Lincoln's Melancholy: How Depression Challenged a President and Fueled His Greatness Paperback - 2006

A thoughtful, nuanced portrait of Abraham Lincoln that finds his legendary political strengths rooted in his most personal struggles.

Giving shape to the deep depression that pervaded Lincoln's adult life, Joshua Wolf Shenk's Lincoln's Melancholy reveals how this illness influenced both the president's character and his leadership. Lincoln forged a hard path toward mental health from the time he was a young man. Shenk draws from historical record, interviews with Lincoln scholars, and contemporary research on depression to understand the nature of his unhappiness. In the process, he discovers that the President's coping strategies—among them, a rich sense of humor and a tendency toward quiet reflection—ultimately helped him to lead the nation through its greatest turmoil.

Details

• Title Lincoln's Melancholy: How Depression Challenged a President and Fueled His Greatness
• Author Joshua Wolf Shenk
• Binding Paperback
• Edition Reprint
• Pages 368
• Volumes 1
• Language ENG
• Publisher HarperOne, Boston
• Date 2006-10-01
• Features Bibliography, Index, Table of Contents
• ISBN 9780618773442 / 0618773444
• Weight 0.81 lbs (0.37 kg)
• Dimensions 8.24 x 5.5 x 0.9 in (20.93 x 13.97 x 2.29 cm)
• Themes
  • Chronological Period: 19th Century
  • Chronological Period: 1851-1899
  • Topical: Civil War
• Library of Congress subjects Presidents - United States, Manic-depressive illness
• Dewey Decimal Code B