On the fourth of this month I posted an entry here about Manhunt: The Twelve Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer by James Swanson. The post connected readers both to Rebecca Hagelin's review of the book and to several places where one could purchase it at a discount.I make this second entry to add my personal recommendation to Manhunt. In fact, I became so interested that I stopped by a public library the next morning and checked out a copy, the only one in the Omaha Public Library system that wasn't checked out. I proceeded to spend the whole of that evening and night in reading it.
And the hype was justified.
Manhunt is a riveting, well-researched history that truly captures the drama of that fateful day and the ominous days afterward in which the murderer flees and, almost successfully, escapes. Furthermore, the book cuts through the misunderstandings (and many of the false but ongoing myths) that surround the story. It covers a wide field, giving a lot of detail about the times, the attack on Seward, the various participants in the plot, the several persons who assisted Booth in his flight, and the aftermath -- yet it is a fast-paced and memorable read.
Manhunt: The Twelve Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer by James Swanson will undoubtedly become the preeminent work on the subject and I take pleasure in suggesting it as an excellent summer read.
