Abraham Lincoln: The War Years

Abraham Lincoln: The War Years encompasses volumes three through six of Carl Sandburg's six-volume biography of Abraham Lincoln; these volumes focus particularly on the American Civil War period. The first two volumes, Abraham Lincoln: The Prairie Years, were published in 1926 and cover the period from Lincoln's birth through his inauguration as president. The final four volumes were published together in 1939, and won the 1940 Pulitzer Prize for History. Abraham Lincoln: The Prairie Years and Abraham Lincoln: The War Years are collectively considered by many to be "the best-selling, most widely read, and most influential book[s] about Lincoln." The books have been through many editions, including a one-volume edition in 1954 prepared by Sandburg. Sandburg's Lincoln scholarship, primarily in these volumes, had an enormous impact on the popular view of Lincoln. The books were adapted by Robert Sherwood for his Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1938) and David Wolper's six-part dramatization for television, Sandburg's Lincoln (1974), starring Hal Holbrook as the president. Sandburg recorded excerpts from the biography and some of Lincoln's speeches for Caedmon Records in New York City in May 1957.