Product Description

Acclaimed as the definitive illustrated history of Abraham Lincoln's assassination, Lincoln's Assassins, by James L. Swanson and Daniel R. Weinberg, follows the shocking events from the tragic scene at Ford's Theatre to the trial and execution of Booth's co-conspirators. For twelve days after the president was shot, the nation waited breathlessly as manhunters tracked down John Wilkes Booth—the story that was brilliantly told in Swanson's New York Times bestseller, Manhunt. Then, during the spring and summer of 1865, a military commission tried eight people as conspirators in Booth's plot to murder Lincoln and other high officials, including the secretary of state and vice president. Few remember them today, but once the names Mary Surratt, Lewis Powell, David Herold, George Atzerodt, Edman Spangler, Samuel Arnold, Michael O'Laughlin, and Dr. Samuel Mudd were the most reviled and notorious in America.

In Lincoln's Assassins, Swanson and Weinberg resurrect these events by presenting an unprecedented visual record of almost 300 contemporary photographs, letters, documents, prints, woodcuts, newspapers, pamphlets, books, and artifacts, many hitherto unpublished. These rare materials, which took the authors decades to collect, evoke the popular culture of the time, record the origins of the Lincoln myth, take the reader into the courtroom and the cells of the accused, document the beginning of American photojournalism, and memorialize the fates of the eight conspirators.

Lincoln's Assassins is a unique work that will appeal to anyone interested in American history, Abraham Lincoln, the Civil War, law, crime, assassination, nineteenth-century photographic portraiture, and the history of American photojournalism.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #487941 in Books
• Published on: 2006-10-31
• Released on: 2006-10-31
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 160 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780061237614
• Condition: USED - VERY GOOD
• Notes:
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From Publishers Weekly
This beautifully produced, groundbreaking volume of over 300 documents, portraits, memorabilia and arcana relating to Lincoln's assassination manages to transcend its immediate historical importance to become something artistically unique. Swanson and Weinberg, both Lincoln collectors and scholars, have assembled a remarkable collection of images relating to the assassination and the fate of its perpetrators (whose guilt some historians question today), including many that have not been easily available before. Some of the more common images include memorial posters of the assassination, wanted posters, newspaper reports and reproductions of plates from books about the event. They also reproduce letters from a young John Wilkes Booth as well as hand-written death warrants issued by the Union army. But the centerpiece of the volume is the collection of photographs taken by Alexander Gardner of six of the indicted conspirators as they awaited trial. These photographs formally posed, beautifully shot and eerily evocative are reminiscent of the work of artists such as Diane Arbus and Robert Mapplethorpe. Equally moving and disturbing are Gardner's photographs of the executions by hanging of several of the conspirators photos in which one can see the reality of death. Swanson and Weinberg contribute enough text to place all of these artifacts in historical context and provide an intelligent, informative primer on the topic. (Nov.)Forecast: While the idea of a coffee-table or art book on such a topic might seem grisly, this volume achieves high marks in both categories and will be read and examined by both academics and Civil War enthusiasts.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Review
"[A] fascinating book." -- New York Times Book Review

Review
"[A] fascinating book." (New York Times Book Review )

"Even the most serious Civil War devotee can expect to find something new here." (Chicago Tribune )

Customer Reviews

Truly Amazing Photographs!
This book is a fabulous photographic piece on the Lincoln assasination, covering the events and the people involved. The artifacts that are pictured are truly excellent examples. The quality of the photographs make for a wonderful book with great content. Many of the photos included have never been seen before. Swanson and Weinberg have put together a wonderful book that should be on every Lincoln bookshelf! I hope that the authors consider producing other fine books about President Lincoln that follow the same format. This is a great companion book to "Blood on the Moon" by Edward Steers, Jr..

Amazing
What Weinberg and Swanson give us here is a journey back in time to the Spring and Summer of 1865. For some reason, Lincoln assassination scholarship has been gaining interest of late with Swanson's other book entitled "Manhunt." No doubt, interest is also gaining momentum with the proposed Harrison Ford movie about the assassination. Nevertheless, Swanson's book is destined to be a classic illustrated compendium of the events around Lincoln's death. It is equal or maybe even better to Kunhardt's "Twenty Days" which was published during the 1960's.

The stories behind the photographs are well worth mentioning. In particular, there is a very poignant story of a soldier leaning on the scaffolding for the gallows during the execution. That soldier is right below Mary Surratt, and in one of Gardner's pictures (which were beautifully restored for this book) you can see this soldier puking as the death warrant is read aloud. Another story which Weinberg and Swanson relate is how the 4 hooded prisoners could hear, the night before their execution, the gallows being constructed. Overall, a great companion piece to either Swanson's "Manhunt" or any other book on the Assassination.

Filled with period photographs and historical records
Lincoln's Assassins: Their Trial And Execution is a cold, clear look at the aftermath of a crime that forever changed American history. President Lincoln's assassination and the subsequent execution of his killer, John Wilkes Booth, is a well known event, but afterward, in the spring and summer of 1865, a military commission tried eight other people as conspirators in Booth's plot to murder Lincoln and other officials. Filled with period photographs and historical records as well as comprehensive, detailed text, Lincoln's Assassins is a fascinating and even disturbing close analysis of a time of turmoil and mourning across America. A welcome and invaluable addition to Lincoln historical studies and reference collections.