The Early Life of Abraham Lincoln

This book is a result of a thorough research conduct by the author Ida M. Tarbell. Tarbell's research in the backwoods of Kentucky and Illinois uncovered the true story of Lincoln's childhood and youth. She wrote to and interviewed hundreds of people who knew or had contact with Lincoln. She tracked down leads and then confirmed their sources. She sent hundreds of letters looking for images of Lincoln and found evidence of more than three hundred previously unpublished Lincoln letters and speeches.

Ida Minerva Tarbell (1857 – 1944) was an American writer, investigative journalist, biographer and lecturer. She was one of the leading "muckrakers" of the progressive era of the late 19th and early 20th centuries and pioneered investigative journalism.