Most people know little more about the US President Abraham Lincoln than how he met his end, assassinated in a theatre box by a gunman. In this short account, Thomas Keneally shows that 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 any benefits of class, wealth or contacts could reach the pinnacle of US life then so might anyone else. Keneally has long been absorbed by Lincoln's life and letters, upon which he draws for his biography.