Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer
The murder of Abraham Lincoln set off the greatest manhunt in American history. From April 14 to April 26, 1865, the assassin, John Wilkes Booth, led Union cavalry and detectives on a wild twelve-day chase through the streets of Washington, D.C., across the swamps of Maryland, and into the forests of Virginia, while the nation, still reeling from the just-ended Civil War,
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Everyone with a lick of American history learnin' has heard the story. Most also know that Booth was subsequently caught, and yet Manhunt is genuinely exciting. You have to admire a writer who can enliv ...more

Countless books have been written about Abraham Lincoln but far fewer about his assassin John Wilkes Booth. As someone who's uncomfortable with books devoted to criminals, I think this is just as well; however, to provide a complete history of Lincoln, Booth can't be ignored entirely. Manhunt is a thorough, carefully researched account of this man, a staunch supporter of the Confederacy who'd been plotting against Lincoln for a long time before finally shooting him on April 14, ...more

Seriously though, this account of JW Booth’s capture is worth reading. The drawback is sometimes the writing lays it on too thick. It works effectively at the beginning: the assassination itself, for example, is gripping. And since Booth was an actor, the Shakespearian allu ...more

A fascinating tale of murder, intrigue, and betrayal. A gripping hour-by-hour account told through the eyes of the hunted and the hunters, this is history as you've never read it before.
The murder of Abraham Lincoln set off the greatest manhunt in American history -- the pursuit and capture of Joh ...more

John Wilkes Booth, the infamous assassin was able to elude the searchers for twelve days, broken leg and all with the assistance of some sympathizers, (Dr Mudd, Mary Surratt, Michael O’Laughlen, Edman Spangler and Samuel Arnold) as well as an accomplice, David Herold. Booth evaded over a thousand Union troops and detectives to ...more


The book does not really give much background historical information, as it says laser focused on the story of the assassination (including the attempts on the lives of the Secretary of State and Vice President) and the 12-day chase of the perpetrators. This was probably the right decision, as it kept the book fast paced with dramatic intensity throughout. But there were a lot of things mention ...more


'Manhunt' most certainly clears that little matter up for it is a stupendous account of the 12-day chase for the killer as well as setting the scene for the deed and giving later detail about what happened to the various key locations in the story.
Once begun it is difficult to put down, for the action rolls on and on without let ...more

The author, James L. Swanson, writes in a very easy going colloquial style. In fact, there are times in the text where the writing seems a little too simplistic, but those are just fleeting moments. Mr. Swanson is very good at creating moments of tension and high drama. This is al ...more

While the book is impeccably researched and stays true to its detailed coverage of Booth and his young assistant, it does struggle to maintain consistent threads on the other co-conspirators. For example there was quite a bit of coverage on the simultaneous assassination attempt of Secretary of State Seward but we heard little about Powell in the la ...more


Swanson begins his book with "a note to the reader" in which he makes the claim, "This story is ...more

I wish we'd read things like Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer when I ...more







Swanson's twist in writing of this period of national distress ...more




James Swanson does an excellent job of giving life to the tertiary characters, the people that were only names in many other accounts. There is a nice sequence where conspirator Lewis Powell is trying to assassinate William Seward and we get to know Sewa ...more


James L. Swanson's Web site includes a glowing review quotation from Patricia Cornwell. The correlation is apt since critics find this nonfiction account of Booth's getaway as compelling as the best thrillers. Swanson, a legal scholar with the Cato Institute and a Lincoln historian, knows the assassination inside and out; he's been studying Lincoln since he was a child, and his previous book (with Daniel R. Weinberg), Lincoln's Assassins, was a photographic and archival study of Booth and his co
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He has held a number of government and think-tank posts in Washington, D.C., including at the United St ...more