John Butler Ford

This short book details the events leading up to the assassination of probably America's greatest ever President on 14 April 1865. It shows the rather amateurish plotting of John Wilkes Booth, that almost reads like farce, if one did not know it would be successful in the context of what to us seem like ludicrously inadequate security measures - though most of the conspirators were on board only for kidnapping the President and taking him south of the Potomac river, not killing him. The book is terse but presents a clear and dramatic account of events. Despite the natural horror at the assassination of a great man, there is no doubt that the trial of the conspirators was not a fair trial in the heightened political atmosphere of the immediate post-Civil War situation. His successor Andrew Johnson tried to continue his policies of healing the national divide, but lacked Lincoln's personal impact and statesmanlike gravitas.… (plus d'informations)