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The cover of Lincoln's Melancholy

Lincoln's Melancholy

Joshua Wolf Shenk

Was Abraham Lincoln's lifelong melancholy a true clinical depression, and what did it do to the man who led a nation?

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At a glance

Author
Joshua Wolf Shenk

Why read it

  • You will see how Lincoln earned his psychological health through years of labor instead of receiving it as a birthright
  • You will view depression as many of Lincoln's contemporaries did, not as a source of shame but as part of a great character
  • You will weigh Shenk's view that Lincoln's melancholy bore fruit once he took up the fight against the spread of slavery

Who it is for

  • A reader living with depression who wants a historical example
  • A history lover who thinks of Lincoln only as a monument
  • A friend or relative of someone with depression

Contents

  1. A Note on the Text
  2. Prelude
  3. Introduction
  4. PART ONE
  5. The Community Said He Was Crazy
  6. A Fearful Gift
  7. I Am Now the Most Miserable Man Living
  8. PART TWO
  9. A Self-Made Man
  10. A Misfortune, Not a Fault
  11. The Reign of Reason
  12. The Vents of My Moods and Gloom
  13. PART THREE
  14. Its Precise Shape and Color
  15. The Fiery Trial Through Which We Pass
  16. Comes Wisdom to Us
  17. Epilogue
  18. Afterword
  19. Sample Chapter from POWERS OF TWO
  20. Buy the Book

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