With Malice Toward None

New York Times–Bestseller: "The standard one-volume biography of Lincoln." —The Washington Post

The definitive life of Abraham Lincoln, With Malice Toward None is historian Stephen B. Oates's acclaimed and enthralling portrait of America's greatest leader. In this award-winning biography, Lincoln steps forward out of the shadow of myth as a recognizable, fully drawn American whose remarkable life continues to inspire and inform us today.


Oates masterfully charts, with the pacing of a novel, Lincoln's rise from bitter poverty in America's midwestern frontier to become a self-made success in business, law, and regional politics. The second half of this riveting work examines his legendary leadership on the national stage as president during the tumultuous and bloody Civil War years, which concluded tragically with Lincoln's assassination.


"Certainly the most objective biography of Lincoln ever written." —David Herbert Donald, The New York Times Book Review

"A masterful work." —Chicago Sun-Times

"Superb . . . thoroughly researched." —Milwaukee Journal

"Here, in these pages, Lincoln is still alive." —Los Angeles Times