And There Was Light

• “Biography at its best, the great historian Barbara Tuchman wrote, paints an intimate portrait of an individual which simultaneously provides a sweeping view of history. With this deep, compelling work, Jon Meacham has achieved this gold standard. Written with wisdom and grace, his story of Lincoln’s complex moral journey to Emancipation mirrors America’s long and troubled quest to live up to its founding ideals.” —Doris Kearns Goodwin, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and author of Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln
• “There is no question about American history more provocative than what Abraham Lincoln believed and did and intended to achieve on equal rights and the future of Black Americans. With his singular gift for compelling narrative and groundbreaking analysis, Jon Meacham addresses these issues brilliantly and fearlessly. In so doing, he illuminates not only Lincoln and his times but, just as much, the troubled society that we Americans live in today.” —Michael Beschloss, New York Times bestselling author of Presidents of War
• “Jon Meacham has given us a Lincoln for our perilous times, a story where slavery and racism are not an afterthought but are critical to understanding the man, the moment, and the contradictions at the heart of this fragile Republic. You will not find any recourse to myth or legend in these pages. With the elegance of his pen and the power of story, Meacham draws a portrait of a complex man—hesitant, practical, decent—who answered the call of history. And There Was Light offers us an all-too-human exemplar for our current storms.” —Eddie Glaude, Jr., James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor and Chair of the Department of African American Studies, Princeton University, and author of Begin Again and Democracy in Black
• “Jon Meacham’s masterful, highly readable biography of Lincoln is a most worthy companion to his Pulitzer Prize-winning American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House. In an era when autocracy is on the march, this timely book sheds a bright light on Lincoln’s role as a paladin and vindicator of democracy, which he defined not only as ‘government of the people, by the people, and for the people,’ but also as ‘government whose leading object is to elevate the condition of men–to lift artificial weights from all shoulders–to clear the paths of laudable pursuit for all–to afford all, an unfettered start, and a fair chance, in the race of life.’” —Michael Burlingame, Lincoln Prize-winning author of Abraham Lincoln: A Life
• “So much more than another account of Abraham Lincoln’s life, Jon Meacham’s profound new biography dives into Lincoln’s very soul, and the result is one of the most compelling and absorbing portraits ever crafted. Meacham’s Lincoln thinks deeply, reads widely, and continually revises his relationships with both humankind and God. I have never before read a book that places Lincoln not only in his chosen milieu of politics, but within the realms of faith and destiny. This is a book of such high drama and deep emotion that it instantly takes its place at the forefront of the Lincoln literature.” —Harold Holzer, Winner of the Lincoln Prize, author of Lincoln and the Power of the Press

• “Biography at its best, the great historian Barbara Tuchman wrote, paints an intimate portrait of an individual which simultaneously provides a sweeping view of history. With this deep, compelling work, Jon Meacham has achieved this gold standard. Written with wisdom and grace, his story of Lincoln’s complex moral journey to Emancipation mirrors America’s long and troubled quest to live up to its founding ideals.” —Doris Kearns Goodwin, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and author of Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln
• “There is no question about American history more provocative than what Abraham Lincoln believed and did and intended to achieve on equal rights and the future of Black Americans. With his singular gift for compelling narrative and groundbreaking analysis, Jon Meacham addresses these issues brilliantly and fearlessly. In so doing, he illuminates not only Lincoln and his times but, just as much, the troubled society that we Americans live in today.” —Michael Beschloss, New York Times bestselling author of Presidents of War
• “Jon Meacham has given us a Lincoln for our perilous times, a story where slavery and racism are not an afterthought but are critical to understanding the man, the moment, and the contradictions at the heart of this fragile Republic. You will not find any recourse to myth or legend in these pages. With the elegance of his pen and the power of story, Meacham draws a portrait of a complex man—hesitant, practical, decent—who answered the call of history. And There Was Light offers us an all-too-human exemplar for our current storms.” —Eddie Glaude, Jr., James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor and Chair of the Department of African American Studies, Princeton University, and author of Begin Again and Democracy in Black
• “Jon Meacham’s masterful, highly readable biography of Lincoln is a most worthy companion to his Pulitzer Prize-winning American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House. In an era when autocracy is on the march, this timely book sheds a bright light on Lincoln’s role as a paladin and vindicator of democracy, which he defined not only as ‘government of the people, by the people, and for the people,’ but also as ‘government whose leading object is to elevate the condition of men–to lift artificial weights from all shoulders–to clear the paths of laudable pursuit for all–to afford all, an unfettered start, and a fair chance, in the race of life.’” —Michael Burlingame, Lincoln Prize-winning author of Abraham Lincoln: A Life
• “So much more than another account of Abraham Lincoln’s life, Jon Meacham’s profound new biography dives into Lincoln’s very soul, and the result is one of the most compelling and absorbing portraits ever crafted. Meacham’s Lincoln thinks deeply, reads widely, and continually revises his relationships with both humankind and God. I have never before read a book that places Lincoln not only in his chosen milieu of politics, but within the realms of faith and destiny. This is a book of such high drama and deep emotion that it instantly takes its place at the forefront of the Lincoln literature.” —Harold Holzer, Winner of the Lincoln Prize, author of Lincoln and the Power of the Press