Product Description

He was the most popular actor of his day, famed as "the handsomest man in America." With a single shot, he transformed the course of American history. John Wilkes Booth earned a place in infamy as the man who killed President Lincoln. But he was much more than just a desperate adherent to a losing cause. BIOGRAPHY journeys back to 19th century America for a compelling look at the complete story of this unusual assassin. Trace his life from his pastoral childhood to his rise to fame as an actor, and discover how he became steadily more devoted to the Confederate cause as the Civil War went on. Leading historians reveal how Lee's surrender left Booth feeling like "a man without a country" and prompted his fatal visit to Ford's Theatre. From the history of insanity in his family to "Black Easter," this is the riveting tale of the actor who went down in history as an assassin.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #58204 in DVD
• Brand: A&E
• Released on: 2005-07-26
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 50 minutes

Customer Reviews

Not a history lover? This is probably not for you
I love history and the Lincoln Assassination is a particular favorite of mine. I like to read bios and watch documentaries about all of the conspirators. I am also always on the lookout for videos to show in my high school social studies class so I wanted to check out Biography's look at JWB. Although it was easy for me to follow, I was disappointed overall. The pace of the video is too slow and the background music is overemphasized. If you like history, you might like this video, but will come away with an empty feeling. I am hoping the the good people at Biography will redo the Bio of JWB. He is an important figure in American History and worth knowing about.

so-so production
very lackluster production that closed with the line that booth was killed in maryland. duh! booth was killed in virginia.........anyway
the same photographs are shown over and over and over, although some of the photographs were ones i had not seen. i will watch it again, and i will keep it as part of my collection, but i wouldnt recommend it to the serious student.