5 comments about For Cause and Comrades: Why Men Fought in the Civil War.

1. James McPherson has done a wonderful job in letting the soldiers tell the tale of why the fought in the Civil War rather than have someone be speculative about the reasons. McPherson has done a ton of research to put this book out relying mainly on the writings of the soldiers themselves to convey the reasons why they would risk their lives in war. It is a fascinating look into a subject that many think they about but something, as proven by McPherson, that we have just scratched the proverbial iceberg with. In the book, McPherson states that beliefs, religion, honor, and duty all played a role in why men fought but McPherson gives not his view but those of the people who fought and died in the conflict. Well, worth reading if you are interested in Civil War history or just fascinated about the Civil War in general.



2. This is not one of your typical American Civil War History books. Other notable historians such as Shelby Foote and Bruce Catton have mastered the military aspects but McPherson goes behind the scenes to explain the why of the war. He dissects the initial reasons for both sides then demonstrates how these motivations evolved. McPherson does not stop there, he shows how the soldiers are changed as the war continues, especially how governmental policies such as the Emancipation Proclamation impact the war. The author uses first hand accounts on the form of diaries, letters home and official dispatches to support his thesis. He thoroughly illustrates what the common soldier was thinking and feeling as they fought the most destructive war in American history. Claims of bias are dismissed when McPherson breaks down the use of his primary source documents between Union and Confederate, officer and enlisted, educated and uneducated, free and slave etc. As with other books, McPherson entertains the reader while supporting his thesis with exhaustive research. A must read book for historian and avid reader alike.



3. James McPherson is a fine historian. Many of his works on the Civil War are impressive. This ranks among his more interesting works--and makes a contribution in its own right.
   
   The book is an effort to find the answer to a fundamental question (Page 5): "What enabled [Civil War soldiers] to overcome that most basic of human instincts--self-preservation?" More basically (Page 5): "Why did Civil War soldiers do it?" The book, then, focuses on a fundamental question about those fighting in combat: Why do they fight when death is a very real possibility? What impels them to face that possibility and still fight on? McPherson uses the words of troops themselves, based on their writings (letters, memoirs, journals or diaries. The author reports reading 25,000 personal letters and 249 diaries.
   
   Among answers supplied by these primary sources--a concern for honor or to display manhood and courage; discipline; religion; fear of being branded as a coward; bonds with fellow troops (e.g., those in a particular regiment would feel loyalty one toward another); patriotism and nationalism and, especially for the south, love of state; for some northern troops, a desire to end slavery; and so on.
   
   This is a fascinating book, well worth reading. It uses the words of the soldiers themselves--North and South--to help us understand why troops would stand and fight and risk death and injury. In short, recommended highly for those interested in the motivations of soldiers in wartime.



4. I was very satisfied with the level of customer service that I recieved from Amazon.com. I love the low prices and the customer service.



5. This book is mainly for academics and true historians. It's a short book, which makes it a quick read, but it's not as good as some of McPherson's other Civil War books. (like "Ordeal by Fire"). His thesis is that Civil War soldiers, both Union and Confederate, fought for three different reasons (or "motivations"). These are related to reasons why soldiers chose to enlist (enlistment motivation), to fight (combat motivation), and to stay in the service (sustaining motivation). The book seems pieced together to me and the chapters are not put in chronological order like most history books are. He uses so many excerpts from soldier's letters and diaries that it was hard for me to follow. Even though I understood his thesis, I did not like the book's style. I would give this one a pass unless you have nothing else to do!!

5 comments about The Fires of Jubilee: Nat Turner's Fierce Rebellion.

1. being a person with a casual interest in history (as opposed to a historian), it was nice to read something about nat turner. the book was short - 150 pages without the dreadful epilogue and another 50 or so pages of notes. it being short was ok, but it seemed to reflect a lack of information about the life of nat turner, and the events surrounding his rebellion. considering the amazing amount of prejudice that informs what information is available about nat turner's rebellion, the author does a good job of gathering sources. however, the author is all over the writing in a way that detracts from the history. he injects opinions and judgments. while i am not sympathetic to slaveholders, i do not need the author to speak pejoratively about them. their actions and words could do that for them. all in all, a good, quick read about a subject i've not not ever read much about. not a manual, however, for how to conduct a revolution...



2. the book was in great shape when i got it and i would also like to say fast shipping.



3. This book was absolutly amazing. I was assigned this book for a report in HIST I. I have now read it and listened to it probably 10 times. you really can feel the pain that Turner felt, as well as the rightousness in killing these people. I am a person that does not believe in violence, but this book made me understand how a man or woman could be driven to such dire circumstances. This book should as graphic as it is should also be given to all High School students. It really show that when backed into a corner, that people can do things that are truly unthinkable. Maybe bullying could be affected in positive way, by this work!



4. This book was absolutly amazing. I was assigned this book for a report in HIST I. I have now read it and listened to it probably 10 times. you really can feel the pain that Turner felt, as well as the rightousness in killing these people. I am a person that does not believe in violence, but this book made me understand how a man or woman could be driven to such dire circumstances. This book should as graphic as it is should also be given to all High School students. It really show that when backed into a corner, that people can do things that are truly unthinkable. Maybe bullying could be affected in positive way, by this work!



5. One cannot understand the history of the South without reading this book. This is the story of the beginning of the end of slavery in America.

5 comments about Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln.

1. I've been meaning to read this book for several years (having enjoyed Ms. Kearns-Goodwin previous works of history), but at 800 pages, I was reluctant to plunge into such a long book. It eventually took me about a week to read, but the wait was well worthwhile! I read it in anticipation of my upcoming visit to Lincoln's Presidential Museum and Library in Springfield, IL - an excellent and interactive musuem. I was singularly impressed with the level of detail in the book, and Mrs. Goodwin's ability to measure the political histories and ambitions of Lincoln's cabinet (his team of rivals who ran against him for president). Many previous foes grew to love him like a brother, such as Seward and his Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton. I learned many things about the life of a president in those days - such as the public receptions each week in the White House, and the lack of any real security measures taken to protect the president. He visited the battlefields of the Civil War many times during that bloody siege, and the horror of it must have truly weighed upon him heavily. Abraham Lincoln was an extremely complex man, vulnerable to chronic depressions, probably owing the many deaths of loved ones while he was young. But his outwardly cheerful personality, his great story-telling abilities,his modesty and candor, his uncanny ability to find compromise with many head-strong politicians of the day, and his sheer brilliance and oratory skills undoubtedly would impress many as the "perfect storm" of qualities desired in our nation's leader. Many think that Obama read this book before he was elected, and Hillary Clinton probably owes her Secretary of State position to this book. In my opinion, unquestionably the best researched and written book ever about Lincoln.



2. After rereading Gore Vidal's Lincoln, surely one of the great books of all time, I decided it was time I read Goodwin's book to see how it compared. I wondered how well Vidal's judgement of all the crucial characters would hold up. My conclusion is that Vidal and Goodwin picture just about every character in a very similar manner. Goodwin's book provides more detail and is written in a very readable style, but it does not entirely avoid the problem of many such massive tomes - getting excessively bogged down in detail. While I can't help but praise her effort and knowledge, it takes more than twice as much time to read her book as Vidal's. I would recommend that anyone wishing to understand Lincoln begin by reading Vidal's book; and then, if they want to delve more deeply, take on Goodwin's book.



3. I just completed reading this book and it was terrific. Kearns really takes you back in time and you get a great sense of how all these men developed into the men that would serve Lincoln. The amount of tragedy and perseverance this men and the families went through is almost impossible to believe.
   
   Lincoln was continually underestimated and treated a "country bumpkin" but yet, time and time again proved to his supporters, critics, and rivals that he knew what he was doing. Again, Kearns paints a vivid picture of this time period and of how Lincoln was able to keep the nation together, even though he had to work with some pretty uncooperative folks.
   
   Great read and I highly recommend it.



4. I am so glad another Lincold admirer suggested reading this book and I am glad I bought my copy from Amazon. Really fine book; quick delivery ... I am very satisfied with my purchase.



5. This is a long read but well worth it for the amount of history it contains. This isn't Lincoln gossip. It's a look at how Lincoln thought and worked. I had been a Lincoln fan, but, after this book, I felt I understood his presidency and its burdens more thoroughly and admired him in a whole new way.

5 comments about Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address Illustrated.

1. what a powerful illustration of America's most terrible war. i commend Mr. Levin on a job well done. i highly recommend this for anyone to really understand what happened in the Civil War. a tragedy indeed.



2. The book arrive a little early and was in great condition. The book itself is an easy read and makes a wonderful gift for anyone who loves this country, or who needs to know more about the sacrifices that were made so we can enjoy the freedoms we do in this country. I recommend it highly.



3. These simple, yet riveting words of truth spoken by Abraham Lincoln combined with the images make for a very moving and humbling experience. Everyone should own and read this book.



4. Mark Levin is one of my favorites so since I have his other book I bought this one. It is wonderful and I have shared it with my grandchildren. I think you will enjoy it also.



5. Abraham Lincoln is my hero! My all-time favorite President and patriot. I have visited Gettysburg twice and have been completely absorbed by the history of the event and the significance of the Cemetary Dedication speech written and delivered by President Abraham Lincoln. I memorized the speech in High School and, when I visited the Cemetary, stood where Lincoln stood and recited it. It was an extremely emotional experience. This book, Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address (Illustrated) by Mark Levin is magnificent. Better than any other venue, it gives the ultimate justice to the event and the writing. It will be appreciated, interesting and underastood by people of all ages, all walks of life and, especially, all students of history and America Patriots.

5 comments about Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave: Written by Himself.

1. I received my book extremely quickly and it was in far better condition than I had imagined. Thank you so much!



2. Received my order much earlier than expected, in 5 days with Standard Shipping and in condition specified. Great transaction and fully satisfied!



3. This book was used in a Middle School Summer Reading Program. The students enjoyed learning about Frederick Douglass and how his life impacted African American culture during that time period. Using this book also developed students ability to understand key elements of writing and author's purpose.



4. I wish this was required reading in American History. The very real account of an inspired man's transition from slavery to freedom, from ignorance to knowledge. The only good thing that slavery created were men and women who labored to stamp it out !



5. For anyone wanting a good, quick, historical/non-fiction ebook to read in less than a day, then this ebook is definitely for you. Although, be warned, this is no substitute for the literature that Frederick Douglass wrote himself. This ebook provides a good, short synopsis of his life. Hey, my suggestion to anyone thinking about reading this would be to download it and read it when your either commuting, waiting for an appointment, in a coffee shop, or just hanging out in the park on a nice sunny day. Enjoy everyone and thanks Amazon!

5 comments about John Adams.

1. One of America's best loved biographers, David McCullough, gives us an intimate picture of one of America's overshadowed presidents. Adams' life of integrity, heroism, and warmth shine through in this personal story.



2. Just finished it and am downloading the mini-series now. I can't decide if I like his Truman or Adams biography better. They were both impossible to put down. This should be required reading in history class.
   
   McCullough, through his choice of biographical subjects, seems to champion the underdog; the plain, unpretentious common man who was thrust into greatness by forces beyond his control. Both Truman and Adams are overshadowed by their flamboyant, aristocratic predecessors. Yet Truman and Adams' impact on U.S. history was arguably as great as - and maybe even greater- than that of Washington or FDR. McCullough is righting these wrongs by shedding light on these two unfairly overlooked presidents.



3. i love this book. Adams diary and his wife's writings make the book come alive. Very much enjoying what i have learned about our second President of the US. I never knew how influential he was or how much he sacrificed for for the US independence.



4. I believe I already did this but once again, I loved the book and so appreciate all the hard work David McCullough went to to put it together to bring us a marvelous historical novel. I'd never have learned all I learned without this book. And a quick trip to Boston too! We have a country to be proud of if we can keep it.



5. Well written and deeply researched This book is all a biography can be.
   McCoullough is our best historian and he brings not only Adams and Jefferson and others to light but also the entire 50 years of our nations history.

4 comments about Sam Patch, the Famous Jumper.

1. I bought this book used, but when I received it, it was in perfect condition. My child needed it for a class that she was joining mid-semester. The book is no longer being printed. However, while other students were still waiting on the arrival of their books ordered from another bookstore, she was in class with her copy in a little over a week with standard shipping.



2. This is a biography of Sam Patch, the famous jumper from high places into swirling chasms. Yet it's more than a biography; it's also a social history of the times (1820s) and the places where Sam made his daring leaps (Paterson, NJ, Niagara Falls, and Rochester, NY). Sam's early life was spent working in the cotton mills of first, Pawtucket, RI, and then Paterson, NJ. He learned the "art" (Sam's word, and an important one in defining how Patch saw himself) of jumping while a boy performing daredevil stunts in the Blackstone River of Pawtucket. Later, in Paterson, he leaped into the Passaic Falls more as a "rebel-victim" - Timothy Crane had erected a bridge across the falls, which was considered a social good; but when he bought land adjacent to the falls that was popular as a recreational retreat for the working people of Paterson and turned it into a private park for the wealthy, Crane became a villain to the many factory workers of Paterson. Sam timed a number of his jumps there to coincide with events designed to honor Crane, to humiliate him or at least take away some of his thunder. In these instances, Sam Patch was a jumper for Democracy.
   
   After Paterson, Sam leaped off the mast of a sloop anchored off Hoboken, NJ into the Hudson River, which was reported widely in the press, and Sam became a celebrity. Now his leaps would be for fame and fortune. He jumped twice at Niagara Falls to great success, and then went to Rochester to leap the Genesee Falls. His leap was successful, but a second jump on a cold November day proved to be his undoing; his body wasn't found until the following spring.
   
   Then of course, Sam Patch the legend took off. The real Sam Patch was a drunkard and millworker, raised in poverty, who discovered he had a talent for surviving high leaps into dangerous waters, and decided that exploiting this talent brought a big improvement to his otherwise futile existence. (It's the classic American story: think of all the ballplayers, actors, singers, etc. who saw even the worst of times in their chosen endeavors as better than "going back" to the mines, or the mills, or the empty windswept towns on the bleak prairie.) But for the decade or two after his death Sam was transformed into a gentleman's son who overcame timidity and learned to face danger and be "a man." Then, of course, even this made-up image of Sam disappeared from the scene - until 1945 when folklorist Richard Dorson rediscovered him and grouped him with such legendary characters as Davy Crocket and Mike Fink.
   
   Johnson does a superb job in rescuing Patch from the annals of folklore and presenting him as a real historical figure. This is not an easy task since very little in the historical record is known about Sam, and much of that is contradictory. He devotes much space to what life in the cotton mills was like, how Niagara Falls was perceived in the American imagination at the time, and what the young and bustling cities of Paterson and Rochester were going through when Sam visited them. Johnson is an interesting writer - detailed and learned, but not dry and scholarly. It's a fascinating book. Highly recommended.



3. Sam Patch was an American original who escaped my attention for forty-eight years. Professor Johnson's study of this mostly forgotten, irreverant showman has piqued this reader's thirst for more of the bold, eccentric and sometimes ambivalent personalities that have shaped this nation in often subtle ways.
   Not long after completing the author's chronology of the Patch family's slide from the respectability of the rural New England landholder and the influence of Calvinism, it becomes apparent
   that a documented record of just what manner of man Sam Patch really was is not to be had. From the standpoint of social status, Patch was a non-entity, a skilled textile laborer his sole identifying trait; that is, until he made public his hobby.
   Just what spurred Patch to leap the Passaic Falls at Paterson,NJ on July 4, 1828, effectively upstarting the elaborate holiday ceremonies planned by one of the city's wealthy and genteel manufacturing elite is uncertain. One effect of the feat was the galvanizing of the local labor force into an awareness of their potential to force reform in mill working conditions. No sooner had Patch had dried himself off when a consortium of mill owners issued an edict altering the daily work schedules of its employees, needlessly disrupting the domestic routines of thousands. Patch then betrays a political motive in answer to management with an encore jump during work hours just one week after the new schedule had taken effect. Patch's exploit was followed by a strike, arbitration and comprimise. The Paterson jumps gave birth to Patch's intriguing motto "Some things can be done as well as others."
   The cynical critic questions the depth and genuineness of Patch's social altruism based upon his lack of education, predilection to alcohol, and the complete absence of any concern, stated or implied, other than self-promotion during the remainder of his career. In fact, Patch, at the age of twenty-seven, having worked in the mills for twenty years, resigned his vocation permanently upon departing Paterson shortly after the second jump. After a brief exploit from atop a ship's mast in Hoboken,NJ, Patch emigrated to Niagara Falls for bigger game.
   Now an avowed professional jumper, backed by resort developers and sporting gentlemen, Patch thrilled crowds of commoners and elicited enmity from the Whig sophisticates and press. After a few successful performances, the venue shifted to Rochester,NY and Genesee Falls where class distinctions and responses to such behavior were at a premium. After an initial jump, a plan was hatched to erect a platform some forty feet above the millrace which paralleled the falls, raising his leap to an uprecedented one hundred-thirty feet. Unfortunately for our hero, he met his ultimate fate that day in 1829 when, unable to contain his passion for the bottle, he endeavored to jump while in a well-lubricated state, lost his form early in the air, hit the water on his side, and disappeared for four months before his body was hauled from under the ice of the Genesee River some seven miles downstream.
   On reconsideration, it is perhaps the case that Patch had an angle along reformist lines. Though unsophisticated in its method, the very inanity of Patch's nonconformist act served as a slap in the face to the righteous, overbred conceit of the upper classes and their proclivity for circumscribing the limits of self-determination for those less fortunate. In appropriating a mere mill-boy's pastime Patch defied the ruling gentry and diletantes of morality to prevent his freedom of expression. Although his jumps lacked the ingenuity, utility or permanence of the engineering marvels which buoyed the emerging industrial revolution, they gave notice that democracy entitles a man to make his mark after his own fashion and, notwithstanding limited means, proof that "Some things can be done as well as others."
   Despite the absence of source material Professor Johnson has done a comendable job of resurrecting Patch's story from the confines of legend. Johnson's tedious labor is evidenced by his notes--drawn almost entirely from periodical literature.
   While it is not possible to forge an intimate acquaintance with Sam Patch, Johnson has provided the detailed social, political and religious mileau needed to understand his role in history.
   Johnson is also to be credited for the modesty of his prose, which makes this book smooth and entertaining.



4. If you have never heard of Sam Patch, it is because you are not living in the nineteenth century. Sam Patch was America's first celebrity daredevil, someone who made his fortune and his fame by spectacularly endangering his life, jumping from waterfalls. Paul E. Johnson, in _Sam Patch, The Famous Jumper (Hill and Wang), has not exactly brought Patch back to life. As Johnson explains, people like Patch did not have linear careers that lent their lives to being told as stories; they had episodes, not biographies. Patch only lived thirty years, and jumped professionally only for the last two of those, but he did have a wonderful career, and even some meaning within American history and sociology. Johnson has, though Patch's story, examined some details of Jacksonian America, industrialization, philosophies of art, and aspects of fame from self-endangerment and self-promotion rather than self-improvement and civic involvement. Patch was, after all, a lout and a drunkard, but it must mean something that he achieved such a level of fame that his feats could be cited by Melville, Hawthorne and Poe. Even Andrew Jackson's favorite steed was named Sam Patch.

   Sam was around seven years old when he took up work in a mill; families in the early eighteenth century were being drawn to mill towns since mothers and children could easily get work. He was good at the work, and fiercely independent in the craft of "mule spinner". The independence manifested itself in his jumping as well. He learned the craft of jumping as other boys did, but when he moved to another mill town, his jumping acquired a social and political aspect that endeared him to the populace. He jumped to spite a rising industrialist in Paterson, New Jersey, and then in support of his own class when there was a dispute over how the town should celebrate the Fourth of July, and jumped again during the first labor walkout. People loved the jumps, and newspapers reported them. Patch became a working-class hero. He went on to jump into Niagara Falls twice, and finally in Rochester. On 13 November 1829, he took a plunge into the Genesee Falls, into which he had jumped successfully a week before. He was drunk, and hit the water out of control. It was months before the body was found, but respectable Americans had found a new cause to rail against; one preacher spoke of the "strange and savage curiosity" of the crowds who came to see the jumps, and another told his Sunday school class "... that any of them who had witnessed Patch's last leap would be judged guilty of murder by God."

   Sam Patch could have been an emblem against the masses, but it did not work out that way. He became the subject of poetry, comic stories, and stage plays. "What the Sam Patch!" became a common way of swearing. There was a Sam Patch cigar. He has even recently been the subject of a novel. Rochester has welcomed his memory as if it were that of a favorite son, and you can buy souvenirs at Sam's Gift Patch. There are those who insist that any American Dream must be built on hard work, domestic harmony, and sobriety. Johnson's able and well-researched portrait, with its many digressions into aspects of our fledgling democracy, shows a different sort of dream and a new sort of celebrity. Americans, bless their hearts, had from the beginning a delight in one who tweaked the nose of his betters and got fame for lots of wrong reasons.

5 comments about The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family.

1. This book shows Jefferson as a flawed human being who, on the personal level, did not rise above his time.



2. I listened to all of the chapters on CDs and have started listening to it again. It is a compelling history of American law, social and cultural life, and the history of slavery. The author is a wonderful writer--pulling the reader in with the same skills as a fiction writer, but the book is so superbly and thoroughly researched that there is no doubt that this story is true. I gained a new understanding of Jefferson through her straight forward yet compassionate telling of his involvement with the Hemmings family, and found the Hemmings' family story one of the most interesting and unique in American history. I make lots of long car trips, which I usually dread, but as long as I was listening to this book on my car CD player, I couldn't wait to get on the road.



3. Annette Gordon-Reed richly deserves all the awards she has received for this book. The fact that so much more is known or knowable about the Hemings family than about most other Virginians of the period is attributable to the central relationship between Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson. It is remarkable how much passion and energy have been invested over the years in denial of this relationship, a denial based on the belief by reputable historians of the past not only that great men like Jefferson were to be regarded as protected symbols of greatness rather than as all too human beings, but that upper-class white people who were not of the time or place (eg Jefferson grandchildren) made more credible witnesses than black former slaves who were. Gordon-Reed demolishes the strategies of denial beyond recovery. As a lawyer, she understands the nature of circumstantial evidence, and the uses of inference, and her careful sifting of what is known, from every possible angle (leading to complaints of repetitiousness from some reviewers, but absolutely necessary), makes it clear that Jefferson's relationship with Sally Hemings would have been far more remarkable if it hadn't happened. Hemings was the half-sister of Jefferson's late wife, and an acknowledged beauty - and as a teenager was living with Jefferson in Paris, as maid to his younger daughter (who was at convent school on weekdays) - at close quarters in the same house, very far from the community of Monticello. Not that relationships between white owners and enslaved women, of varying degrees of consent at one extreme and brutality at the other, were not very common in the South during the period of slavery - but circumstances made it more or less certain that this particular relationship would begin in Paris, and not greatly surprising that it should then have continued - although the terms evidently agreed between Hemings and Jefferson are a testament to strength of feeling and of character, in unknowable proportions, on both sides. In spite of the fact that nobody except political enemies wrote or spoke directly about the relationship at the time, the evidence assembled as to its nature and consequences is - to a historian like Gordon-Reed who knows (and never fails to explain in detail) what she's looking at and how it fits - clear and eloquent. Gordon-Reed misses nothing, but at the same time never makes assumptions without painstaking analysis, or pretends to know something for which there is no evidence. She casts light on so many corners of related history - often putting together things one already knew in a new way, or looking at them from a new angle - that the book as a whole is a revelation. (For example, the Abigail Adams seen and heard from in her early encounter with Sally Hemings is a somewhat more typical privileged white woman of her time than the Adams of legend. And what Gordon-Reed has to say about the way black and white people actually spoke in the eighteenth century - very much alike - and the uses that have been made of misrepresentations of this fact, is significant and illuminating). What she has to tell us about the Hemings family over the generations, and about countless aspects of life in eighteenth and early nineteenth century America, inclusive of all kinds and classes of people, gives us a window into this world that has not existed before for the general reader. Her tone is measured, wise and generous, and in my view she is to be thanked as sincerely as admired for her work.



4. I have read a few books on the subject of Sally Hemmings and Thomas Jefferson, one previously by Ms. Gordon-Reed. I liked the fact of the biography of the Hemmings family in its entirety, how the author provides the facts and supporting documents and how she weaves the history of the family. It was a great read and I had a difficult time putting the book down. Ms. Gordon-Reed's writing style captures you early on and brings the early Hemmings' to life forever. I only wish she could have provided more information on the original Scottish Hemings where the family received the name.



5. I think the author has a great insight into the life and times of Sally Hemings and her family and I doubt that anyone other than a black woman could achieve this perspective.
   
   However, whether you like or even finish the book's 700 pages will probably depend on your interest in that perspective.
   
   Put me down on the side of those who find this book to be long winded and rambling. The author has a chronic inability to keep to the point and a good read it is not, in spite of the fascinating subject matter.
   
   I can also understand but not share the irritation some of the reviews feel about the author's speculative style. I mostly find the speculations convincing and accept the author's premise that with so little concrete information about the Hemings, and Sally Hemings in particular, the gaps need to be filled in by reasonable speculation.
   
   I am somewhat puzzled about the awards this book has received since it really needs a re-write with the help of a good editor. Hopefully a second edition will come out which will be about 1/3 shorter.

5 comments about Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer (P.S.).

1. This review is on the abridged audio version of "Manhunt" read by Richard Thomas. Actually, "Manhunt" is an excellent book to listen to on audio CD because it is told in an exciting, story-telling fashion. It is not, as another reviewer noted, a scholarly, historical examination. That is not to say that it is not well-researched. James L. Swanson immersed himself in contemporary documents and other materials in writing the story. One intriguing source he used, for example, was the writings of John Wilkes Booth's sister that described the assassin's childhood aspirations. I looked forward to listening to each disc and, in many instances, was captivated with what will happen next even though I knew, ultimately, the fate of the two fugitives. I had not studied Booth's escape in detail to know how far he got and who helped him so a lot of the information was new to me. The story-telling style of the book does lend itself to some narrative license. The thoughts and personal intentions are described which can often get historians into trouble (how does an author know what someone's thoughts were at the time?), but such liberties are not taken too often.
   
   The book focuses on John Wilkes Booth and David Herold's escape south after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and the efforts to find and capture them. Also covered are the conspiracy preparations, the assassination itself, the capture and fate of the other conspirators and, briefly, the executions of the convicted conspirators. There was not as much detail on the executions as I expected but, since the book is on the manhunt, that is understandable. The last two tracks on the final disc offer an interview with author Swanson. He discusses how he became interested in the Lincoln assassination, the artifacts from that event he hopes will surface, and the intriguing characters he studied in his research. The most interesting part of the interview was a description on the historical sites that can be visited including the modernized Ford's Theatre, Petersen house, Mary Surratt's boarding house, and, in Maryland, Mary Surratt's country tavern and Dr. Mudd's house.
   
   For a couple of reasons, I am giving this audiobook 4 stars rather than five. First, there is a lot of flowery language that seemed a bit much. Other reviewers have mentioned the word "Judas" labeling those who betrayed Booth. Even David Herold "denied him thrice." Other instances made me roll my eyes. For example, the people in Lincoln's box after the gun fired "remained perfectly still as though posed in the studio for one of Alexander Gardner's wet-plate Albumen photographs that required a motionless exposure of several seconds." Well, I guess that quote gave a sense of the time, but it is a bit wordy and embellished. Another example is on disc 2, track 2: "Like Lot's wife who paused and turned and dared to look upon the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Booth could see the sleeping city from which he fled." Then on disc 5, track 5: "Booth's mind surrendered to fatigue and roamed freely through the landscape of his dreams where no man could follow him." Richard Thomas (The Walton's John Boy) read the latter quote so gushingly it actually made me laugh.
   
   Secondly, I found a couple errors in the dates used. The execution day was first dated as July 17 and soon after was dated as July 7 which left me quite confused (disc 7, track 4). The latter date was correct but the two dates were read so close to each other it is puzzling the mistake was not caught--if even by Thomas as he was doing the reading. A telegram Secretary of War Stanton sent to General Grant regarding Lincoln being shot was dated 12:00 p.m. on April 14 (disc 2, track 7). Of course, this date makes no sense as, at that time, Lincoln had not been shot yet. If the telegram was misdated (i.e. it should have been 12:00 a.m. on April 15), which is understandable considering the stress Stanton was under at the time, it should have been noted. Also, Booth's journal entry written on the run is read twice for some reason. Otherwise, this audiobook is a keeper and I highly recommend it. The book includes 7 discs with 7-8 long tracks each. I prefer shorter tracks, but a portion of the first line on each track is printed on the discs which helps in trying to find information.



2. If you're a Civil War buff, this book is a must. The author has successfully combined good writing and good scholarship (a rare skill in itself), along with an incredible amount of fascinating detail, and has come up with a book that's not only great history but a great read. I loved it, learned a lot, loaned it, lost it, and promptly got myself another copy. It's that good.



3. There is no doubt in my mind: this is truly a fascinating book, a page turner. After a Prologue and two chapters which summarize first the shooting of President Abraham Lincoln and then the life of his assassin, John Wilkes Booth, author James L. Swanson spends the next eight chapters describing the death of Lincoln and the escape of Booth and his companion, David Herold. We follow the two as they individually sneak out of Washington, D.C. and meet up in rural Maryland during the night of April 14-15, 1865.
   
   Booth and Herold arrive at the rural house of Samuel Mudd, a farmer-medical doctor and acquaintance of Booth from the days when Booth was planning to kidnap Lincoln and take him to the Confederate capital in Richmond. At about 4 AM on April 15, Dr. Mudd is awakened and administers to Booth's broken bone in his leg and allows the two to sleep in his home. After learning that Booth is wanted for murdering the president (Booth apparently hid this from him), the doctor orders the two to leave (they spent about 15 hours at his place), but he does NOT report them to authorities, a decision that will eventually cause him to be arrested and imprisoned though not hanged.
   
   Later Booth and Herold are hidden and fed by Confederate sympathizer Thomas Jones. Instead of quickly removing themselves southward, the wanted men spend four or five days in a Maryland pine thicket before crosing the Potomac into Virginia -- some nine days after the assassination. Later, with assistance they cross the Rappahannock and head deeper into Virginia. But once again they linger probably longer than they should have at the Garrett farm, near Port Royal, and during the interval one William Jett leads Union soldiers to their hiding place (Garrett's tobacco barn) which is then set afire by the soldiers. Herold surrenders, but Booth chooses to stay inside the burning barn. Soldier Boston Corbett shoots Booth in the neck and spinal column, and the presidential assassin expires but not before uttering these words: "Tell mother I died for my country."
   
   If the Lincoln assasination interests you, get a copy of this book and read it. Even if you are not all that interested in this event, the book will probably keep you interested, for it is very well crafted. One test of how good a book is might be whether it stimulates a person to want to read more on the subject. MANHUNT certainly passes the test for me. I definitely want to find out more about Booth, Dr. Mudd, the Surratts, Edwin Stanton, plus I want to check the Surratt Society's publications.
   
   Two very minor quibbles based on previous reading: on page 2 Swanson calls Booth "the celebrated actor." Well, perhaps, but I learned from reading James Hall that Booth had not acted much for a year prior to the assassination; he was concentrating on his oil interests and anti-Lincoln activities. Also, Hall and Michael Maione provide a much clearer explanation than Swanson (on page 28) about why Booth wanted Secretary of State Seward dead: only the secretary of state could set up procedures for a new election in case both president and vice-president were no longer alive. (Don't forget: Booth had assigned one of his conspirators to kill VP Andrew Johnson, but the guy didn't do it; and Seward was nearly killed by another conspirator.)
   
   As I finished the book, I kept wondering about Booth's dallying, his not getting farther south faster. Yes, I realize his leg was probably killing him, but I wondered if he wanted (perhaps subconsciously) to be caught. Notice I said wondered; I don't have an answer. Does anyone? I also wonder why Mary Surratt, but not Mudd or Jones, was hanged. More reading to do.
   Strongly recommended.
   Tim Koerner July 2010



4. This book has everything you would want in a historical account of Civil War times. The author puts you in the shoes of John Wilkes Booth and you get a view of history from Booth, his accomplices, the couple who shared the balcony box with Lincoln, and many more. This is a book you will have a difficult time putting down to do other things. The book is authentic with pictures and documents, yet it transports you to Civil War times and lets you be a part of the action.



5. As I know my history, President Lincoln was shot dead by John Wilkes Booth and the police shot and killed Booth as he fell from the balcony of the theater below ,to escape. But the author has taken another twist in the story , with Booth escaping the police with a broken leg. He was on the run for 12 days and the author documents statements and also Wilkes diary to this fact . Excellent reading . Michael Tsapazis author of "Zion and the Magic Sword"

5 comments about Abraham Lincoln.

1. Pulitzer Prize winning author James McPherson has gifted the harried, information deluged, but intellectually curious modern man/woman with a jewel of a book about Abraham Lincoln. While serious historians and/or Lincolnophiles may sniff at its brevity, this information dense booklet is rich enough in detail to move the attentive reader into the first percentile of Americans most knowledgeable about our (arguably) greatest president. Say what? Read on.
   
   Much is lost and glossed over in school textbook accounts about the complex human that Abraham Lincoln was. James McPherson's unsentimental account of a young and restless man that moved from making a living by manual labor to a self-educated (though mentored) lawyer that rose to making four times as much practicing law as the Illinois governor earned in salary is spare and thought-provoking. "Honest Abe" may have eschewed outright lies, but he was uncommonly canny, and his methods of obtaining his goals leave no place for damp-eyed hero worship. Though he hated slavery, McPherson's book points out, Lincoln's primary and often reiterated goal was preservation of the Union. When Lincoln walked the streets of the newly captured Richmond with his 12 year old son Tad, a freed slave woman shouted "I know that I am free, for I have seen father Abraham and felt him." She may have been less enthusiastic if she had been aware, as McPherson dutifully records, that Lincoln most definitely did not think that Negroes should have full social equality with whites, and both forcibly and publicly stated so while campaigning for office. She would also have been disappointed to know that Lincoln said that if he could preserve the Union by allowing slavery in ALL states, he would do so (though it is undeniably true that another goal of Lincoln's was the eventual elimination of all slavery).
   
   This short book brings forth the brilliance and passion of an ideologically driven man, without glorification. Why does McPherson insist on making the reader aware of Lincoln's more controversial decisions (such as dispensing with the writ of habeas corpus and severe curtailment of the rights to free speech and assembly during the Civil War)? In 65 pages, the author hammers home a point that voters in democracies everywhere prefer to ignore: there are no unblemished heroes. There are great men and women, all of whom remain quite human on their paths to changing the shape of history. When all is said and done, one stands back and views Lincoln, in all his imperfection, in more awe than when he was a simple repository for hero worship. And that's a lot to accomplish in three score and five pages
   .
   This book is not "Lincoln for Dummies". It is Lincoln distilled for the intelligent person that can't find enough time to get six hours of sleep, much less read a thousand page tome about Honest Abe. Would that there were more such books about important historical figures!



2. Pulitzer Prize winner James McPherson has done me and all history lovers a great favor. He has written a biography on Abraham Lincoln that is short, readable, engaging, and most of all, helpful. Let me address each of those attributes individually.
   
   This book is short. It is short by design, as noted in the preface, when many long and even multi-volume works were being published, McPherson correctly decided that a short account on Lincoln's life was in order. I read this book in one sitting while in a doctor's waiting room. It took me less than an hour and a half. The length was a welcomed surprise because, as I will elaborate on below, the content was still engaging and helpful. I read many long books in my primary field (theology and religion) so that I do not have the time or the ability to "dig into" the various military strategies at every battlefield, the specifics of each Lincoln-Douglas debate, and so on. So, I was able to get the meat without the "dessert." And I was only looking for meat.
   
   That the book is very readable and understandable should come as no surprise. McPherson is an accomplished author and expert on Lincoln. This book provides a great read for not only Lincoln lovers, but also for students who need a great introduction to the legacy of our 16th President. McPherson can also be seen on the History Channel's "The Presidents" and I found him to be clear and helpful in his comments there as well.
   
   The book is engaging, partly because it moves from scene to scene quickly and leaves you wanting a little bit more at every page. If nothing else, McPherson's book will entice readers to pick up a more exhaustive account of Abraham Lincoln to "fill in the gaps." For example, the assassination of Lincoln and the mention of Booth all comes in a single, fairly small paragraph.
   
   Finally, the book is helpful because it provides the necessary information to have a solid grasp on the life legacy of Lincoln. McPherson even takes time here and there to insert some wonderful points to ponder. For example, his brief exposition on Lincoln's contempt with his wages going to his father before he reached the age of 21 describes how some believe that Lincoln fostered a hatred of slavery from an early age because of his own "mistreatment" in this way. I was also very informed and interested in the political decisions behind the issuing of the Emancipation Proclamation.
   
   I recommend Abraham Lincoln by James McPherson without reservation. Pick up and copy and read it in under two hours. You will be glad you did.



3. Excellent details but a bit too much repetition both in facts and quotations. Writing style a bit simple but I think it would be a good textbook for junior high or the first two years of high school.
   
   I am glad that someone finally wrote about Mr. Lincoln's role as Commander in Chief instead of glorifying just his political accomplishments which were negligible due mainly to the pressing problem of the war.
   
   I would add that the seller, Third Avenue Books did a superb job of getting the book to me quickly



4. More a long essay than a book, "Abraham Lincoln" surveys the life of the 16th president from birth to his fateful night when he was shot. In straightforward English, McPherson lays out Lincoln's life in easy prose and emulates the style of Lincoln himself: concise, eloquent, and profound.
   
   The book makes a great gift for a Lincoln fan or a student of history.



5. Before this short book I had never read anything dedicated specifically to Lincoln, though I have read a good deal on the Civil War itself. I was attracted to this particular work because of its author, James McPherson (Battle Cry of Freedom being a favorite of mine), and because of its length--I was hesitant to dive headlong into the vast sea of competing Lincoln biographies. McPherson's writing in this biography is great, as always, but it can't help but feel limited. By the end of the book, which I finished in just a few hours, I was hungry for more. Each phase of Lincoln's life feels in some ways skipped over; the facts are there, but the brevity of the text is such that those facts can't be fleshed out with the detail that makes them sink in.
   
   With that said, I can't help but look back fondly at the book, and that's why I'm giving it four stars. I think it's served its purpose, which is, in this 200th year since Lincoln's birth, to serve as gateway to the overwhelming wealth of scholarship on our 16th President.