Lincoln

In the Narratives of Empire series, author Gore Vidal (1925–2012) examines the United States' political and imperial experience from the American Revolution onwards. Spanning a period of more than 200 years and told through a broad canvas and large cast of fictional and historical characters, these novels offer a panorama of the American experience as interpreted by one of its most worldly and perceptive observers. The first novel in this series, Lincoln (1984), focuses on Abraham Lincoln (1809–65). In this book, Vidal presents a man who is full of contradictions: on one hand, he is beloved by many Americans as the “Great Emancipator” and saviour of the Union; yet on the other hand, as president he openly agonizes over his duties as commander-in-chief for four long years before issuing his Emancipation Proclamation in 1863.