Thank you to NetGalley and Univ. of Illinois Press for allowing me to read the ARC of Lincoln's Confidante, by Wayne C. Temple. This is an extraordinary account of Noah Brooks, a journalist from Illinois, who befriended, as well as highly respected Abe Lincoln. Because of their close relationship, especially during the Civil War, he has been quoted by many biographers because of his information. He was a literary man, often involved in relationships with such authors as Brett Harte and Mark Twain. Noah Brooks provided historians with priceless information about our past and the people who helped define our country. This was an interesting book.

A big thank you to NetGalley and University of Illinois Press for the ARC. I am voluntarily reviewing this book. I was excited to read this book, to learn more about an interesting man and time period. But unfortunately the ARC was not really readable!! All numbers were left out and random letters it made virtually impossible to read and was sooo frustrating! I have up after spending hours trying to read it, I even went back and tried again. No luck. I would love to really read and review. Please fix and let us know and I will read. As for now I give it 2 stars.

I recommend this book for anyone who wants to learn more about our 16th president and a little known individual with whom he frequently interacted with over the course of his life. this book is based on this work which launched Temple on his over seventy years of scholarship.

This book was a challenge to read as the ARC I received was not the best. I had to guess and fill in missing words frequently when was a distraction from the content. From what I could cobble together from the material is that it is well researched and probably well written. Noah Brooks played an influential role in Lincoln's life and this is the first book that I am aware of that addresses their relationship in any detail.

I recommend this book for anyone who wants to learn more about our 16th president and a little known individual with whom he frequently interacted with over the course of his life.

I received a free Kindle copy of Lincoln's Confidant by Wayne C. Temple courtesy of Net Galley  and University of Illinois Press, the publisher. It was with the understanding that I would post a review on Net Galley, Goodreads, Amazon and my fiction book review blog. I also posted it to my Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google Plus pages.

I requested this book as I have read a great deal about Lincoln, but not about his relationship with Noah Brooks. This is the first book by the author that I have read.