Abraham Lincoln was an unlikely candidate for president, to put it mildly. Raised in a series of humble cabins on the frontier and mostly self-taught, the gangly farmer and shopkeeper had little in common with the Founding Fathers, with one exception: a deep and abiding belief in America's still-fragile experiment in democracy. Turning his quick mind and gregarious personality to politics, Lincoln climbed quickly through state and national politics, before being elected president in 1860 on the eve of the Civil War. During that bloody and devastating conflict, Lincoln's tenacity, strategic brilliance, and plain-spoken eloquence not only helped keep the nation together through its darkest hours but also set the course for a reconciliation that he would not live to see. Filled with historical drama and packed with rare illustrations, Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America weaves the already fascinating biography of Abraham Lincoln into the story of the most perilous period in American history.