DOC American Brutus: John Wilkes Booth and the Lincoln Conspiracies by Michael W. Kauffman in History

Review

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful. Riveting look at the Booth family and legacyBy CustomerThere was a wealth of new information here as well as previously unreleased photos. Kauffman also did a great job setting the historical time period and conflicts of the Maryland/D.C area.15 of 15 people found the following review helpful. Great BookBy victor vignolaMichael Kauffman's opening to the book is one of the best accounts of what transpired at Ford's Theater and the environs of Wash DC in the immediate aftermath of April 14; 1865 that can be found. Mr. Kauffman is acknowledged to be THE expert in the Booth-Lincoln kidnap/assassination plot. Mr Kauffman's research and knowledge about the subject is 1st rate; sourced and well footnoted. I must qualify my praise with one qualifier: Mr. Kauffman gets a wee bit into the weeds explaining the legal concept of how/why Booth involved the other conspirators. Other than that excursion (which took me some time to grasp) the book is very well done and written in a manner that places the reader in the story. If you are interested and so-inclined - there is a tour of Booth's escape that is conducted by the Surratt Society - highly recommended and well worth the time/cost if you are in the DC area.11 of 11 people found the following review helpful. Addictive; hard to put down!By J. Jamakaya"American Brutus" has got to be the greatest crime story of all time. It's written with an immediacy that keeps you on the edge of your seat; reading nervously as the horrible plots unfold. We all know how the story ends but; oh my; the details along the way - the characters; motivations and complications are endlessly fascinating. I am not an assassination buff; so many details of the story were new to me.I was awed by the many eye-witness accounts of the fateful night at Ford's Theater. It was sort of like watching Lincoln's assassination being covered live on CNN (including inaccuracies and fabrications). I'd never read such detail before. It was also interesting to see how the police and military followed various leads; many of them fruitless; in search of the conspirators who targeted Lincoln and Secretary of State Seward (who was stabbed and severely injured while at home). I didn't know how long Booth plotted against Lincoln or how many co-conspirators were involved or how many individuals aided his attempted escape to the south. I knew he was a southern sympathizer bitter at the South's defeat; but I hadn't realized what a manipulator Booth was and what delusions of grandeur he had. The book takes you through his miserable death; the trials of the conspirators; the executions of some and the pardons of others.Even tho "American Brutus" is long; the story is so exciting and it has such a brisk pace that it felt like a quick read. My only suggestion is that future editions have a "cast of characters" section listing the names and roles or titles of major players. There are hundreds of individuals involved in this amazing story - government officials; military officers; investigators; conspirators; witnesses; newspapermen; you name it. It would have helped to have a little "cheat sheet" to look back on to reacquaint oneself with a person who played some role; then showed up again later in the story. A related read that is highly recommended: James Swanson's Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer (P.S.).