Among the many novel features of this volume: It carefully examines Lincoln's views on a wide variety of subjects-economics, race, the Constitution, Indians, patronage,habeas corpus , and dozens more. It offers biographical sketches of members of Lincoln's family and describes how he felt about them, including his rebel" sister-in-law and an enterprising cousin who used Lincoln's Presidential nomination to launch a flourishing souvenir business. It portrays and clearly captures scores of Lincoln's associates, assistants, colleagues, and enemies-from Charles Francis Adams and George Atzerodt to Fernando Wood and Richard Yates. It appraises all the major Lincoln biographers and their books and also covers others associated with the subject: collectors and collections, portrait painters and photographers, famous documents and sites."