The Physical Lincoln

It's one of the most enduring mysteries in American history: What made Abraham Lincoln so tall, so thin, and so unattractive?

And what gave him his long limbs, large feet, high voice, odd lips, sluggish bowels, and astonishing joint flexibility? Why, in his last months, was he so haggard that editorials in major newspapers begged him to take a vacation?

These questions baffled Lincoln's friends, and have intrigued historians and physicians.

Now, after 150 years, a ground-breaking book offers a remarkable solution that will forever change the way people look at Abraham Lincoln. It points to Lincoln's DNA and the rare genetic disorder called MEN2B.

Written in clear non-technical language for the general reader, with more than 200 illustrations, The Physical Lincoln takes readers on a fascinating medical tour of Lincoln and his family. It reveals the diagnostic clues hidden in plain sight -- in photographs, plaster casts, drawings, eyewitness accounts -- and even the $5 bill.

The author, Dr. John Sotos, who spent 20 years affiliated with Johns Hopkins, examines Lincoln's physical life in unprecedented detail and shows how the diagnosis of MEN2B up-ends several Lincoln myths:

The early deaths Lincoln's mother and three of his sons were not random bad luck.
Lincoln was not depressed.
Lincoln was not being ground down by war and responsibility.
Lincoln was not physically vibrant as President: Advanced cancer would have kiiled him within a year, had he not been shot.

The Physical Lincoln is a fascinating Sherlock Holmes examination of a fascinating man. It offers fundamental new insights into Lincoln and brings you closer to him than ever before. A must-have book for history enthusiasts, it is also the perfect book to stimulate a young person's interest in science and medicine.

The Physical Lincoln: A Photo-Medical Solution to the Puzzle of Abraham Lincoln's Height, Face, Pseudo-Depression, and Imminent Cancer Death.