The title, "Manhunt", says it all. This is as compelling a chase story as "The Fugitive," only it's over a hundred years earlier, and based on real events. It is no secret that the book no sooner took its place on the best-seller list than speculation began spreading about who would play the parts of the characters in a movie based on it. It was rumored the main pursuer of the criminals would be played by, guess who, Harrison Ford. Making the pursuit of the killers of Abraham Lincoln the focus of the book places Booth in the central role. Swanson provides biographical background on Booth, as the upcoming popular actor son of the century's most famous actor, Junius Brutus Booth.
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John Wilkes was a southern sympathiser during the Civil War. He spent time plotting grand crimes against the federal government while he toured the country as an actor. He used his considerable persuasive skills to enlist a group of co-conspirators who would meet in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia. A meeting location was Mary Surratt's tavern, and one of Booth's confidants was her son, John.
Booth hatched a wild plan during , while the Civil War raged, to kidnap President Lincoln and deliver him to the Confederate government, in an effort to demoralize the North and possibly end the war. That plan never reached fruition, but Booth's hatred to the North and toward Lincoln only intensified, reaching its climax at the end of hostilities in the spring of Lee had surrendered Confederate forces and the South's capital of Richmond had been captured.
It was only a matter of time until Southern President Jefferson Davis and his cabinet were captured, and the war would be over. Public displays of triumph and relief of the end of the war were being held throughout the North, while southerners were left to think about their fate.
Booth had already decided. Booth's plan, audacious as it was, succeeded in its most important element and only failed to succeed due to his associates' lack of ability to perform their tasks. You have to admit that Booth almost couldn't ignore devising some sort of assassination plan, what with his hatreds, and the president's publicized desire to attend the popular Laura Keene play at Ford's Theater in Washington.
Booth knew every inch of the theater and was known and trusted by its staff as a great actor who had performed there. The assassins' plans were to simultaneously kill the vice president at his hotel and the secretary of state at his home, where he was recuperating after a serious carriage accident, while Booth stole into the almost unguarded private box of Lincoln at Ford's. George Atzerodt lost his nerve and didn't attack Johnson, while Lewis Powell bluffed himself into Seward's home and savagely attacked him.
Seward miraculously survived his wounds but Booth was successful in shooting a bullet into the back of Lincoln's head and seriously injuring an army major in his box with a knife before escaping the theater. There is so much that happened after the attacks, and Swanson is up to the task of keeping us glued to the pages as Booth slipped out of a Washington still guarded by military sentries and made a run on horseback, with his young associate David Herold toward Virginia.
The conspirators would spend time living in a pine thicket while arranging with sympathizers to cross the Potomac River into Virginia. Swanson relates many details of how this story only gets more interesting with age.
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There is the injured Booth, running sometimes ahead of the slow-moving news of the day, hoping to open a newspaper describing him as a hero; the great American tragedy of Lincoln, unconsious but struggling for an entire night in a bed while slowly dying; the Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton, who spent every minute of that night by Lincoln's side, while, already, using his considerable wartime powers to commandeer all of the available resources of the U. It's possible that Booth could have been captured alive there, Herold did surrender , but he knew by then he was in the last act of his own tragedy.
Stanton's dragnet later captured all of the conspirators. They were found guilty for their association with Booth in a military tribunal. The spirit of revenge against anyone remotely associated with Booth led to the arrests of numerous other people. Farmer Garrett himself was thrown in prison. Also jailed, for a time, was Ford's owner, John T.
He was released after thirty-nine days, but Stanton ordered his theater confiscated and its interior gutted. The marvelous restoration of Ford's Theater in the 's meticulously reproduces the theater's appearance from the night Lincoln was killed. It had been used for years as a government office building Ford was reimbursed for the building by the government in Unbelievably, the excessive load of tons of government office equipment caused all of the floors to collapse during , killing twenty-two workers and injuring scores more.
The most publicized case of alleged collateral guilt by association with Booth concerns the case of Dr. Booth arrived at the Mudd farm with Herold while in flight from the assassination. Mudd set Booth's broken leg and arranged for a local carpenter to build a set of crutches; both fugitives rested at the Mudd home over night and left the following day. Mudd was later arrested, tried and convicted of conspiracy for aiding Lincoln's conspirators. Mudd narrowly missed receiving a sentence of hanging, and instead was sentenced to life in prison.
His heroic efforts of saving inmates and staff of the prison during a yellow fever epidemic in , taking over the prison's medical responsibilities from the dead prison's doctor, won him release from confinement by President Andrew Johnson in Richard Mudd, has spent decades trying to prove Mudd's innocence and obtain a presidential pardon for him. The Mudd family's position was reflected in a movie, "The Ordeal of Dr.
Mudd", starring Dennis Weaver in what I believe was the best performance of his career. The viewpoint portrayed was of a doctor who followed his professional ethics in setting a leg of a person in need, without being told how the injury occurred. Mudd's predicament was very moving but, in Swanson's opinion, a little too disingenuous. Swanson points out that Mudd had had contact with Booth in December, , in Bryantown Maryland, near the Mudd farm, when the Lincoln kidnap plot was being hatched. He also met with Booth a month later in Washington.
Investigators who followed up on Booth's activities prior to the assassination found out about these meetings. Mudd gave a sworn statement admitting his November meeting, without admitting any ulterior motive, and omitting his December meeting with Booth. Just as damning was Mudd's failure to notify authorities in Maryland of his involvement with Booth after newspapers carrying the assassination news and Booth's identity were being circulated in his town.
These deceptions were enough to convict him of conspiracy; Swanson doesn't buy the revisionist version of events from the Mudd family. We know that Abraham Lincoln was elevated from great leader to folk hero by the manner of his death. Swanson's book sets the record on his killer, Booth, who committed a despicable act and yet became a legendary dramatic figure who continues to captivate readers of history.
Many people wish he had never lived, while, Swanson notes, there are those in the South who still celebrate his life. Even the restored theater which commemorates the crime against Lincoln also serves as a Booth museum. Such is history's disdain of neatly wrapped endings. Jan 02, Andrew Hiller rated it really liked it.
I have to admit I'm a bit stymied as to how to review this book. The tale told is a non fiction, well-researched, dramatic narrative of the hunt for John Wilkes Booth, murderer of Abraham Lincoln. The confusion is based mostly in that the book is well-written, has great details, quotes, and descriptions. It's pacing is more than solid. In fact, the story moves at almost a sprinter's pace. The characterizations are far from wooden and revealed information I wasn't aware of it In short, everything is there for me to like the book and there are moments I definitely got into it and yet some equally powerful magnet pulled me away from it.
I can't say that I didn't enjoy Manhunt. On the contrary, it was stimulating, but there was something dissonant about it. Perhaps, it was that by writing large parts of it from Booth's point of view the story it humanized him and his suffering in a way that made me uncomfortable. I did not and I do not want to root for Booth Yet the book urges this by telling the story through Booth's words, Confederate sympathist and conspirators' words, etc.
His escape from justice becomes one that is seen as heroic and at times almost noble. I think that didn't sit well with me. Booth's flight was likely desperate and by using this source material the flight becomes romanticized. I find nothing about Booth's actions or course noble. His was an attack whose ultimate goal was to keep the black man in bondage. It was about racism and hate. Again, the book doesn't ignore this, in fact, it actively connects Booth to future villainy, lynchings, and other hateful racist branches of the American tree.
Moreover, there is an effort throughout the book to straddle the line between how the North and South That may be why the book doesn't sit well with me. I don't buy Booth as either a hero or anti-hero and so the central narrative of his flight kept missing the mark. In reading it, I kept feeling it was like listening to a really pure and beautiful soprano who hits those perfect notes that always give you a headache and make you wince. I guess in the end what I would say is that this is a very good book, but not a good book for me. Mar 16, Kressel Housman rated it it was amazing Shelves: I was definitely on the edge of my seat in spots, especially at the end.
Earlier in the book, however, I had a more perverse reaction: Mostly though, I am thankful to say, I hated him as much as he deserved. A professional actor, he was at least as motivated by the desire for fame and glory as ideology. He actually believed he was doing a service to the country! His own writings are really outrageous! I highly recommend this book, along with Assassination Vacation for starters. Sarah Vowell will give you the background with some snark thrown in, and this book fills in the details. John Wilkes Booth did not act alone, but constructed a much broader plot to cripple the newly victorious Union.
View all 6 comments. Jan 18, Alicia rated it really liked it.
I really liked this book a lot. I had no idea what all was involved with the assasination of Abraham Lincoln. It makes me wonder what they teach us in school. I highly recommend reading it. Mar 02, Natalie rated it liked it. Okay, so I liked this book and there was a lot of new and interesting information.
It's interesting to note that there were two other assassination attempts, both of which failed, and other men involved in the assassinations.
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The writer wrote it in a way that was very engaging. But the last half of the book was a bit odd. It seemed like the author was sympathizing with Booth. He even compared him to Christ in two instances I can think of. That's what really got me. After thinking about it a whil Okay, so I liked this book and there was a lot of new and interesting information. After thinking about it a while I can see why he wanted to portray Booth that way.
He wanted us to see that he was a human being. He had a family who loved him. In his own mind he thought he was doing the right thing. He'd never murdered a man before. At first he was planning on just kidnapping Lincoln. But then the war ended. We have no way of knowing how the country was in that time. Brother fighting against brother for what they thought was right. Emotions were high and loyalties were strong.
The South had such a strong culture loyalty and hospitality. It was crazy how much that played into people helping Booth. So I can see why Swanson portrayed him that way and could get past it, except those references to Christ really get me, that he would compare an assassin to Him. After researching Swanson more it sounds like he really loves Lincoln, even shares his birthday.
But he didn't say much about him. It even made me think he didn't like Lincoln that much. I guess he was just focusing on Booth. Swanson is also very dramatic in his telling of history. It helps the reader get into it, but, for my taste, he overdid his puns and cliches and all that. So, I would definitely recommend this book. It's very interesting and easy to read, but I could do with a little bit less dramatization. Booth was an actor so Swanson kept making remarks about playing a part and drawing his last breath on the stage of life, and it started to drive me crazy!
But other than that, it really was a good read. Lots of interesting information. Aug 04, Judy rated it it was amazing. April was one of the most momentous months in American history. Richmond fell to Union troops, Jefferson Davis was on the run, the government of the Confederacy collapsed, Lincoln was assassinated, and a 12 day manhunt was launched for his killer, John Wilkes Booth.
In Manhunt, James Swanson has written an incredible book taking the reader through the days before the assassination to the capture, killing and burial of Booth, to the trial, imprisonment, and execution of co-conspirators, to t April was one of the most momentous months in American history. In Manhunt, James Swanson has written an incredible book taking the reader through the days before the assassination to the capture, killing and burial of Booth, to the trial, imprisonment, and execution of co-conspirators, to the scramble for the reward money that had been offered by the government for Booth's capture.
In an hour by hour recreation that is based on archival materials and trial transcripts, Manhunt is told from several perspectives including those hunting for Booth, John Wilkes Booth, Secretary of War Stanton, and others. Even though I knew the story, I was captivated by the narrative and the interactions among the major characters. The author's impatience with some of the major actors in the tale was very evident--for example, he clearly wanted Booth to keep moving South and especially not spend time the second day resting at the farm where he was captured in Virginia.
In fact, the author's basic admiration for Booth but not for the killing of Lincoln was apparent throughout the book. Also fascinating for me were the secondary characters who were drawn so clearly in the narrative--especially Sgt. Samuel Mudd, and Fanny Seward. This book is exciting reading and sheds new light on the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and the search for his killer. May 01, Julie Capell rated it liked it Shelves: All most people know about the assassination of Abraham Lincoln is a vaguely-remembered grade school history lesson involving a theater box, a gun and an actor named John Wilkes Booth.
I can't say I was hankering to know more, but when my book club chose this book, I was mildly interested. As it turns out, "mildly interesting" is also a good description for the book itself. Feb 05, Byron Hill added it. Interrupted Blind Side to read this book! Swanson, is a book about the funeral for the great Abraham Lincoln and the manhunt for Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederacy. This book is a nonfictional narrative that goes through the events that occurred in the U.
All of the citizens in the Union loved Lincoln and his death was tragic. Stanton decided on Lincoln going out the way he came in, by a long train procession around the states. While Abraham Lincoln was processing on the funeral train, President Jefferson Davis was on the run from the Union, desperately trying to keep the war going. His generals were all surrendering, leaving Davis with a small army ever decreasing.
Davis, a natural born leader, kept with his beliefs of holding the confederacy strong. While going deeper into his confederacy, Davis lost his protection and allies. When Davis was camping for the night in Irwinville, Georgia, a group of Union soldiers surrounded his camp in their attempt at capturing Davis. Davis was captured and turned over to the Union, giving the Union more control by capturing the leader of the Confederacy. This book was very interesting to me because I enjoyed seeing how the end of the war worked out and what had happened during that time period.
I had read another book about Lincoln, and this book felt like a sequel to it. While that book ended with Lincoln dying, this book started with him dying but also talked about Jefferson Davis. Not only did it talk about the two as figures, but it also went into what and who they were as people. This was cool to read about because it provides a new standpoint on what the Civil War was about.
The part that I would change about this book is including more information on the Civil War itself such as why it was being fought and what the thoughts were about the war from Davis and Lincoln. The author could have provided more insight on the main characters opinions on slavery. Other than this small detail, the book was amazing to read. I recommend this book to all readers above the level of young adult. This book provides a different angle on the war by providing information on the characters that are fighting each other.
I was given a new perspective on both sides of the war, with Lincoln and Davis. It is amazing to see what each of them thought about. In fact, they were both alike in multiple ways; 1. This has changed my view on wars, especially the Civil War, greatly and I think it will for others too. Jan 08, Jessie rated it liked it. Bloody Times by James Swanson is a very informative and detailed nonfiction book about the death of Abraham Lincoln and the relationship between himself and the confederate president, Jefferson Davis.
Abraham Lincoln is the main character in this book and he is portrayed as a strong and passionate leader for his country. His past is quite sorrowful as he has had many deaths in his family including two of his sons, Eddie and William, his mother, his brother, and his sister. The book mentions brie Bloody Times by James Swanson is a very informative and detailed nonfiction book about the death of Abraham Lincoln and the relationship between himself and the confederate president, Jefferson Davis.
The book mentions briefly his past and how the death of his sons affected him greatly. During his time as president Lincoln has his cabinet members, army officials, his wife and two children. He is described physically, as a tall white man with black hair and broad shoulders. Throughout the book, Lincoln makes wise decisions during the Civil War and fights to win his country back.
On the other side of the story there is Jefferson Davis, who is the president of the Confederate States. Davis also had the people supporting him especially, his generals and family. The book starts off right away in Richmond, Virginia, the capital city of the Confederacy. In Richmond, Davis hears news about the Union approaching Virginia ready to attack.
Davis is in shock and hopes his general, Robert Lee can defeat the North. Davis assembled his cabinet members immediately and generates a plan. On the other hand, while Davis was receiving this surprising message, Lincoln was traveling south to meet with members of the army and produce a plan as well. After the initial waning, the date was April 3rd and Davis knew he had to leave Richmond and not many hours later, the Union invaded the city and took over the government buildings.
Davis was filled with sorrow and gloom and he traveled South, away from the city that was no longer his. On the other hand Lincoln and the rest of Washington, D. C was full of emotion and happiness that Richmond had fallen and was know in the possession of the Union. The book goes on giving an immense amount of detail about other events and especially, the movement each president makes around the country. Another big issue in the book is prominently, the death of Abraham Lincoln.
In this part of the book Davis is mentioned more because at the time many people thought Davis planned the assassination. The reader really gets a sense of how much travels and hiding Davis and his crew have to do because they have people coming after them.
However, I did learn quite a lot of information which I am grateful for. What was interesting about this book is all the little and precise detail. Something I disliked about this book is the length. At times I was bored and was tired of all the detail. Despite of this, someone who would like to know as much as detail as possible, would most likely enjoy this book.
Also, I did not enjoy that there was not a table of contents, I believe this would have been ideal in a nonfiction book because when reader go back to look for a specific detail it becomes a lot harder for them without a table of contents. I would recommend this book to anyone who finds the Civil War and both presidents interesting. Overall, I enjoyed this book because I learned a lot and thought it gave me a better understanding on the Civil War. Jan 06, Jonathan Willis rated it it was amazing.
With the capture of Richmond Virginia, the capital of the Confederacy, and the surrender of Robert E. Lee's army, the war was truly lost for the south. It was time for the last remaining government officials and the president himself, Jefferson Davis to flee down into the south in a desperate attempt to escape capture. Before the manhunt for Davis could even begin Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth, who would later be shot and killed in a barn.
With Booth killed and Summary: With Booth killed and the funeral for Lincoln over, the Union could focus there efforts on finding Jefferson Davis. Upon finding Davis's camp, it was quickly surrounded by Union troops, and without a single shot fired by the Confederates, Davis was captured. Davis would serve about a year in prison before his trail would come up, but before it would accrue Davis's admirers posted a bail of a hundred thousand dollars, and he was freed.
Davis would live the rest of his life happily with his family. Dying at the age of eighty one, Jefferson Davis was still loved by meany of the southern people. What I liked about this book is the way the author presented it. How he laid out the facts. It was just so very interesting. It was not boring or dull like most of what you would read in a history book. Secondly, I liked how unbiased the book was. The author seemed to not make it so black and white. Most would point out Jefferson to be a evil and bad man. The author would describe Lincoln and Davis as a person by using the only direct source you can use.
One thing that I found very interesting was how upset and saddened Davis was at hearing about Lincolns death. What I Did Not Like: Well there is only one problem that I have with this book. What seemed like a large portion of the book, was spent on Lincolns assassination and the many details in which that contains. Swanson's previous book, Chasing Lincoln's Killer, which I have all ready read, had already covered everything about Lincoln's assassination.
It seemed to me that the parts in this book that talk about Lincoln's assassination are almost a complete copy and paste from Chasing Lincoln's Killer. This was very disappointing. Jan 07, bbalon23 rated it it was ok. This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Bloody Times By James L. Swanson The book was about the Civil War and in particular the conflicts that arose specifically between the Confederacy and the Union. Most of the story revolved around Jefferson Davis and Abraham lincoln and covered all of the events leading up to the end of the war.
Jefferson Davis is trying to flee from the country because he know that the Union is winning the war. The United States were in the hands of the Union, and both him and Lincoln knew it. Lincoln was doing fine until one day when he went to the theater. One of the actors was a Confederate sympathizer and had made the decision to assassinate Lincoln in the theater.
Lincoln was shot that day and had lived for a few more days before meeting his ultimate demise. His embalmed body was then paraded around the country and was greatly received by all who saw it. Davis was caught with his wife and kids and a few soldiers in camp that they had made to sleep in for the night.
Bloody Times: The Funeral of Abraham Lincoln and the Manhunt for Jefferson Davis
Davis was then duly taken to prison. The book as a whole was not enjoyable. It was boring, repetitive, and did not have much humor within it. What was enjoyable was that it told the story from the perspectives of Jefferson Davis and Abraham Lincoln, thus making it a more factual story rather than it being a subjective book. That was probably the only redeeming quality about it though and the rest was just monotonous to read.
Overall it was an unenjoyable train ride through the United States. Oct 11, Sofia Nadezhdina rated it really liked it. I read this book for a Social Studies project. At first I was very skeptic about the whole project.
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I honestly did not expect a very sharp turn of events about the Lincoln asassination. Before reading this book I briefly knew the general summary of the asassination of the great Union President. This novel starts out slow and about in the late middle there is a climax of the story. Assasination of Abarham Lincoln. This in my opinion did not startle me much. Because before this I knew about the I read this book for a Social Studies project.
Because before this I knew about the assasination and all the details accompanied around it. There is another climax near the end of the book where John Wilkes Booth was found in a shed then ofcourse captured and killed. ThIs is the part personally for me that was the "main" climax of the story. Maybe this is because I have already touched the part of history that included the assasination. For each person it is very different and people with high knowledge about the event might find this book boring, uniteresting, too easy. For people that have heard and maybe studied the assasination and manhunt in school for example might find extra details very eye opening and might even appreciate Jefferson Davis's percpective a little more.
This book does not cover the author's opinion, it does not cover how an individual feels about certain things, there are no sides and clear lines to guide the reader into the tunnel. It would be too simple if the author just gave a chandaleir to the reader and let them walk through the tunnel stepping over every rock and boulder. Instead the author gives us a tiny torch to hold in our hands to explore, to learn to see every single rock in every shadow, in every way, to understand and digest what has been put in front of us and to analyze carefully with precision.
Being careful not to underestimate the power of opinion and judgement. Jun 22, Adrienne rated it liked it Shelves: Swanson describes the final days of the Civil War, with Jefferson David determined to keep the Confederacy fighting even after Robert E. Lee's surrender, and Lincoln's assassination shortly after Lee's surrender.
Davis, not even knowing yet that Lincoln had been killed, retreated further into the South, trying to figure out how to continue the fight, while many in the North believed he was to blame for Lincoln's death. As Davis cut a path across the South, Lincoln's corpse was loaded on a train Swanson describes the final days of the Civil War, with Jefferson David determined to keep the Confederacy fighting even after Robert E. As Davis cut a path across the South, Lincoln's corpse was loaded on a train and toured many cities in the North before being laid to rest at home in Illinois. An interesting contrast between what the living Davis and the deceased Lincoln were doing after the surrender of Robert E.
Lee, this book contains many interesting details and shows how Lincoln was revered by many people and his legacy begun. At the same time, though, the writing wasn't always very smooth; for example, there's a section where the author describes how Lincoln's casket was in the White House which then branches off into tangential information about how previously, his son has died and also lain in the White House, and then branches even further off to describe the death of one of Davis's sons. While interesting information, these types of tangents disrupted the continuity of the book.
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Additionally, there are some bolded words in the text that are included in a glossary, but there seemed to be no rhyme or reason to which words were selected; there were some that seemed decidedly too easy that were included and others that are more difficult words that weren't, and the inconsistency irritated me. I don't think many young readers would notice, though, so perhaps I'm being overly picky.
Jul 09, Joan rated it it was ok Recommends it for: This book feels chopped down from the adult version. I was very surprised to find no internet sites listed in the back matter. He does a good job describing how all cities en route from Washington DC to Springfield tried to outdo each other in copious displays of mourning, giving numbers who viewed the casket, etc. However, when he gets the train to Springfield, he remarks Springfield knew they c This book feels chopped down from the adult version.
However, when he gets the train to Springfield, he remarks Springfield knew they could not hope to match the large cities' displays mentioning a few rather minor things about the town. There was a good photo of Lincoln's house engulfed in bunting, etc. He barely mentioned the funeral at all which should have been the high point of this whole tale. He tells how Lincoln would have been disgusted at the vengeful speech at his funeral and that he wouldn't have liked the fancy coffin and memorial.
Jameson's brother is the husband of O'Keefe's sister. State parole officials initially rejected the Argyle residence, Jameson said, but approved it recently. Supporters had questioned why it took so long, Jameson said. All state inmates going to supervision must have their residence approved, regardless of their underlying conviction.
Jameson said he regularly speaks with O'Keefe by phone, but hasn't spoken with him since the residence was approved. O'Keefe, then a year-old whose criminal record dated to in California, was also facing first-degree burglary, larceny, sexual abuse and unlawful imprisonment charges after he sexually attacked a woman at knifepoint in her Round Lake home. He made the woman's young daughter stay in a closet during the attack. O'Keefe's capture in October put an end to 14 days of angst for Capital Region residents. Skip to main navigation. Subscriber login Enter your email address.