Lincoln's Assassins: Their Trial and Execution [Hardcover]

James L. Swanson (Author), Daniel R. Weinberg (Author)

Editorial Reviews

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 --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: Arena Editions; 1 edition (November 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1892041421
• ISBN-13: 978-1892041425
• Product Dimensions: 12 x 9.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,343,943 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Truly Amazing Photographs!, December 22, 2001

By	todd (Mokena, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lincoln's Assassins: Their Trial and Execution (Hardcover)

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..

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Amazing, January 4, 2007

By	Publius (Utopia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lincoln's Assassins: Their Trial and Execution (Hardcover)

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.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent book, March 26, 2007

By	Kurt A. Johnson (North-Central Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Lincoln's Assassins: Their Trial and Execution (Hardcover)

In this fascinating book, an accomplished author teams up with an avid Lincoln-ologist to produce an excellent work. This book has a fascinating account of the capture, trial and (in some cases) execution of John Wilkes Booth's fellow "conspirators," and an excellent collection of pictures and reproductions of important documents.

Overall, I found this to be an excellent book. It has just enough text to be highly informative on the conspirators, without getting bogged down in minutiae. Also, it keeps a level-headed approach to the assassination throughout, eschewing the kind of theorizing that marks too many books on the subject. Yep, I highly enjoyed this colorful and highly readable book, and give it my highest recommendations!