Total Page : 496
Publisher : Harper Perennial
Publication Date : 2007 02 01
>> Manhunt
This is a vivid and clearly written narrative of Booth s conspiracy to assassinate President Lincoln Vice President Johnson and Secretary of State Seward The book does not stray from this purpose remaining fixed on the story of how the assassinations were planned how they played out in success or failure of Lincoln s death of the escape pursuit evasion and capture of the conspirators of the rewards paid of the imprisonment and the hangings Excluded are the myriad extraneous historical and biographical details that could interrupt that telling As Swanson writes in his bibliographical notes Manhunt is meant to be not an encyclopedia of the assassination but a dramatic account of the events of April 14 through 26 that unfolds as much as possible in real time p 418
The author s Note to the Reader tells us
The story is true All the characters are real and were alive during the great manhunt of 1865 Their words are authentic Indeed all text appearing within quotation marks comes from original sources letters manuscripts affidavits trial manuscripts newspapers government reports pamphlets books memoirs and other documents What happened in Washington D C in the spring of 1865 and in the swamps and rivers and the forests and the fields of Maryland and Virginia during the next twelve days is far too incredible to have ever been made up
This is the first book I ve read on the topic I recommend it Its author recommends others On page 397 Swanson writing in 2005 says that The best modern book on the Lincoln assassination is Blood on the Moon The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln by Edward Steers Jr published in 2001
>> Fast paced read but were some disgusting details necessary
I bought this book with the understanding it would be mostly about the actual chase of Booth and his accomplices I am a historian and know basically ALL the details of the assassination and was disappointed that so much of the beginning of the book was involved with those details I know why he included it trust me I am not saying that he shouldn t since this book was written for the general public looking to read interesting history not some of the normal really boring historical stuff that is churned out But as I said I thought it would briefly talk about the killing then go on quickly to the chase as it is it s a pretty interesting account
The book reads very fast It s pretty fascinating BUT my biggest complaint is Swanson s need to be absolutely disgusting with the morbid details You can honestly tell he relishes in describing the blood blood and more blood I think if I read the word blood once I read it hundreds of times Listen it s not that I can t handle reading it It is all supposed fact I love slasher movies I don t mind violence in books or film but I have to ask did Swanson think he had to include all the disgusting details in order to make his book interesting Let s just say it s not for the faint of heart and I can t help but think the gore is just exploited instead of written in a useful way
>> More On Lincoln and John Wilkes Booth
The book MANHUNT the 12 Days of Chasing Lincoln s Killers was fasinating This book opened my eyes as to how the manhunt for John Wilkes Booth took place and how it was ended This is a must for any Lincoln reader
