Lincoln's Melancholy: How Depression Challenged a President and Fueled His Greatness, (Paperback)

from history_educator

Having been a Lincoln fan for as long I can remember, this book caught my eye the first time I saw it. Rarely does a book catch my interest to where I will read it in one sitting, but _Lincoln's_Melancholy_ was hard to put down. Mr. Shenk, masterfully weaves together Lincoln's battle with "melanc...

from estamm

Excellent book. I started the book wondering how much psycho-babble I would encounter. To my happy surprise, not much. This is a very serious book that examines how (and why) Lincoln experienced depression, and what forms that took. He then examines how Lincoln overcame his persistent depression,...

from bfertig

Interestingly, the author of this book essentially diagnoses Lincoln, posthumously of course, as depressed (though the argument is too circumspect to actually state this) and that this depression led to much self-examination which he drew upon for strength during other troubling times, including ...

from souloftherose

Definitely one of my memorable books of the year but Lincoln's Melancholy is not a traditional biography of Abraham Lincoln. Shenk's premise is that Lincoln's struggles with melancholy/depression ultimately helped him to guide America through the turmoils of the Civil War and, with reference to L...

from tcarterva

I bought this book after seeing Joshua Shenk and Conan O'Brien (yes, the comedian) discuss Lincoln's humor at Ford's Theatre. Considering the subject of Shenk's book on Lincoln, I found that an odd discussion. But after reading the book, I understand better. At almost 400 pages, I wondered if She...