Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer (P.S.)

It was a long and bloody war and it tore the country apart, but finally, finally the Civil War was over. To President Lincoln and the Northerners it was a time of victory and a time to rejoice. But to the Confederate Army and the South, it was a time of defeat and anger. John Wilkes Booth was one of the angry ones, so angry in fact, that he plotted and carried out the despicable act of murdering President Lincoln.Of course I knew all that. A long time ago I had learned about it way back in elementary school. This was one of those facts that every American child has to memorize. But of course there was a story that made these facts come alive, a story that James L. Swanson meticulously researched and brought to light in a new non-fiction historical account of the events of those days. It was a book that pulled me to it. I wanted to know more.John Wilkes Booth, a renowned actor with Southern roots had always hated Lincoln. Throughout the war he plotted to kidnap him and had a few cohorts willing to join this plot. But as the War came to an end and the Union victory was real, the plot changed from kidnapping to assassination. John Wilkes Booth planned carefully, and, drawing in a group of co-conspirators, actually accomplished this on the night of April 14, 1865 while Lincoln was celebrating his victory by attending a performance at Ford's Theater in Washington D.C. Booth was an actor and knew the theater intimately. Lincoln wasn't expecting it and didn't stand a chance against the single gunshot wound to his head.This book is the story of the assassination and of the 12-day manhunt for Booth. The details are all there, the planning, the horror of the act itself, the quick actions of the doctor to keep Lincoln alive through the night, and the mourning and outpouring of grief of the public. Also here is a thorough analysis of the mind of the killer and his attempts to get away. There's a whole cast of characters who helped Booth, some of them more willingly than others. The original plot also included the murder of Vice President Andrew Johnson, Secretary of State William Seward and Secretary of War Edwin Stanton but the attempts on their lives did not result in their deaths.All these stories are interwoven, creating a fascinating mosaic of the United States in 1865. Each person involved, including the officers searching for the killer and the Southerners who gave Booth shelter are brought to life. Booth's leg was injured and he relied a lot on his companion David E. Herold. Their flight from justice took them through Maryland and to Virginia. Sometimes they were given food and shelter but for much of the time they had to live in the woods. Eventually Booth was gunned down and lived a few more hours in agony. Later, some of the people who had helped him were hanged.I loved the book. I felt I was right there in 1865. I was there with Lincoln, I was there at the attack on Secretary of State Seward, I was in the farmhouses and fields with Booth. His diary says a lot about his state of mind and the newspapers of the time give the sense of what was going on in the country. And then there are some photos of Booth, the theater, and the people who were eventually arrested. It was all there in this one book. It put me in a time and place that I had never really understood before. This is a great story, well told. And the best part about it is that it is true. Highly recommended.

Amazon rejected my original review because I quoted a line from this book, verbatim. Apparently, this quote violates a “word police" policy Amazon has. What’s funny is that I bought this book from Amazon, but they didn’t deny the author the right to use the phrase, or refuse to sell his book. I guess money talks. Such censorship is unconscionable. Unfortunately, it’s the nature of free speech in our woke world, so I must use symbols to represent the objectionable word in my review.Swanson's book is a well written narrative of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, and the twelve-day dragnet to capture Booth after the murder. It’s a very good read that draws you in quickly, and it’s a valuable resource for anyone wanting to delve deeply into the assassination events. I’m skeptical, however, of any book claiming to know the “authentic” words spoken by people in the past. Few ever immediately recorded what they actually said in a conversation, and memory can be quite faulty within minutes, yet alone years. In the “Note to the Reader" section, Swanson says, “Their [characters] words are authentic. Indeed, all text appearing within quotation marks comes from original sources: letters, manuscripts, affadavits, trial transcripts, …”. Clearly, Swanson wants the reader to believe he did his research diligently, and the reader should accept as fact any words in quotes.Within a few pages, however, Swanson claims Booth utters to David Herold, “That means n***** citizenship, now, by God, I’ll put him through.” in response to Lincoln suggesting to a crowd gathered at the Executive Mansion on April 11th, 1865, that specific colored people be given the vote. In the “Notes" section of the book, Swanson infers that Lewis Powell, just before his hanging, told Thomas Eckert of the War Department, that Booth said this. Had Swanson done his research properly, he would know Booth never uttered these words. Worse yet, Swanson intentionally misleads the reader about this by cleverly linking it to something Powell actually did tell Eckert. The first time anything Booth said at Lincoln's speech on April 11th was revealed to the public was when Eckert testified at the Andrew-Johnson impeachment proceedings. Eckert never claimed Powell told him Booth uttered, “n***** citizenship”. The origin of this controversial statement by Booth is in a novel George Alfred Townsend published in 1895. Townsend manufactured these words out of whole cloth, simply for dramatic effect, and 'historians' have accepted it as fact ever since. Had Swanson investigated the primary sources for this incident, he would know this. In our overly sensitive society today, most 'historians' won't even repeat the phrase "n***** citizenship" in public for fear of offending someone in their audience. If the reader cannot trust Swanson on something as important as this, how can the reader trust the authenticity of anything he puts in quotes in his book?

Enjoyed the book very much, nicely paced and full of little known details. A real page turner for any history buff.

is book reads like a gripping work of historical fiction, but in fact, it is fact! We are all taught that John Wilkes Booth killed President Lincoln in Ford's Theater, but I, at least, never had any idea that he subsequently remained at large for 12 days, pursued by law enforcement and Union troops and staying out of sight thanks to his knowledge of a network of Confederate sympathizers who helped him elude his pursuers for 12 days. The book is incredibly well researched and has received accolades from the likes of The New York Times, Doris Kearns Goodwin, and the Boston Globe. It is yet another book that I could scarcely put down!

The reads like an action novel. Minutely researched with lots of interesting facts and events. There was much more to both the assignation of President Lincoln and the hunt for his assassin that is commonly known. This book provides extensive detail of both. A truly fascinating read.

I just got the book, and good thing that the cover image is also directly printed on the book itself, because the dust jacket had been crammed and ripped halfway off the book. I didn't return it because I didn't want to risk not getting a copy in exchange.

Well researched, and told in a compelling way. If you like the series you will like the book, which has more detail but never feels like a slog.

I have only recently gotten interested in the civil war and the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, but like most people I know the basics - John Wilkes Booth killed him and was killed himself. This book goes into the details of the assassination, from the planning to the execution to the escape, that is so interesting.Through various sources we discover what made Booth want to kill the President, the people he brought into his plan, the excellent escape plan he had and the pretty stupid mistakes he made during it. We learn about his 12 days on the run and the people who both helped and betrayed him. We learn about the steps the Government took to try and capture this man, growing more desperate by the day!This book is so well written you actually feel like you're there in the time, witnessing it all first hand. There is hardly a boring paragraph in the book and of you have a completely free day or two it will be easy to finish the book in that time, not because it's simply written but because you won't want to put it down.The author himself I have seen on several documentaries on Lincoln and Booth and he, while I forget the details about what he does exactly, does, at least seem to, know what he is talking about. The man has done his research and presents it here as a thrilling read.Highly recommended!

Very good condition and timely delivery

This was a cracking book to read from start to finish. There is never a dull moment as the pace of the story told is perfect with alot of information I never knew of before. The amount of research put into making this book is very impressive and makes it the great book that it is.There is nothing more interesting than reading about characters like booth who we all are fascinated by. People love heroes but the villain most of the time have something about them that's more interesting to read. Booth was a young actor who had it all at the palm of his hands but gave everything up for what he truely believed in.Highly recommended.

Reads like a spy novel but is non-fiction. Of course, it helps that almost every American knows about Abraham Lincoln, so the author can get right to the action. This is one of the handful of non-fiction books I would recommend to take to the beach!