Old Abe: A Novel

by John Cribb Narrated by Gary Bennett

Overview

Abraham Lincoln comes alive like never before.

Old Abe: A Novel recounts the final five years of Abraham Lincoln's life, the most cataclysmic years of America's history. Bound to Lincoln's side, every page of this vivid novel details the President's struggles. We follow him as national tragedy deepens, as he struggles and presses ahead, and as he comes to life once again fighting to save the country.

This story spans from the spring of 1860 in Illinois, to Lincoln's election and the calamity of the Civil War, to his assassination at the height of his power. During the war, death surrounds him. Lincoln walks the bloody battlefields of Virginia and Maryland. He peers down the Potomac River through a spyglass, searching for approaching Confederate gunboats that reports have warned him of. He feels death stalk him as one summer evening, a would-be assassin fires a shot that passes through his hat. At the White House, he weeps over the body of Willie, his second son to die in childhood.

Lincoln tries desperately to hold the Union together, searching for a general who will fight for him. Amid national and personal tragedy, he struggles to find meaning in the war and bring freedom to Southern slaves.

Central to this novel is a love story-the story of Abraham and Mary Lincoln's stormy yet devoted marriage. Mary Todd Lincoln's strong will and ambition for her husband helped drive him to the White House, but the presidency takes an incredible toll on her. Mary grows increasingly frightened and insecure. Lincoln watches helplessly as she becomes more and more emotionally unstable. He grasps for ways to support her, but finds no remedy strong enough to reverse the damage that has been done.

As Lincoln's journey unfolds, Old Abe probes the relentless character and enduring spirit of America.

This story portrays Lincoln not only as a flesh-and-blood man, but a hero who embodies his country's finest ideals. In the midst of America's most devastating tragedy, Old Abe captures the challenges and triumphs, the failures and successes, of one of the most famous leaders in U.S. history, who sets a divided country on track to become a great nation of the world.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

"Old Abe is the best book on President Lincoln I have ever read.” – Vice President Mike Pence


“This is the best book about Abraham Lincoln I’ve ever read. John Cribb has brought Lincoln to life for us.” —William J. Bennett, former US Secretary of Education and author of The Book of Virtues and America: The Last Best Hope


“I can’t think of any books on Lincoln that bring ‘the martyred Christ of democracy’s passion play’ to such a wonderful new life as John Cribb’s Old Abe.”  —Seth Leibsohn, Senior Fellow, the Claremont Institute, and Radio Host


“In Old Abe, John Cribb accomplishes what all historical novelists try to do, but few pull off: he makes familiar history new again and transforms historical figures into vivid characters.” —Christopher Scalia, coeditor of Scalia Speaks and On Faith


“John Cribb’s debut novel is a triumph, and I recommend it for all readers, young and old alike.”  —Michel Stone, author of The Iguana Tree and Border Child


“This new release—Old Abe: A Novel by John Cribb—is remarkable for its straightforward depictions of the sixteenth president during the Civil War. The novel’s angle, writing style, and historical details will appeal to generations of readers.” —Sarah Kay Bierle, The Civil War Monitor


"A deftly penned historical novel that showcases the author's genuine flair for originality, a close and entertaining story that accurately adheres to historical detail, and the kind of narrative driven storytelling style that fully engages the reader's attention." —The Midwest Book Review


"Cribb has worked some fictional magic here, creating a historical tome for those who would rather not read historical tomes. The author has said that he wrote the novel out of a love for Lincoln and the desire to share that love with others. In that, the New York Times bestselling author succeeds." —Tom Mayer, Mountain Times

Product Details

BN ID:	2940172714450
Publisher:	Spotify Audiobooks
Publication date:	06/01/2021
Edition description:	Unabridged

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