Abraham Lincoln. The man who rises from obscurity to become the 16th American President and arguably it’s finest. But on April 15th 1865 he becomes the first US President to be assassinated, leading to the creation of a legend that obscures his true personality. Experts Michael Burlingame, James McPherson and Harold Holzer investigate Lincoln, exploring his less well-known early life and how it drives his later actions. He grows up on the American frontier and has a poor rural upbringing - a far cry from the glory of the White House. Our experts reveal Lincoln’s strong dislike of this agricultural lifestyle and his overwhelming ambition to get out, to move up and escape his father’s legacy. At every spare opportunity Lincoln read books - he was one of the greatest autodidacts of his age, for he had greater ambitions than those of his father. He became a Politician and soon after a lawyer as well.

• Struan Rodger