A scrapbook format ingeniously presents the lives of Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd from childhood through death. Brief snippets and full-page entries recounting moments small and large combine to create intimate portraits of two complex individuals. The oversize volume’s exciting page designs call upon a variety of fonts, photographs, archival documents, and illustrations to supplement the written text. Fleming’s biography doesn’t shy away from the less flattering aspects of the couple, including Mary’s attempts to hide her extravagant spending on White House refurbishment, and Abraham’s inability to forge a close relationship with his son Robert. From home life to the political arena, the sixteenth president and his wife are rendered in fascinating detail, set within the landscape of the United States during a time of change and upheaval. (Age 12 and older)