Author(s): Thomas Keneally

Non-Fiction

The life and death of one of the greatest American presidents, by the Booker Prize winning novelist Thomas Keneally.

Most people know little more about the US President Abraham Lincoln than how he met his end - assassinated in a box at the theatre by a gunman. But as Booker Prize-winning novelist Thomas Keneally shows in this short but enthralling biography, Lincoln's origins, his early life, his self-taught lawyer's career and how he became a politician and ultimately US President, is an epitome of the American Dream. If Lincoln - without the benefits of class, wealth or contacts - could reach the pinnacle of US political life then so might anyone else. Keneally has long been absorbed by Lincoln's life and letters, upon which he draws for this biography.

Thomas Keneally, of Irish extraction, was brought up in Australia and lives in Sydney. His novels include The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith, Confederates and Schindler's Ark (later turned into a remarkable film by Steven Spielberg).

Hardback