The many sides of Abraham Lincoln - war leader, humourist, commander-in-chief, politician and emancipator - are vividly depicted in this concise look at his presidential years. Pivotal events, decisions and issues in Lincoln's private and public life are scrutinized and explained clearly. During an innovative yet bloody era marked by mass communication, unheard-of national recognition and media attention, and the increasingly destructive uses of technology to wage war, Lincoln did all that he could to preserve the nation as a whole. Principles underpinning Lincoln's actions and motivations as administrator and war leader included an abiding spirit of nationalism, which contrasted with the forces driving his immediate predecessors, and the encompassing power conferred upon him as commander-in-chief in wartime.