Audiobook22 hours
American Brutus: John Wilkes Booth and the Lincoln Conspiracies
Written by Michael W. Kauffman
Narrated by Nelson Runger
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5/5
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About this audiobook
In American Brutus, popular historian Michael W. Kauffman delivers a history that reads more like a best-selling novel. This definitive masterwork dispels commonly held myths and reveals the truth about John Wilkes Booth. Luring Southern sympathizers into a "noble" presidential kidnapping, Booth stunned his puzzled pawns by murdering Lincoln. From Booth's early life and acting career to his escape and death, this meticulously researched book re-examines it all using a wealth of primary sources. "Kauffman . offers a beautifully written, exhaustive and well-reasoned reassessment of . Booth and the murder of [Lincoln]."-Publishers Weekly
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Reviews for American Brutus
Rating: 4.341836540816327 out of 5 stars
4.5/5
98 ratings8 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fantastic read...love it. Love it, love it. You would love it.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Very intriguing read; the author attempts to unravel the way in which the conspiracy to murder President Lincoln evolved, and to a certain extent goes against the conventional wisdom. His point of view is that John WIlkes Booth was a master manipulator, and was not merely a frustrated actor looking for acclaim. There's also an interesting analysis of the trial of some of the conspirators, and how even by the standards of 1865 (let alone today), it was something of a travesty of justice. It does require you to flip back and forth between the notes in the back and the text to get the full flavour of what's going on, which can be a bit annoying, but cracking those nuts does pay off. Recommended.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Favorite JWB dialog from the book. This took place after Booth saw a speech by Lincoln where Lincoln called for voting rights for black soldiers. Booth went to pick up his mail at the Ford Theater and vent with fellow actors and said: (quote from book) "If a man were to go out and insult a nigger now, he would be knocked down by the nigger and nothing would be done to the nigger."Tom Raybold replied," You should not insult a nigger then."Yes, I agree with other reviews. It was a very thorough account of the assassination and kidnapping conspiracy, and it also gave a good feel of what the times and mood of the country had been like. A good read.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This account of the murder of President Lincoln, the mindset of the conspirators, the intense atmosphere in Washington D.C. and the rest of the country after the assassination, the flight and search for those involved, and the aftermath of this tragic time is haunting and compelling.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5John Wilkes Booth made the trip from fame to infamy in short order, and this remarkable book fleshes out the details of that fascinating journey to such a degree that it renders all previous Lincoln Conspiracy books (and they've been cranking 'em out for about a century-and-a-half now) completely useless. Incredible stuff.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A really fascinating look at John Wilkes Booth and the conspiracy to assassinate Lincoln and other Cabinet members.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All of the events of the Lincoln conspiracy and assassination are covered in Kauffman's comprehensive account. Starting with background on Maryland's divided loyalties, he moves on through a history of the Booth family, John Wilkes Booth's career and Southern sympathies, the development of a plot to kidnap Lincoln, the planning of the conspiracy that draws more and more people in, the failure in the one attempt to nab Lincoln, the assassination of Lincoln and attempt on the life of Seward, the manhunts and arrests, the killing of Booth, the military tribunal trials of the conspirators and the executions and imprisonments, and the pardons of the surviving prisoners as well as short summaries of what happened later to most of the major characters.It seems likely to be a definitive account of the events due to the detail and balanced handling. He dismisses many myths and wilder theories but seldom bothers to refute them point by point. Rather he tells the story and notes in passing these other stories and theories.Much of the detail Kauffman presents is based on a database he created from the 11,000 page Lincoln Assassination Suspects file in the National Archives. He input synopses of each document and developed an organization of events by persons involved, location, and time. He actually input many factors (such as financial dealings, horses involved, state of health, people mentioned in conversation, etc.) In this he found unnoticed patterns in behavior and relationships among plotters. This revealed recruiting trips, secret meeting, and about a dozen trips by Booth to New York City.His picture of Booth is of a man who misdirects and entangles the conspirators. He is not the pawn of others, but the manipulator of the plot. He was in every sense an actor playing his role and frequently lied to the people involved.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Somewhat slow in places, but an intriguing look into the mind, life, and background of one of history's most infamous men.