Rob

If the focus, in the printed book, is on the team of rivals that Lincoln selected for his cabinet, that focus is almost entirely absent in this abridgement. It starts out promisingly, with some interesting material on the fight for the Republican nomination in 1860 -- we get fascinating glimpses into the men who would lose to Lincoln, then serve him in his cabinet. That's about 45 minutes ... From that point on, the audiobook is basically a decent overview of the course of the Civil War, with little insight into how these rivals influenced Lincoln's governance.

If you haven't done much reading on the Civil War, this abridgement could serve as a good place to start. If, however, you were looking for an in-depth view of Lincoln's cabinet and its impact on his Presidency, you may want to wait for the unabridged version.

On a side note: The narration was excellent throughout, apart form a brief intro by the author, who may have been caught on a bad day.