Customer Reviews

Murdering Mr. Lincoln: A New Detection of the 19th Century's Most Famous Crime

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1 star:		(6)

 

 

Too many detours og not enough murder case. The story is very disorganized with many unnecessary facts that only blurs the theory.

Charles Higham's research connects various Copperhead merchants to the Confederate Secret Service, but fails to convincingly tie any of them to John Wilkes Booth. The book is worth reading primarily for its exploration of a new angle to Lincoln's assassination: Copperhead commerce with the South, reluctantly approved by Lincoln as necessary to the Union to finance the war, provided a cloak for an assassination conspiracy.

Mr. Higham almost certainly has several things wrong. He assumes the plot to kidnap Lincoln was always phony and a cover for murder. But why would Booth write in his diary, "...we sought to capture (and changed to murder at the end)"? Why would Arnold and Surratt, years after they were safe from the law, provide details of Booth's planned abduction? It's also a huge stretch to say Surratt traveled 24 hours from Elmira, N.Y. to Washington on April 13-14 and spent only 5 hours in the city, most of which was devoted to getting his hair cut and watching a transvestite show.

Finally, as with every single historian to have written on the case since 1865, Mr. Higham is willing to assume that Booth entered Lincoln's box without having determined in advance that Parker, the guard, would be absent. This, despite his precise timing of the gunshot to coincide with a laugh line in "Our American Cousin" and with Paine's assault on Seward. Booth acted according to a presumption to which he was not entitled, i.e. Parker would not be guarding Lincoln. He had to have known this.

This book is impossible to follow without a flow-chart, often silly, and just plain sloppy. Higham seems to think drinking a Mint Julep is the one way to identify a 19th Southerner Southerner! He's also sloppy, mixing up the year of Lincoln's assassination several times, (sometimes it's 1864, sometimes he has it right as 1865). Worstly, this book reads more like a list of coincidental meetings of 19th century cranks. Who cares who met who at some hotel in 1864? Higham has no real new information and he really should be ashamed to have written this thing. This is definitely the worst book I have ever purchased online!

Abraham Lincoln was one of the most revered Presidents, and the one most threatened with death. Higham reminds the reader why Lincoln was both loved and hated (p.xv-xvi). There was a lucrative trade in contraband that benefited Lincoln's circle of friends until 1865 when a Congressional investigation changed policy (p.xvii). The failure of Ulric Dahlgren's raid "compelled" the Confederates to start raids and sabotage in northern states. Higham questions the policy of burning cotton to prevent its capture by Union forces (p.8)! England and France hated Lincoln because the Morrill tariff restricted imports. Higham claims Confederate diplomats paid to be captured (p.9)! The Confederate attack from Canada was to provoke a war with England and gain support for the Confederacy (p.10). Page 27 tells how two millionaires bought a magazine to publish their propaganda in 1852. [This still happens and is hidden by corporate fronts.] Higham describes the Young America movement and the Pierce presidency as a group out to foment revolution in other countries (pp.30-31)! The "radical" Nathaniel Hawthorne was appointed consul in Liverpool to spread subversion! Page 38 notes how the wealth of New York bankers and merchants depended on slavery. Higham claims an attempt was made to plant a bomb on Lincoln's railroad car (p.41), based on one uncorroborated report! Why did General Sherman regard reporters as spies? Because they reported Union troop movements (pp.68-69). Lincoln regularly read intercepted telegraphs from subversives.

Those who have a good background in the history of the Civil War can best judge this book. It does remind us of the many conspiracies and secret societies long forgotten. In other areas, an investigator who find secret clues overlooked by others often has created them. Lincoln remains the first President killed by a "lone gunman", but with a complete investigation into the conspiracy. Forty years after JFK's assassination we still have the cover-up and hidden secrets. Was this due to our Imperial Presidency and a weakened Congress and people?

Page 83 tells how Lincoln suppressed attempts to expose assassination conspiracies, since it would also discourage Unionists. It is so typical to portray a population as a "silent majority". McClellan's popularity is explained by putting his men's safety ahead of any victory (p.87). Or maybe he didn't want to risk defeat of the Union after a lost battle? The Union Army was more experienced and equipped afterwards. The harsh prison Camp Douglas is described (pp.88-89). Was there an attempt to kill Lincoln in February 1864 (pp.118-9)? The raid on St. Albans Vermont is described ([pp.128-132), the aftermath on pages 133-5 (money talks). Next we read that Copperheads were planning an assassination, with J. Wilkes Booth present. But this was an anonymous report filed after the fact (p.137)! Can you believe it? Chapter 6 tells of the attempts to burn New York city in 1864; it failed. Page 163 tells how the B&O railroad was used by both sides. Another curious and previously unreported incident of Booth is on pages 186-7. From improved memory? Chapter 7 shows a surprising amount of travel in those horse & buggy days. Higham acts shocked over the trading between the lines, with Lincoln's friends profiting from cotton etc. Doesn't he know that war is about loot, not ideals? Higham ends his book by claiming wealthy Copperheads were behind the murder of President Lincoln (p.244). Given the bulk of evidence showing Booth as a Confederate agent, and killing Lincoln on his own initiative, the historians in academia should treat this book in their journals. Blaming Lincoln for his own death (p.247) seems to deliberately insulting.

The editorial review says it all:

Conspiracy theorists and Civil War buffs may want to take a gander, but overall this book adds little to our understanding of the assassination.

Those interested in the politics behind the war will find Higham's work at times fascinating and horrific. The book really brings home what happened apart from the battlefront. As revered as President Lincoln is today, he made some decisions that would make 21st century citizens of a democracy cringe. Alternatively, Lincoln's detractors and political opponents did the same. It seems unfathomable to me now that Lincoln could have been hated by so many, and this book really pierces the veil of the myth surrounding his presidency and the unity of all those in the Union.

When one really ponders what Lincoln did - suspending the writ of habeas corpus, prosecuting publishers printing unfavorable information, trading with South, etc. - one realizes that Lincoln - just like everyone - is neither complete hero nor complete villain - but a convoluted mix of gray areas.

But a reflection on Lincoln is not an intended objective of this book. Nor does it foster an argument that Lincoln deserved death. The focus here is the plot to de-throne Lincoln and make peace with the South, hatched by shadowy Confederate sympathizers, fringe Confederate spies, the European aristocracy, and some out-and-out crazies, like the chief villain George Sanders and assassian John Wilkes Booth. This objective is fulfilled in excruciating detail.

Also deeply disturbing was the revelation of the "Young Americans" Hitler-youth-type organization, the assertion that Stephen Douglas planned for a military coup d'etat over Lincoln, and the whole affair between Confederate exiles conspiring with British/Canadians to incite war with England.

A fascinating story is marred by the author's continuous barrage of trivial details. He throws so many names, places, and things at the reader that even the most astute Civil War scholar would be overwhelmed.

The book reads like a novel and while that is good for easy reading, one has to wonder how the author dug up so much granular information 150 years later. The source notes - a paltry half-dozen pages at the end - do nothing to convince me that the author did in fact thoroughly validate the accuracy of his assertions. Personally, while I think the book does contain many facts, I have to consider it more a historical novel, like Gore Vidal's "Lincoln", than a history. "Dark Union", another recent and similar book on Lincoln during the war, is much better annotated.

This book was hard to follow, there were a lot of characters..speculation, theories of conspiracy...gave my copy to Goodwill..

Not only is this the worst Lincoln Book I have read, it may very well be the worst book I have ever tried to read. I read the reviews but ordered the book anyway - Thinking the book couldn't be that bad. It is worse! I will say the author had a good idea of looking into the doings of George Sanders, and for that he gets one star. The book rambles. On one page it may talk about 6 differant topics, but what is insane is the number of people he mentions. On each page he usually throws out 3 to 12 new names (6 on avg.). People that really have nothing to do with the story line. I made it to page 100, and said that is it. The topic could have been interesting as stated before. If you buy the book for 1 cent you have paid 3.99 to much with postage. I have nothing personal against the author. I saw him on tv and he did a good job talking about the conspiracy, but he sure didn't get his thoughts down when he wrote this book. It really is as bad as the other reviewers state. Yuk

As usual, when I read anything written by Mr. Higham, I come away with many more questions than answers. And I didn't find it so easy to read because there were so many seemingly unnecessary characters. I always wonder where he got all of this revealing new information. No I read his books as a work of fiction rather than the truth. In that sense, they are simply amusing.

I have to agree with the other three star reviews that some of the contentions are speculative and not always supported by the evidence. I find it hard to believe Stephen A. Douglas plotted against Abraham Lincoln after he took his oath as president. It is well known that Douglas gave support to his friend becoming president when the country faced its greatest crisis. However, the book raises many issues that deserve further exploration: that :John Wilkes Booth was abated by an atmosphere that encouraged his plotting without his being detected by the authorities or people willing to report his activities.

The book does a good job in creating reasonable doubt that the conspiracy to kill Lincoln was, much more involved than most people have thought. Adolph Hitler and Abraham Lincoln shared the common fatalistic feeling that if an assassin wanted to kill him he would eventually succeed. However, Hitler's protective services were much more efficient and on top of things in trying to prevent the inevitable than Abraham Lincoln received or encouraged. Lincoln wanted to downplay the many efforts made to assassinate him because he felt it would damage Union morale. The author believes that this was a fatal decision that contributed to his demise.

I felt the author provided sufficient evidence that Mary Surratt was not the dupe that most people thought she was but had been involved in supporting Lincoln's assassination. Dr. Mudd was not an innocent bystander that unwittingly gave medical help to Abraham Lincoln's assassin and helped him escape. He had long been part of the Confederate underground in Maryland that sought to undermine the Union. The author notes the military trial was a kangaroo court but claims it was handled in such a way as to avoid damaging Lincoln's legacy He even suggests that these people did not want some of their wartime activities revealed to the public.

The intelligence war and espionage that both sides used against each other needs much further exploration and revelation. They both used double agents that played one side against the other. Although both sides professed to be on the high ground, they did not hesitate to use dirty tricks against each other. Some of the blowback may have been responsible for Lincoln's death.

One of the most fascinating aspects of the book is the examination of the deep hatred and desire to kill Lincoln that existed on both sides of the war-time border. We know many southerners hated Lincoln even before secession took place but there were many people high and low that hated Lincoln in the north according to the author. They were both motivated to try to get rid of him one way or another. The author raises question about the loyalty of certain people and their willingness to betray Lincoln even though they benefited from his administration. The author tries to make the case that there was a much grater conspiracy involved in the death of Abraham Lincoln than we have supposed. But in the end, we have to use the third option that the Scottish judicial system uses: Not Proven. The book is a fascinating read and the issues need to be explored further.