Synopses & Reviews
The murder of Abraham Lincoln set off the greatest manhunt in American history the pursuit and capture of John Wilkes Booth. From April 14 to April 26, 1865, the assassin led Union cavalry and detectives on a wild twelve-day chase through the streets of Washington, D.C., across the swamps of Maryland, and into the forests of Virginia, while the nation, still reeling from the just-ended Civil War, watched in horror and sadness.
At the very center of this story is John Wilkes Booth, America's notorious villain. A Confederate sympathizer and a member of a celebrated acting family, Booth threw away his fame and wealth for a chance to avenge the South's defeat. For almost two weeks, he confounded the manhunters, slipping away from their every move and denying them the justice they sought.
Based on rare archival materials, obscure trial transcripts, and Lincoln's own blood relics, Manhunt is a fully documented work, but it is also a fascinating tale of murder, intrigue, and betrayal. A gripping hour-by-hour account told through the eyes of the hunted and the hunters, this is history as you've never read it before.
Review
"[Mr. Swanson] has successfully streamlined the assassination's aftermath into an action-adventure version of these events. He makes Manhunt very accessible and infuses it with high drama." Janet Maslin, The New York Times
Review
"Artfully arranging Booth's flight with the frantic federal dragnet that sought him, Swanson so tensely dramatizes the chase, capture, and killing of Booth that serious shelf-life...awaits his account of the assassination." Booklist
Review
"[A]s gripping a page-turner as anything you'll find on the mystery shelf....[Swanson] makes the characters in this great American tragedy actually seem human. Even Booth comes across as viscerally real... (Grade: A)" Entertainment Weekly
Review
"[E]xtraordinary....This is a story as gripping as any tightly scripted crime drama, yet Swanson doesn't play fast and loose with historical facts." Boston Globe
Review
"The narrative's most interesting character Lincoln himself is gone after the first act....On balance, though, Manhunt is a rattling good read. And it's a surprisingly suspenseful one." USA Today
Synopsis
A fascinating and vivid account of the escape of John Wilkes Booth, Abraham Lincoln's assassin, takes readers along on the intensive search from the streets of Washington, D.C., through the swamps of Maryland, into the forests of Virginia, and into the lives of the men who pursued him. Reprint. 200,000 first printing.
Synopsis
The murder of Abraham Lincoln set off the greatest manhunt in American history. From April 14 to April 26, 1865, the assassin, John Wilkes Booth, led Union cavalry and detectives on a wild twelve-day chase through the streets of Washington, D.C., across the swamps of Maryland, and into the forests of Virginia, while the nation, still reeling from the just-ended Civil War, watched in horror and sadness.
James L. Swanson's Manhunt is a fascinating tale of murder, intrigue, and betrayal. A gripping hour-by-hour account told through the eyes of the hunted and the hunters, this is history as you've never read it before.
Synopsis
The murder of Abraham Lincoln set off one of the greatest manhunts in American history -- the pursuit and capture of John Wilkes Booth. James Swanson's Manhunt describes the hour-by-hour details of the twelve days after Abraham Lincoln's assassination as authorities hunted for his killer.
Drawing on rare archival materials and trial transcripts, Swanson tells the story through the eyes of both hunter and hunted, creating a page-turning adventure that is as riveting as it is real. The first book devoted entirely to the dramatic days between the murder of the president and the capture and death of his killer, Manhunt is a fascinating tale of murder, intrigue, and betrayal.
James L. Swanson, an author and attorney, was born on Lincoln's birthday and has studied and collected books, documents, art and artifacts connected with Abraham Lincoln's life and death since he was ten years old. At the Cato Institute, he is a senior fellow in Constitutional studies and editor in chief of the Cato Supreme Court Review. He has written for the Chicago Tribune Sunday Magazine, George, Playboy, American Heritage and other publications, and is the co-author of Lincoln's Assassins, a coffee-table book on the president's assassination.
"Swanson has written a terrific narrative ... that will mesmerize the reader from start to finish just as the actual manhunt mesmerized the entire nation. It is a triumphant book."-- Doris Kearns Goodwin
--New York Times
Synopsis
“James Swanson has written a terrific narrative of the hunt for Lincoln's killers that will mesmerize the reader from start to finish just as the actual manhunt mesmerized the entire nation. It is a triumphant book.”--Doris Kearns Godwin
The murder of Abraham Lincoln set off the greatest manhunt in American history--the pursuit and capture of John Wilkes Booth. From April 14 to April 26, 1865, the assassin led Union cavalry troops on a wild, 12-day chase from the streets of Washington, D.C., across the swamps of Maryland, and into the forests of Virginia, while the nation, still reeling from the just-ended Civil War, watched in horror and sadness.
Based on rare archival materials, obscure trial transcripts, and Lincoln's own blood relics Manhunt is a fully documented, fascinating tale of murder, intrigue, and betrayal. A gripping hour-by-hour account told through the eyes of the hunted and the hunters, it is history as it's never been read before.
Synopsis
Soon to be an Apple TV Series
"James Swanson has written a terrific narrative of the hunt for Lincoln's killers that will mesmerize the reader from start to finish just as the actual manhunt mesmerized the entire nation. It is a triumphant book."--Doris Kearns Goodwin
The murder of Abraham Lincoln set off the greatest manhunt in American history--the pursuit and capture of John Wilkes Booth. From April 14 to April 26, 1865, the assassin led Union cavalry troops on a wild, 12-day chase from the streets of Washington, D.C., across the swamps of Maryland, and into the forests of Virginia, while the nation, still reeling from the just-ended Civil War, watched in horror and sadness.
Based on rare archival materials, obscure trial transcripts, and Lincoln's own blood relics Manhunt is a fully documented, fascinating tale of murder, intrigue, and betrayal. A gripping hour-by-hour account told through the eyes of the hunted and the hunters, it is history as it's never been read before.
Synopsis
Soon to be an Apple TV+ Series
"A terrific narrative of the hunt for Lincoln's killers that will mesmerize the reader from start to finish."--Doris Kearns Goodwin
The murder of Abraham Lincoln set off the greatest manhunt in American history--the pursuit and capture of John Wilkes Booth. From April 14 to April 26, 1865, the assassin led Union cavalry troops on a wild, 12-day chase from the streets of Washington, D.C., across the swamps of Maryland, and into the forests of Virginia, while the nation, still reeling from the just-ended Civil War, watched in horror and sadness.
Based on rare archival materials, obscure trial transcripts, and Lincoln's own blood relics Manhunt is a fully documented, fascinating tale of murder, intrigue, and betrayal. A gripping hour-by-hour account told through the eyes of the hunted and the hunters, it is history as it's never been read before.
About the Author
James L. Swanson, an attorney and Lincoln scholar, has held a number of government and think-tank posts in Washington, D.C. He has written about history, the Constitution, popular culture, and other subjects for a variety of publications, including the Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, and American Heritage. He is the coauthor of Lincoln's Assassins: Their Trial and Execution. Swanson is a member of the advisory committee of the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission. He lives in Washington, D.C.