What do you think?
Rate this book
The Assassin's Doctor: The Life and Letters of Dr. Samuel A. Mudd
The Assassin's Doctor is a biography of Dr. Samuel A. Mudd, one of the eight persons convicted by a military tribunal in the 1865 Abraham Lincoln assassination trial. He was found guilty by a 5-4 vote of the nine military judges. If this had been a civilian trial requiring a unanimous verdict, he would have been freed. The conviction remains controversial today.
The Assassin's Doctor tells the story of Dr. Mudd's family, his education, and his life as a Southern Maryland tobacco farmer using slave labor. It tells how he became involved with Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth, why he was convicted of conspiring with Booth, his imprisonment at the Fort Jefferson military prison in the Gulf of Mexico, his ultimate pardon, and his life afterwards.
Dr. Mudd was pardoned in large part because of his heroic work during a yellow fever epidemic at the Fort Jefferson prison. Three-hundred thirteen soldiers, 54 prisoners, and 20 civilians, a total of 387 people, were at the fort during the epidemic. Two-hundred seventy of them contracted yellow fever. Thirty-eight died. Many more would have died without Dr. Mudd's work.
The book also contains many photos and the full text of several historic documents about Dr. Mudd's life.
You'll love this book because it’s the story of the fall and redemption of a man who had lost everything –– his home, family, children, reputation, and freedom –– only to recover everything by risking his life, and almost losing it, to save the lives of those who imprisoned him.
The Assassin's Doctor tells the story of Dr. Mudd's family, his education, and his life as a Southern Maryland tobacco farmer using slave labor. It tells how he became involved with Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth, why he was convicted of conspiring with Booth, his imprisonment at the Fort Jefferson military prison in the Gulf of Mexico, his ultimate pardon, and his life afterwards.
Dr. Mudd was pardoned in large part because of his heroic work during a yellow fever epidemic at the Fort Jefferson prison. Three-hundred thirteen soldiers, 54 prisoners, and 20 civilians, a total of 387 people, were at the fort during the epidemic. Two-hundred seventy of them contracted yellow fever. Thirty-eight died. Many more would have died without Dr. Mudd's work.
The book also contains many photos and the full text of several historic documents about Dr. Mudd's life.
You'll love this book because it’s the story of the fall and redemption of a man who had lost everything –– his home, family, children, reputation, and freedom –– only to recover everything by risking his life, and almost losing it, to save the lives of those who imprisoned him.
400 pages, Paperback
First published January 9, 2014
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
No one has reviewed this book yet.