Manhunt

In Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer, author James Swanson sheds light on the ending to one of the most important events in our nation’s history: the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. The book is a fast-paced narrative of the twelve day chase for John Wilkes Booth and his coconspirators in the Lincoln assassination. Featuring great details about Booth’s planning and implementation of the murder, Swanson fully engages the reader in the events, both from Booth’s perspective and those seeking to find him. He also does a fine job of capturing the emotions of the people involved: the fugitives and their sympathizers, War Secretary Stanton – the de facto head of the manhunt, and the nation as a whole.

Though parts of the book are more historical fiction (like what Booth was thinking at a given time), the book reads much more like a historical retelling, largely due to the painstaking details in the narrative as well as the author’s meticulous endnotes. Whether this book provides an objective retelling of the manhunt can be left to other reviewers with more knowledge of the events.

I highly recommend this book as a well-written popular history account of the Lincoln assassination. Rating: 5/5