Murdering Mr. Lincoln: A New Detection of the 19th Century's Most Famous Crime

Summary

In this startling and original work, best-selling author Charles Higham (Howard Hughes: The Secret Life) addresses one of the greatest historical mysteries: Did John Wilkes Booth act alone on the night of Good Friday, 1865, or was he part of a wide conspiracy? Drawing from letters, diaries, previously unstudied records of official hearings, railway timetables, and obscure shipping manifests, Higham weaves a spellbinding account of intrigue. He proves that Lincoln unwittingly sealed his own doom by enriching a circle of powerful people who marked him for assassination—high-level figures, including those in government and trade who were involved in the murder plot— and not John Wilkes Booth alone. Most of all, Murdering Mr. Lincoln resolves the disputed participation of accused co-conspirator John Surratt, whose mother was hanged for the crime.