Picked up at Goodwill over the weekend. From Amazon:

Set during the American Civil War, the novel describes the presidency of Abraham Lincoln through the eyes of several historical figures, including presidential secretary John Hay, First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln, Secretary of State William H. Seward, Secretary of the Treasury Salmon Chase, his daughter Kate Chase, U.S. Representative Elihu B. Washburne, and conspirators John Wilkes Booth and David Herold. The novel's emphasis is on the president's political and personal struggles, and not the battles of the Civil War. Though Lincoln is the focus, the book is never narrated from his point of view (with the exception of several paragraphs describing a dream Lincoln had shortly before his death). Vidal's portrait is drawn from contemporary diaries, memoirs, letters, newspaper accounts, and the biographical writings of Hay and John Nicolay, Lincoln's secretaries; and is buttressed by the work of both 19th- and 20th-century historians.

This was a good account of the years of Lincoln's presidency, although at times it felt that it shouldn't have been titled Lincoln, because a lot of other figures have maybe even more "screen time." Hay, Chase, Mrs. Lincoln, etc., all have lots of pages dedicated to them and it seems we don't get to see Lincoln as much as I would have liked. But overall, it is a good history of the time and the place. I believe all the Civil War stories I have read have been in the trenches or in the South, so this one of what it was like in Washington was a nice change of pace. It brought home again how strange a war it was. Mrs. Lincoln lost three brothers to the Confederacy. People were coming and going from Washington to Virginia, Union to Confederacy, all the time. And Lincoln is not really shown in the best light. We don't really ever know what he is thinking and there are times when it looks as if he doesn't know anything. Clearly the war lasted longer than it should have, if this book is to be believed, mainly due to Union generals who would not get off their duffs.

Good story. A long book, and a big commitment, but overall very educational.

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