearheaded fundraising for AIDS research in the first years of the epidemic, and has championed the rights of people to love whom they love, regardless of gender. Yet her powerful feminist impact has been hidden in plain sight. Drawing on unpublished letters and scripts as well as interviews with Kate Burton, Gore Vidal, Austin Pendleton, Kevin McCarthy, Liz Smith, and others, The Accidental Feminist will surprise Taylor and film fans with its originality and will add a startling dimension to the star's enduring mystique.

Accidental Lessons is a remarkable memoir by successful Chicago journalist David W. Berner. Berner takes the reader inside his own personal journey; a heart-wrenching and inspirational account of self-discovery.Berner had it all-a very successful career as a broadcast journalist and a wonderful family life. But his career hits a bump and he finds himself out of work. Life then delivers more trouble-his father becomes terminally ill and his marriage falls apart. In the middle of painful personal times, this respected journalist makes a decision that changes his life forever.Berner takes a job in a public school outside Chicago where the students are representations of society's "throw-aways." What he learns from them teaches him invaluable lessons about himself, who he is, and why he became a journalist in the first place-to seek out the truth and give voice to those who need their story told.David W. Berner is a journalist, documentary writer, and producer. He teaches writing, documentary and radio narrative classes at Columbia College in Chicago. He has published personal essays and hundreds of magazine articles and interviewed such greats as Ted Kennedy, Tiger Woods, and Bill Gates. He lives in Naperville, Illinois with his family and two dogs, Hogan and Mike. Mr. Berner is currently working on a collection of essays about fatherhood. Accidental Lessons is his first book.

As she lives and worships alongside these "ac­cidental saints," Nadia is swept into first-hand en­counters with grace--a gift that feels to her less like being wrapped in a warm blanket and more like being hit with a blunt instrument. But by this grace, people are trans­formed in ways they couldn't have been on their own.

In a time when many have rightly become dis­illusioned with Christianity, Accidental Saints dem­onstrates what happens when ordinary people share bread and wine, struggle with scripture together, and tell each other the truth about their real lives. This unforgettable account of their faltering steps toward wholeness will ring true for believer and skeptic alike.

Told in Nadia's trademark confessional style, Accidental Saints is the stunning next work from one of today's most important religious voices.

From chef and Emmy-nominated host of Top Chef comes a tender, clear-eyed memoir charting a journey full of purpose, belonging, and real love--a "recipe for a life worth living" (Stacy London).

Kristen Kish never could have imagined people on the street knowing her name--not when she was a carefree softball-tossing kid, in high school working at a pretzel stand, and not even when she finally found her true calling as a chef. In those early days, becoming a chef meant tethering oneself to a restaurant and working in the back of a kitchen, not a television set. But working in the spotlight happened naturally, even if the attention was totally unanticipated. And like most things in Kristen's life, the road was so much more winding and complicated than it may have appeared from the outside.

From growing up as an adoptee in the Midwest, to trying to fit in with all the other girls who were busy dating boys, winning Top Chef to becoming its Emmy-nominated host years later, or even coming out and finding love when she least expected it, Kristen learned that, unlike a map, no set of plans or definitions can dictate or explain a life.

In Accidentally on Purpose, what defines Kristen's story aren't the missteps or even the pleasant surprises that crop up but how she learned to find her voice and use it. Curveballs will come. Accidents happen. And for Kristen, when she digs deep, that's when things get really interesting.