content: While the language isn't boring the the ideas are great in Youngs second edition of this biography, I am not happy at all that my students have been assigned this book to read in a linked course. I teach a study and learning skills course linked to an American history course at a university in the USA and this biography must be read by the students. With all the time spent in the colleges and universities and now in the media about how historians need to cite their sources, this biography is a sad and sorry example. Nothing is cited, even the direct quotes have no citations! Yes, Youngs does discuss his sources at the end of the book but that is not the same as giving credit to the sources where he drew his quotations and facts from. The publisher, Longman, should be ashamed for allowing such poorly cited scholarship to be printed for used in either courses or the general public. I would have given this 1 star but the writing is engaging.