This book is not a weekend read, or a beach book. But if you are interested in Lincoln’s presidency, and the Civil War era, it is a book you should read. This book is not just about Lincoln; as the title suggests, Kearns also discusses the members of his cabinet, some of whom were his rivals and opponents. She basically writes mini-biographies of many of them. This is helpful to see not only why Lincoln may have felt they would be useful in his cabinet, but why each of them held the viewpoints they did. In fact, the interactions between Lincoln and his cabinet are her main focus.
This may not be the most comprehensive biography of Lincoln; I have not read others to compare them. And this book does not discuss in great detail various Civil War battles. I am sure there are other books where you can get that information, which would be interesting if you know you had an ancestor in a specific battle. Kearns does go into the minutiae of what was going on in the day-to-day operations of the Lincoln White House. It is an overview of the entire Civil War era, from the point of view of the men on the Union side who were running the show.
Most of us don’t have an ancestor who was, or who was related to, a US President. There just haven’t been that many of them. But there have been hundreds of others who worked in and for the government. And don’t forget state and local governments. Even postmasters could be considered governmental employees. Ancestry might link this record to your ancestor, or you might find their job listed in the census. Where did they live and what were they doing during the Civil War?
If this was your family, how would you research them? If you had an ancestor who served in the Lincoln administration, or who lived in any of the areas that Lincoln lived, you will find this book interesting. If you had ancestors who lived in the United States, they would have been impacted in some way by the war. The Soldiers and Sailors database has information about the, well, soldiers and sailors who served in the Civil War. https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/soldiers-and-sailors-database.htm. For governmental appointees, a hometown newspaper might mention the fact, try https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/ first, or a census might mention an employer.