A fresh look at John Quincy Adams, Abraham Lincoln, the Civil War, abolitionism, and other related American history. Read full book review >

In this elegant study, Kaplan (Emeritus, English/Queens Coll.; Lincoln: The Biography of a Writer, 2008, etc.) portrays our sixth president as a deeply literary man, devout husband, orator, diplomat and teacher who had grand plans for the country's future, including the building of national infrastructure and the abolition of slavery. Read full book review >

How the 16th president used—and transformed—the English language. Read full book review >

An argument that the native adventurer and high Victorian author's life was not "twain," as it is sometimes presented, but unified by an unflagging belief in his own luck, a fierce social conscience, and a never-ending quest for money. Read full book review >

Although Kaplan has declared, "I prefer my subjects dead," such as Dickens (1988) and Henry James (1992), he more than rises to the task in this lively biography of the prolific, controversial author. Read full book review >

Subtle, complex, elusive Henry James—a writer who saw life as a history of changing perceptions and changing masks—demands all the formidable scholarly skills and narrative art that Kaplan demonstrated in his biographies of two other monumental 19th- century figures, Charles Dickens (1988) and Thomas Carlyle (1983). Read full book review >