Taylor Trade Publishing
Pages: 232
•
Trim: 6 x 9
978-1-58979-831-1 • Hardback • July 2013 • $22.95 • (£17.99)
978-1-63076-040-3 • Paperback • November 2014 • $14.95 • (£11.99)
978-1-58979-832-8 • eBook • July 2013 • $11.99 • (£8.99)
A John Wilkes Booth family descendant, W.C. Jameson became interested in Booth when he was ten years old, when he was reprimanded by family members for bringing up the subject of the outlaw and told never to talk of him again. Jameson is also the award-winning author of 80 books and over 1,500 published articles and essays. He lives in Llano, Texas.
Chapter 1. Introduction
Chapter 2. Who Was John Wilkes Booth?
Chapter 3. Plots to Kidnap
Chapter 4. Plot to Assassinate
Chapter 5. The Assassination
Chapter 6. The Attack on Seward
Chapter 7. Escape
Chapter 8. Flight, Pursuit, and Death of John Wilkes Booth: The Traditional Version
Chapter 9. Flight from Washington
Chapter 10. Surrattsville
Chapter 11. Dr. Samuel Mudd
Chapter 12. The Swamp
Chapter 13. Re-enter Boyd
Chapter 14. The Crossing
Chapter 15. The Diary
Chapter 16. Closing In
Chapter 17. The Killing at Garrett’s Farm
Chapter 18. The Body
Chapter 19. Tracking John Wilkes Booth
Chapter 20. The Return of the Assassin
Chapter 21. Booth’s Secret Families
Chapter 22. The Strange Case of David E. George
Chapter 23. Analysis
Can it be said that Americans enjoy few things more than a conspiracy theory? Just look at the persistence surrounding the supposed plot to kill President Kennedy. Though there are clouds surrounding the murder (thanks, Oliver Stone!), the legend has grown greater than the act itself. The same goes for Jameson’s book, in which a crime has become a national folktale. A distant relative of Booth’s, Jameson is on the trail of his ancestor who might not have been killed by federal troops after all (so say hushed relatives). Though the evidence is purely circumstantial and anecdotal, it is illuminating. It shines light on the ongoing obsession that there may be more to the story than we are privy to. If anything, this book simply poses questions that might never be answered. Aren’t humans pattern-making creatures? Therefore, what events lend themselves to pattern-making better than the conspiracy to kill a sitting president? Jameson intertwines wit, research, and family history into an enjoyable read.
— Booklist
This provocative examination of Booth’s story is certain to generate impassioned debate among historians and Lincoln lovers.
— Publishers Weekly