The Civil War officially ended at Appomattox soon after President Lincoln’s second inauguration. During his first term he had been widely viewed by special-interest groups as a good-natured, indecisive bungler, and worse. In the South he was still despised, and many in the North, especially the radicals in the Republican party, distrusted and derided his leniency toward the vanquished. On the evening of April 14, 1865, an assassin’s bullet irrevocably altered the way Abraham Lincoln would be viewed by Americans. In life a cunning politician, Lincoln became in death a selfless martyr. Lloyd Lewis explicates the mythology that evolved out of Lincoln’s death, the outpouring of national grief, the pursuit of John Wilkes booth and the conspirators, booth’s fate, and the frequent moving and reburial of Lincoln’s coffin.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
"One of the standard works on the drama and events around Lincoln’s death and the realities and the myths that came after. . . . There are moments when Friend Lewis achieves laughter or a flash of poetry in a single sentence of a sober fact narrative."—Carl Sandburg
(Carl Sandburg )"Indispensable . . . to any historian of Lincoln’s times, and it is fascinating reading. Lloyd Lewis presents in substance a brilliant study of the creation of myth out of natural event, and of the deification of a national hero."—Outlook
(Outlook )
About the Author
Lloyd Lewis wrote Sherman, Fighting Prophet (1993), also a Bison Book. Mark E. Neely, Jr., who introduces this book, previously titled Myths after Lincoln, is professor of history at St. Louis University. He is the author of The Abraham Lincoln Encyclopedia, The Insanity File: The Case of Mary Todd Lincoln, and The Fate of Liberty: Abraham Lincoln and Civil Liberties.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting and Well Written Book,
By
This review is from: The Assassination of Lincoln: History and Myth (Bison Book) (Paperback)
I picked this book up after I read "April 1865" because I wanted to know more about the assassination of Lincoln. The book is a very interesting account of what took place. This is a reprint of a book that originally came out in the 1920's and that made it even more interesting. I enjoyed the book on two fronts. First the author does a very good job of detailing out the plot to kill Lincoln, the actors involved, the reasons behind it, the actual event and then the capture of the assassins.There is just a great amount of details that, being an American; I am ashamed I did not know. Overall this was not a lone gunman, but a large-scale plot to kill the top three members of the U.S. government at the time. Sure the group performing this assassination was not the best and brightest, but they got the job done. The details of the escape, flight and then capture of Both is also full of detail that really brings the story to a new level. The added information about the capture and punishment of the rest of the group was also very interesting. On the second front, what I also enjoyed about the book was the view of the 1920's through the writing of the author. When someone writes a book like this, there are bound to be examples and coalitions to the "current" day and in the case of this book it was the 1920's. That was very interesting and an added bonus to the book. Overall I enjoyed this book and learned a great deal from it. I would suggest it.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Surprisely good after all these years.,
By
This review is from: The Assassination of Lincoln: History and Myth (Hardcover)
This book was originally published in the late twenties and early thirties. The author reviews the last days of Lincoln and the myths and history of his death. After all these years it is surprisely good. Why? Because the author dispells some of the popular myths about the death of this great man. Lincoln was a man, and not a god. This book is jammed with facts. The chapter on Lincoln's funeral is very emotional as cities strove to do the most homage to this great man. The assassins were mainly a bunch of nut cases led by an actor striving to gain everlasting fame. The history of Memorial Day is also discussed.For those who admire Lincoln, this is a nice book detailing his human frailties. This book is full of great knowledge on our leading President.
1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Never Say Die!,
By Betty Burks "Betty Burks" (Knoxville, TN) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Assassination of Lincoln: History and Myth (Hardcover)
Reviewer: Betty Burks (Knoxville, TN)Strange but true: There are seven letters in each name. Both presidents had legality of their election contested. Both were directly concerned with the issue of civil rights. Both were slain on a Friday and in the presence of their wives. Lincoln was elected in 1860; Kennedy in 1960. Their successors were named Johnson (Andrew of Tennessee and Lyndon of Texas) and were Southern Democrats who had previously served inthe U. S. Senate. Andy was born in 1808; Lyndon in 1908. Booth and Oswald were murdered before tial could be arranged. Both were Southerners favoring unpopular ideas (both deranged). Lincoln's secretary named Kennedy advised him not to go to the theatre. Kennedy's secretary named Lincoln advised him not to go to Dallas. Both Lincoln and Kennedy were carried in death on the same caisson. Pecularities and similarities, but something to ponder after the fact. Abraham Lincoln suffered from melancholia, as we are aware due to the History Channel special. He is about the most quoted president we've ever had; "the best thing about the future is that it comes only one day at a time," is attributed to him. A movie was made about this book and its claims, or vice versa. Perhaps the movie was made first. This book verifies what I have always thought, but a smart person at the library put quaslifications on the fact that " Mary Sarratt was the first woman in American history to be hanged." The check-out clerk at the downtown library said that perhaps she had been the first official one. This book claims that there had been a conspiracy plot to kidnap Lincoln, and a conspiracy cover-up. At the famous "Conspiracy Trial of 1865" she was sentenced along with three males to hang the next day. Some of the Northern commodities speculators and fianciers of the Union who were a part of the conspiracy include Jay Cooke of Philadelphia, PA, Henry Cooke of Washington,DC, journalitst Thurlow Weed, Robert D.Watson, Ward Hill Lamon who was U S Marshal, and D. C. Lamon, Lincoln's closest friend. Some of the Confederate leaders were implicated as were "radical" Republications in Lincoln's own party. Pictures of all of those accused are in the photo section. This book goes into detail how John Wilkes Booth was able to get into the presidential box at Ford's Theatre unimpeded, and how he was able to escape out the back door after he jumped and broke his leg. Booth had a wife and daughter living on a farm near Harper's Ferry, Virginia, but he went in the opposite direction so as not to involve them. He used a 44 caliber derringer pistol, which looks like a prop for a play, it is housed in the Historic Museum on the site of the killing. Due to his dramatic training, he yelled "Sic semper tyrannis" (Thus always no tyrants) as he hit the stage on his knee. The President's eyes showed evidence of brain damage. The bullet had gone in the left side of the head, behind the ear near the top of the spine. The 44 caliber ball had entered vehind the left ear and lodged in the brain just behind the right eye. Mary Lincoln, distraught over the assassination events, was declared insane and committed to an insame asylum by her son, Robert. There were coincidences published after John Kennedy met his fate, as a conspiracy was established by some of the government, and also a conspiracy involved when they killed his brother, Robert. Unlike Lincoln who had a premonition of his death, JFK didn't know what hit him or why. Both Kennedys had bad blood and did not trust J. Edgar Hoover. It was history repeating itself. Lincoln had been through a lot and was undernourished and haggard -- could be he welcomed death. But Kennedy, on the other hand, had just begun and would have been a President to emulate had he been able to do some of the things he had in the works. We would have been spared a lot of national dissention had he lived. After all, he had created his own Camelot.
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