Cover Abraham Lincoln
series "Le vie della civiltà"
pp. 312, Brossura, 978-88-15-26055-0
publication year 2016

TIZIANO BONAZZI

Abraham Lincoln

An American Drama

Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) – along with Washington and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, one of the most famous Presidents of the United States – embodies the American frontier and self-made man myths, as he moved forward from the forests of the West to the Capitol, from being a farmer to serving as President. Elected in 1860, Lincoln faced the challenge of managing the American nation weighed down by the secession of pro-slavery states and the ensuing, bloody civil war. He thus ended up strengthening the federal government, modernizing the economy and emancipating 4 million slaves in the South. But he also paid for his successes with his life when he was assassinated just a few days after the end of the war. The book offers an involving portrait of a complicated man – an almost unfathomable individual, as well as a chronic depressive – and his relationship with the violent, lively and contradictory history of an emerging country.

Tiziano Bonazzi is professor emeritus at the University of Bologna, where he used to teach North American History and Institutions.

Prefazione
Introduzione
PARTE PRIMA
I. Inizi
II. Romanzo di formazione nell'ovest americano
III. Notabile di provincia
PARTE SECONDA
IV. La religione politica della nazione
V. Schiavitù
VI. La ragione e la Legge
VII. La democrazia e la schiavitù
PARTE TERZA
VIII. Morality
IX. Lincoln e il Partito repubblicano
X. Il presidente, la nazione e la secessione
PARTE QUARTA
XI. Una guerra per la nazione
XII. Hard war
XIII. Tutti gli uomini sono creati uguali
XIV. Le leggi dell'Onnipotente
Epilogo
Indice dei nomi