Chasing Lincoln's Killer
by James L. Swanson
Book Summary Information
Author: James L. SwansonEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2009-02-01
ISBN: 0439903548
Number of pages: 208
Reading Level: Young Adult
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780439903547
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
- Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices
Book Reviews of Chasing Lincoln's Killer
Book Review: A Gripping Real Life Story
Summary: 4 Stars
As someone interested in Presidential assassinations I got this book for the subject matter rather then for its reading level. Thinking back to some of the history books I read during my own youth I was expecting that this book would bring the story down to basics. Not only was that assertion wrong I found that Chasing Lincoln's Killer is better written then some of the adult oriented history books I've read.
Author James Swanson has done his research and done it well. Based on his adult book Manhunt (which I have yet to read) Swanson doesn't make the mistake many writers of history books for younger readers do: he treats his readers like intelligent people. Swanson uses his research to explain the backgrounds of the people involved and the context of the events taking place. Thankfully he does it without being either patronizing to readers who know the story or being boring to those who don't.
Swanson also treats the book more like a novel then a history book with his attention to details and events. Swanson doesn't just list events he describes them and goes into detail about them, giving the reader rare insight into the events of mid-April 1865 by bringing words to the mouths of long dead historical figures from actual words of those involved in the events. Swanson's descriptions of the places where the manhunt took Booth and his accomplices are worthy of any well-written novel and rarely found in the pages of a history book.
If there is any fault in the book it is that the first half of the book is dedicated to the events surrounding the assassination itself. Considering that the book is intended to focus on the manhunt that ensued after the assassination the first half of the book (approximately) focuses exclusively on the events of April 14th, 1965. While Swanson moves this section quickly and as well described as the rest of the book it seems a shame that half the book is spent on the assassination while other sections (in particular the trial of the conspirators) come across as being too short.
Yet while half the book is spent on events that surround the assassination, Chasing Lincoln's Killer is still a fine historical read. With its attention to dialogue and details, the book reads more like a novel then your average history book. The fact that it is written for a younger audience doesn't mean that Swanson brings the story down to its basics. The book is a gripping real life story that must be read to be believed.
Summary of Chasing Lincoln's Killer
Based on rare archival material, obscure trial manuscripts, and interviews with relatives of the conspirators and the manhunters, CHASING LINCOLN'S KILLER is a fast-paced thriller about the pursuit and capture of John Wilkes Booth: a wild twelve-day chase through the streets of Washington, D.C., across the swamps of Maryland, and into the forests of Virginia.
"This story is true. All the characters are real and were alive during the great manhunt of April 1865. Their words are authentic and come from original sources: letters, manuscripts, trial transcripts, newspapers, government reports, pamphlets, books and other documents. What happened in Washington, D.C., that spring, and in the swamps and rivers, forests and fields of Maryland and Virginia during the next twelve days, is far too incredible to have been made up."
So begins this fast-paced thriller that tells the story of the pursuit and capture of John Wilkes Booth and gives a day-by-day account of the wild chase to find this killer and his accomplices. Based on James Swanson's bestselling adult book MANHUNT: THE 12-DAY CHASE FOR LINCOLN'S KILLER, this young people's version is an accessible look at the assassination of a president, and shows readers Abraham Lincoln the man, the father, the husband, the friend, and how his death impacted those closest to him.
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