The Day Lincoln Was Shot (1955)

Case 2 shelf 6

Why is it that individual acts of monstrous evil fascinate us, moving us more than hearing on the news that another ten thousand have perished in an earthquake or a volcano outbreak? That being the case, this book is a great read.
I first read it in grade school, then persuaded our teacher to let me turn it into a play. I was Lincoln, of course; I cast Deborah, on whom I had an undying crush (her family moved away that summer and I never heard of her again -- isn't that the perfect way for a grade school crush to end?). But my friend Bart stole the show. The class loved the way he relished shouting out "Sic semper tyrannis" after shooting me with a cap pistol.
Reread it more than thirty years later, and it didn't hold up too badly. ( )

NA

The title is accurate: this is literally an hour-by-hour account of the last day of Abraham Lincoln's life. And it's actually very interesting, though I do wonder how in the world the author knew some of the details - where people sat in a room, what they said to each other, what time they put their head in their hands, that kind of thing. Was that information really available? How much did he fill in the gaps on his own? Still, it's quite the thorough immersion into life during that time period, and a fascinating look at the surprisingly sloppy execution of an ultimately successful conspiracy. ( )

7 stars: Good.

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Good read. Very detailed, down to describing the wallpaper pattern in the house that the president was taken to after he was shot. Also describes in detail, Booth's day (both before and after the assassination) as well as the assassination attempt on Seward and his family and how Stanton took over (even though Johnson arrived --and left--the death watch). A fascinating book, with a chapter for each of 25 hours ( 7 AM through 7:59 AM the next day) and two chapters of background information.

Worth the read. ( )