Born Radical by K. M. Kostyal - Exploring History

Review

September 13, 2011 a new magazine will be at your local newsstands titled: EXPLORING HISTORY” by National Geographic. On the cover Abraham Lincoln is pictured as what he would of looked like as a more youthful man in his 30s rendered by artist Tim O’Brien. The first picture ever taken of Abraham Lincoln was in 1860 at age 51. This is the picture that is well known to us today.

Born Radical by K. M. Kostyal takes a look deep into Abraham Lincoln to try to find out exactly who he was and what led him to became our 16th President. Abraham’s character has always been a mystery. Here Kostyal tries to bring that alive.

Lincoln, the 16th President has more books written about him than any other President of the United States but what do we really know about the “man” himself? Yes, we all know he was from the frontier, poor farmer family, raised as a tough man if you wanted to live, had a passion for learning, quiet and a skeptic. There are many other words that historians have described him but who was the real Lincoln?
Did you know that he wrote a composition when he was a child on animal right? He considered himself a “strange, penniless, friendless, uneducated boy”. Abraham Lincoln grew up in an era of hard labor, little or no schooling with people dying at a younger age than we do today. Most people that lived in the wilderness never got out; never made anything of themselves but not Abraham. Some say his father was the one that drove him out, to seek a new kind of life. Abraham had his hand in many businesses before he finally found his calling, politics and he was very good at it.

Abraham was able to connect with the down home, common everyday people. He always wanted more and so did the people of the United States. He always knew he was destined for something higher.

Within the article you will see Lincoln’s boyhood home, his sum book which is the first known piece of writing in his hand. A time line of Lincoln’s major moments in his life and an 1857 map of the United States.

You are not going to want to miss this well written article on Abraham Lincoln. I have read several books on Abraham and this article helped fill in some of the blanks/questions that I had wondered about the man himself. He felt more really to me as a person and not just as our 16th President. I found it very insightful and to me gave me a better picture of who Abraham Lincoln was from a boy to the Presidency.
Other articles that you history lovers might like are: The column on How It Works – The First Submarine to Sink a Warship; articles on Inside Rome’s War Machine, Stopping the California Black Death, Joan of Arc-Beyond Belief, Birth of the Pyramids and many others. Also in their Good To Know Column is: New Books, Websites, Apps and TV Specials coming.

National Geographic has done an excellent job putting this magazine together. Nice clear crisp pictures, interesting easy to read articles. Just like their shows they take you there, tell you the history as it happened.

Watch your local newsstands for this Premier Issue of Exploring History by National Geographic $6.99. I know you’re going to love it!