2024 the best book on lincoln review

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Winner of the 2001 The Lincoln Group of New York's Award of Achievement A History Book Club Selection.

The assassination of Abraham Lincoln is usually told as a tale of a lone deranged actor who struck from a twisted lust for revenge. This is not only too simple an explanation; Blood on the Moon reveals that it is completely wrong. John Wilkes Booth was neither mad nor alone in his act of murder. He received the help of many, not the least of whom was Dr. Samuel Alexander Mudd, the Charles County physician who has been portrayed as the innocent victim of a vengeful government. Booth was also aided by the Confederate leadership in Richmond. As he made his plans to strike at Lincoln, Booth was in contact with key members of the Confederate underground, and after the assassination, these same forces used all of their resources to attempt his escape.

Noted Lincoln authority Edward Steers Jr. introduces the cast of characters in this ill-fated drama. He explores why they were so willing to help pull the trigger, and corrects the many misconceptions surrounding this defining moment that changed American history.

About the author: After completing an acclaimed career as a research scientist at the National Institutes of Health, Edward Steers Jr. has turned his research skills to the Lincoln assassination. He is the author of several books about the president, including The Trial. He lives in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia.

Reviewer: Daniel Hurley
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Well Documented Facts and Myth Busters: Excellent Readable Book
Review: Steers write one of the most accurate and detailed books on the Lincoln assassination. He provides a history of the times when the "black flag" of warfare was raised after the Union's infamous Dahlgren raid that was part of a two prong attack on Richmond. The mission was to free prisoners and disrupt Richmond and allegedly included plans to kill Davis and his cabinet. This controversial raid, As Steers points out, may have raised the ante of warfare without rules as the Confederates start their own controversial plans such as biological warfare that included an attempt to spread yellow fever. Steers starts breaking myths early with the Baltimore controversy where Lincoln switched trains to avoid a real plot to assassinate him as his train passes through Baltimore earlier than scheduled with no sop on his way to his inauguration. Steers documents how surprisingly accessible Lincoln was to the public and how he was relatively poorly protected or at times not at all at his request due to his intuition that anyone could commit the crime regardless of a guard detail. The author provides fascinating detail on Booth and his companions as they initially plot the kidnapping of Lincoln and in failing to do so, turn to assassination as the war is closing and Lincoln's sentiments toward "black human suffrage" raises Booth's ire to an intolerable level. The high points of the book are the well documented associations between Booth with not only his immediate quadrant of conspirators but also with Mary Surratt and a number of Confederate agents in Maryland, D.C. and Virginia. Steers' analysis breaks any myth that Dr. Mud was innocent of aiding and abetting Booth. A recent book offers that Mud may have not recognized Booth when Booth appeared at Mud's home during his escape but that seems circumspect since Mud met Booth several times before and Booth was a relatively famous actor. The manhunt for Booth is covered in great detail and it is extraordinary fascinating as Booth escapes to Virginia with the help of established agents. Steers describes the temporary haven that Booth and Herold finally reach outside of Bowling Green at the Garrett farm but Stanton's dragnet discovers Booth's trail in Virginia. Although quite by accident, that accident puts them amazingly right on the trail of Booth at Port Royal, Virginia just west of Fredericksburg and a handful of miles from Booth's quiet and seemingly safe haven. As Steers notes, there is some interesting speculation as to why the three Confederates, who provide Booth assistance to his temporary haven, suddenly turn up to offer assistance at Port Royal. The author also presents excellent bios on the men involved in the conspiracies; the incompetent George Atzerodt who not only abstains from killing Andrew Johnson at the last minute but leaves evidence and a relatively easy trail to follow; Lewis Powell, the mysterious young veteran soldier who wounds virtually the entire Seward family in his attempt to kill the Secretary of State and goes stoically to the hangman; and young David Herold who deserts Powell but is Booth's guide in his escape through Maryland and into Virginia. Along with these prime conspirators, Steers brings in Booth's early associates that also get captured in the dragnet even though they withdrew from Booth's later plans. And finally Steer's aptly dismembers the theories that Booth escaped and that an imposter was buried in his name. Steer's even tells of an odd character that drags a corpse around for years eerily claiming it is Booth in an attempt for notoriety and money. The final chapter covers Lincoln's long funeral train trip that stopped at several large cities on his long trek back to Springfield, allowing a large population to view Lincoln's open casket. As the author notes, Lincoln returned to his hometown as he inferred when he left, that he might not return with the ability to enjoy his homecoming.

Reviewer: robert durward welsh iii
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Great book !
Review: Well written and laid out

Reviewer: lindapanzo
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: intense and informative
Review: This book is one of the most intense, fact-filled books I've read in quite some time. Even more than Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, I'd say. This is not a book to be read quickly or lightly.This is said to be the definitive book on the Lincoln conspirators and assassination, the "if you can only read one book, read this one" book on this topic.I thought it bogged down initially, as the early part addressed the concept of "black flag war." I learned so much on such topics as Confederate plots regarding germ warfare, such as the spread of yellow fever through infected clothing to be sold at auction. Once the author got going into the actual conspiracy and then the assassination of Lincoln and the subsequent manhunt, however, the book was excellent.It was not easy going but I am very glad I read this informative book. Highly recommended.Incidentally, the title refers to a line from government clerk and poet, Walt Whitman, in his O Captain, My Captain poem, which he wrote after feeling distraught by the assassination.

Reviewer: Dr. Tom
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: The Gold Standard
Review: Blood on the Moon is widely considered a definitive account of Lincoln's assassination, and rightly so. I did not originally intend to review this book, but Steers' name kept popping up because so few historians--three to be exact--had written about Lincoln's assassination that the field was and is filled with conjecture, hypothesis, and misinformation that continues to feed upon itself, Bill O'Reilly's Killing Lincoln being just another chapter in that phenomenon. Blood on the Moon is carefully crafted, thoroughly documented, and stands on the shoulders of those careful researchers who preceded him (to whom Steers gratefully acknowledges his debt of gratitude). Steers meticulously establishes that Booth was neither a madman nor a failed actor, but that he held an opinion shared by millions of southerners, worked with the assistance of a group of capable men who more loved and admired Booth than hated Lincoln--including Dr. Samuel A. Mudd whom Steers finds as anything but innocent--and women (especially Mary Surratt) whose connections went through the Confederate Secret Service all the way to the top of the Confederate government, almost certainly including Jefferson Davis himself. Steers convincingly disproves the harebrained conspiracy theories involving Vice President Johnson or Secretary of War Stanton that remain popular and which Stephen Oates also dismissed. While Steers suggests that the top levels of the Confederate government must have been aware of Booth's schemes to kidnap Lincoln--they had supported other aborted efforts like Thomas Conrad's in the past--no claim is made that Davis knew of or approved of the assassination. In his excellent chapter on Booth's flight, Steers demolishes the notion that Booth escaped and that an imposter was buried in his place. The final chapter on the Lincoln funeral procession back to Illinois is particularly well done and moving, so well done in fact that I think the Lincoln's funeral procession would be a worthwhile book for Harold Holzer to undertake. Some good photos can be found in the hard cover and paperback editions of this book and they add to it, though they were less than impressive for me since I purchased the Kindle version which also has them, but in a format that makes them more difficult to appreciate. If you can only read one book on Lincoln's Assassination, this is that book. TP

Reviewer: lanny kaufman
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: The facts are accurate
Review: It gets rid of some common misconceptions about the assasination

Reviewer: Amazon Customer
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Family History
Review: A great book on such a very sad subject. A family member recommended this book as I am related to one of the families talked about in the book. I has helped with my understanding of family history and US history since I grew up in Washington, DC.

Reviewer: Bob
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: If you look at the reviews on Amazon for this book you will find high praise indeed for the author and this book. (I highly recommend you to read any Amazon reviews for any book you'd like to buy, as they tend to offer real insight and opposing opinions)I found it compelling. It was well written, well researched, contained new information on the asassination (new to me anyway). It was very thorough and written in a way that wasn't dry history.As the saying goes if you only read one book on the Lincoln assassination, it should be" Blood on the Moon "