No comments about We Are the People: Voices from the Other Side of American History.

5 comments about The Saga of Tom Horn: The Story of a Cattlemen's War.

1. Tom Horn devotees will be enthralled with this book as it uses historical evidence and trial documentation to tell the truth. It is the most comprehensive book on the Wyoming years of Tom Horn.



2. The Saga of Tom Horn is a very good book on the trial of Tom Horn.It recreates the trial that found Tom guilty,and hanged him for the death of a 14 year old boy. A crime a lot of people including me belives he did not do. The book is very detailed on the trial, and about Tom Horn himself. A must read for all western history buffs.



3. This is a 'must read', for anyone interested in the 'Old West' and 'cattle country'. Mr. Krakel, dis-spells rumor and conjecture about Tom Horn. Through newspaper articles and interviews with the people who were 'around' at the time, Mr. Krakel, unfolds a story of mystery surrounding the killing of a 14-yr. old boy. With actual court transcripts, he relates the trial of a Wyoming 'Stock Detective'and his eventual hanging. This is about as close to the truth as we may ever get on the subject of Tom Horn. This review is in regard to the 'un-expurgated' edition.



4. I have read more western history than many and while the book is good as far as it goes, it overlooks most of who and what Tom Horn was. He hailed from Texas of German stock and had a very Wild West life - mining, Indian Scout, spoke the Apache language, worked with the legendary Al Sieber and was in on at least one capture of Geronimo. The Apache Chief in whose camp he learned their language called him Talking Boy, his Apache Name (used to describe one's character or most salient trait), and the one that proved his undoing. I believe Tom Horn was a great frontiersman and, like so many, used by the government, discarded without so much as a by-your-leave to either discard all the government had set his life to, or else be brought down. I believe many a Viet Nam Veteran will know whereof I speak on this. What is missing from this book is Horn's early experience, which is nowhere documented properly in print. He, Mickey Free, Al Sieber and a handful of other white and Apache scouts won the Apache Wars. And they were all dropped like hot rocks so soon as the war was over, with lesser men garnering glory and acclaim for what others in fact did. Tom Horn's story, here, shows what happens when a man out-lives his time, when a soldier used to truly vicious conditions plies his trade for his own purpose, and in service of the way of life he thought he was defending. I rate this at 3 stars only because I wanted to more know about Tom Horn from this book, and less about the penny-ante locals. The book's evidence shows pretty clearly, to my mind, that Tom Horn was railroaded to top it all off.



5. I was a resident of Boulder Colorado for 40 years. Tom Horn is buried in the old Columbia cemetery there. I have seen the pink granite stone with the simple inscription In Loving Memory Of Tom Horn. Everything I have read about the man never disclosed why Tom was buried in Boulder until I read Dean Krakel's book, The Saga of Tom Horn, A Vindication written by Himself. Tom was born in Missouri, not Texas. He left home after his Dad gave him a severe beating for skipping school and chores to go scouting for varmints. Tom had a natural talent to speak other languages. On his way to the Southwest he learned Spanish and later Apache after he was assigned to live with the Apache at San Carlos and Cibecue to keep an eye and an open ear on the Indians. After the Indian wars he became a Pinkerton detective, a miner, and a cattleman's detective. It was in this last capacity that got him into trouble. Tom had a brother, Charles, who operated a freighting business in Boulder. After Tom was hanged his body was sent to Boulder where Charles received him and was buried in the family's cemetery. This was his only connection to Boulder.
   I have read microfilmed letters that were sent to Tom by nieces while he waited in jail.The Boulder library has these microfilms,
   In 1993, Sept.16th and 17th a new trial was ordered for Horn in the Laramie, Wyoming courthouse. Charles O'Neal was the oldest living descendant of Tom Horn at that time and was gratified that the modern day retrial won Horn a posthumous acquittal.
   However the descendant of Willie Nickel, a niece named Viola Nickell Bixler, then 70 years old stated that she didn't think it was wise or reasonable to change history so many years after the fact. This information was taken from an article written by Kevin McCullen and published in Rocky Mountain News.
   Another article about Tom Horn and written by William Hafford and published in the May 1996 issue of Arizona Highways is also interesting reading along with a few great photos.

5 comments about Appointments at the Ends of the World: Memoirs of a Wildlife Veterinarian.

1. I read this book when it first came out three years ago, and I still think about it. His stories about the wonderful animals around the world touched my heart and I would highly reccomend this book if you enjoy reading about animals.



2. I'm a huge supporter and reader of animal books, especially those with veterinarian authors. When I first saw this book at the library, I thought, "Wow, a new twist on and old idea... a WILDLIFE veterinarian." However, it wasn't far into the book I got sick of hearing about irrelevant, uninteresting happenings. The author is cocky and self-absorbed. His attempts at humor and general likeability are pathetic and easy to see through. I'm a hardy reader and will usually force myself to finish off even the most boring of books, but it was about halfway through I had to shut it for the last time. I actually got angry while reading it because it was THAT bad!



3. THe stories are incredible. In his writing he delivers the visual scene and feelings through his eyes, the animal's scene and feelings through their eyes, and the past present and future for these creatures of the Earth. I have passed this book on and purchased copies for others to enjoy, and they did.



4. Excellent book! I originally checked out this book at my campus library based on a recommendation from my uncle, a biology teacher. I enjoyed this book so much that I bought a copy after I read it.
   
   This book is a must read for future wildlife veterinarians and wildlife biologists.
   
   Dr. Karesh is able to draw you in to the many fascinating and sometimes dangerous places he travels to as a wildlife veterinarian. He also offers up a realistic perspective on wildlife conservation efforts in third world countries.
   
   Hope you enjoy it.



5. Since the largest portion of the book was about his sojourns in central Africa, it's quite obvious that this is his favorite place, but his adventures in Indonesia, South America, and other remote locales were interesting as well. The book was as much about his colleagues and friends as it was about him.
   
   His "postcards", which described local culture, history, and politics, were essential to understanding his missions.
   
   You can learn the most about him by Googling Billy Karesh; this appears to be what he wishes to be called.

5 comments about Return with Honor.

1. Scott O'Grady truly did return with Honor after a very difficult experience. On a routine mission, his F-16 was shot down over Bosnia. He gave great detail about his preparation for such an event and exactly what happened. He survived because of the training that he had previously received and the grace of God. He gives credit where credit is due throughout the story. You will enjoy reading the details of a true American hero's difficult few days. As an American, I am proud to know that we have men like Scott O'Grady on our side.



2. I wood recomend this book to any person young or old. This great book about a stranded F-16 pilot shot down over Bosina. The detail is amazing and so are the flash-backs. The way he described it made you feel like you were there!!!



3. I used to work for the Air Force as part of a large program to support the effective operation of electronic warfare equipment, so I had a pretty good understanding of some aspects of the shootdown in 1995. The book went far beyond the shootdown into a gut-wrenching story of survival. I almost felt like I was there. Scott then gave a good description of all the celebration and hoopla that followed. However, in my opinion, the best part of the story begins with "Amid the hoopla...". Scott showed true humility in recognizing all the players that made such a positive difference in his life, and in others. And, most important, he recognized that our devotion to material possessions and pre-occupation with self-serving actions really mean little or nothing in our lifetime. Our faith in God and our actions which are inspired by that faith are what's really important in our earthly existence.



4. This narritive of survival by Capt. Scott O'Grady is a powerfull story. I highly recomend this for all christian adults. This story does heavily focus on the religious aspect of Capt. O'Grady but it does so in a way that will move anyone who is willing to keep an open mind.



5. An easy read and a great story! I attended Air Force survival training in Spokane back in the '70s, and this book shows just how valuable that training can be. Scott did everything right, and as a result he lived to tell us his inspiring tale. Should be required reading for anyone attending the school at Fairchild, and maybe it is.

1 comments about Memoirs Of Charles Henry Veil, The: A Soldier's Recollections of the Civil War and the Arizona Territory (Library of the American West).

1. [This review is based on the hardcover edition published by Orion Books, First edition, 1993]
   
   Charles Henry Veil's chief claim to fame is his recovering the body of Gen. John Reynolds after he had been killed during the early fighting on the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg. He went on to serve in the First U.S. Cavalry for the rest of the war, and then in the Arizona Territory until 1871. After his army days, Veil was involved in farming and mining around Phoenix for most of the rest of his life. These memoirs are mainly concerned with his army experiences during the war and out west.
   
   Born in Scalp Level, PA, in 1842, Veil joined the army in 1861. He was Reynolds's orderly when the Union general was shot and killed in McPherson's Woods by a rebel sharpshooter, and helped remove his body from the field (often later when he related the story he claimed he did it alone). The death of Reynolds, commander of First Corps, was a great loss to the Union cause, some equating it to Stonewall Jackson's death and loss to the Confederacy. Veil finished out the war with the First U.S. Cavalry, after which he was shipped to Arizona in 1866. Many of his duties there seemed to involve capturing deserters; once he shot and killed two deserters with one bullet. Charged with incompetence and misconduct (the last of a sexual nature) - not a word of which enters the memoirs - he was honorably discharged in 1871 when the army was cutting down on its forces. Engaged not very successfully in mining for a number of years, after his wife died in 1891 he returned to Pennsylvania, pretty much broke. He died there in 1910.
   
   Veil's memoirs are fairly routine and do not reveal much information. He is vague regarding specifics: dates, locations, names all go missing, replaced by textbook generalities. "The road we were on led to Yellow Tavern." That's it, no more information given. His later career came under a fog of moral ambiguity, which he refuses to acknowledge. Other than adding a helpful introduction, editor Herman Viola's presence is hardly felt, and that's a shame. Charles Veil might have been a witness to Reynolds's death at Gettysburg and even killed two men with one discharge from his gun, but these memoirs don't add up to much that is substantial.

5 comments about Invisible Writer: A Biography of Joyce Carol Oates.

1. I believe JCO is arguably the best writer to emerge in America in the second half of the 20th century. That said, I read this biography with much interest and found in it plenty of information about the elusive, invisible persona of JCO. However, as much as I appreciatted Mr.Johnson's obvious labour-of-love research and detailed account of the life and times of JCO, I found the whole thing somehow biased as a overly soft and timid portrait of a mysterious, enigmatic woman. I found many of the elements mentioned in the book suggested tremendously interesing points of entry into JCO's personal and psychological universe. None of them were explored. It seems like Mr.Johnson always stops at the threshold of the dark cave and then points his typewriter at some nice, peculiar social event. As I was reading, I felt Mr.Johnson limited his approach to recount little know facts with admirable accuracy and attention to detail, but reading any novel of JCO tells us more about her mind and soul that recounts of many dinner parties at Princeton. If you're interested in this wonderful writer, this book is surely helpful in reconstructing the outside of her life, and most interesting in its depiction of the inner workings of the literary world mafia, but I'd say very far from being the truly meaningful journey into JCO's mind that I'd like to read. I wouldn't like to discourage anyone interested in JCO to reads this, because it is a worthy and valuable read and Mr.Johnson deserves credit for taking on a difficult subject and rendering a never faltering narrative, but I believe JCO, and her readers, deserve even better (and specially braver) and will feel wanting for it. A good first look at this fascinating writer, sure, but she remains as invisible as she was before we opened this biography. Since JCO is after all still very much alive and kicking (her last BLONDE proves she as good as ever or even better), maybe it is a matter of time and perspective. Maybe Mr.Johnson himself, given time and distance, will offer us a deeper reading of JCO. He is surely an able writer and a keen researcher. I'll surely be there to check all the fascinating stuff about one of my favorite authors that this time, somehow, proved invisible, but smellable.



2. I looked forward to reading a biography of this important writer. Instead, I felt as if I was reading literary criticsm. Mr. Johnson had incredible access to Oates, via journals and interviews. Instead of using this access to bring us vibrant insight into the process of creation as Oates brings a book from idea to the page, we get pages of dense literary analysis jumping back in forth in time within one page. Perhaps I need to read the Reader's Digest version...



3. Invisible Writer is throughly researched and well written. I found it very readable, even though I was not a fan of JCO's. I'm still not a fan of hers. Greg Johnson manages to create a fair portrait of JCO as a human who is sometimes prickly and vain. I understand other reviewers' comments that he's too soft on her, but I see it as him being careful to be fair in writing about someone who is still producing some of her best work. Oddly I didn't find that his treatment made her more likeable, only that it made JCO someone with whom I can empathize.

   The greatest question remaining about JCO is the violence, especially sexual, in her work. A childhood sexual incident is mentioned, but it seems rather mundane. Johnson refers to some of the hardships suffered by JCO's family, but those hardships doesn't seem to explain well enough how this quiet, intellectual woman lives in such another world in her writer's imagination. Perhaps that's the intrigue of JCO.




4. 
   I have to admit that I'm not a big fan of Joyce Carol Oates's work (there was a time in my life when I thought her early short stories were fantastic, but her later work never impressed me), but I found this biography extremely satisfying. Johnson writes about Oates as an admiring friend (almost like Boswell to his Johnson), relating all the stages of her life and career: her childhood in Niagara County, NY; her college days; her marriage; teaching in Detroit; her move to Princeton. He writes about Oates's work, of course, but never in an analytical way - it's not a literary biography, but a biography about a writer. He is a most appealing writer in this regard, and he makes us interested in his subject as a person/teacher/writer in a most compelling fashion. Johnson is a very impelling writer; I found the book a real joy to read - and informative, too.



5. A few years ago I broke my own rule in reading this book, and that is I try to concentrate on the works of a writer (or musician or artist) and not the figure who created them. Even so, this was not an impressive work of biography, and served more as an outlet for the fawning Mr. Johnson's furtive desire to churn out a volume of literary criticism than it fulfilled his ambition to detail the life story of a great writer. There is background information on Joyce Carol Oates here, particularly her childhood in upstate New York, but it's far better to leave this woman as the beautifully described "invisible writer" than to deal with Greg Johnson's tiring prose and attempts to delve into why Oates is as she is. Why is comprehension of motivation in the case of Joyce Carol Oates either desirable or possible? Does any theory that could be presented alter one word she had ever penned? I reject the trite of twentieth-century psychological arguments that would have us believe Oates' frequent forays into violent and sexual topics reflect some trauma within her psyche. Human beings are innately complex, and one with a mind like Oates' is imminently so. Joyce Carol Oates is and ought to remain the invisible writer, and Mr. Johnson should stick to compiling and editing her interviews. That's a more valid form of investigation into this living treasure, as well as a more polite one.

5 comments about William Clark and the Shaping of the West.

1. Reads like a Time or People magazine story -- both politically correct and boring.



2. Book came in timly manner as described. Would buy again.



3. I highly recommend this book. William Clark is presented as a highly capable and effective leader. He comes across as a strong and determined soldier, an amazing traveler and explorer, and a friendly man. But his prejudices (like nearly everyone of his generation) against African and Native Americans are described in striking detail.
   
   Lewis and Clark's Voyage of Discovery is only briefly described, and other books have told the full account of this story. Instead Jones concentrates the first half of the book on Clark's developmental years including his military service in various Indian conflicts prior to the expedition and his other preparation just growing up in the wilderness (I grew up in Kentucky, and Jones does a great job talking about Harrodsburg, Locust Grove, and Louisville). A sidelight story of his brother George Rogers Clark's campaigns against the Indians and his later struggles with managing the Northwest and with alcohol and poverty is fascinating. The last half of the book is informative and profoundly disturbing. Holding various administrative positions in Missouri, Clark was often the most powerful man in the West. He was responsible for the US's management of Indian affairs, and Clark signed more than 35 treaties with these tribes. There is a sameness to the ethnic cleansing that Clark helped perpetrate.
   
   Jones kept me engaged throughout the book. Clark doesn't come off as a deep thinker or a complex man. Instead he is a creature of his times, and white Americans were extremely effective in our cruelty as we took control of the West . At times Clark rises above the rest - his treatment of Sacagawea and her son - but at times he is a cold hearted bastard - his relationship with his famous slave York.
   
   Clark lived a long and full life. One particularly enjoyable (and very well done feature of this book) is Jones' willingness to digress as he discusses the many people whose life Clark touches . The list is long and I appreciated these brief descriptions of de Tocqueville, Anthony Wayne, Thomas Hart Benton, Lafayette, William Henry Harrison, Black Hawn, Tecumseh, and many others.



4. 
   What impresses immediately about this biography is the fact that it's a FULL biography and is not just concerned with the famed Lewis & Clark Expedition (only one of the ten chapters deals with it). Clark was born in 1770 (one of his older brothers was George Rogers Clark, the "hero of Vincennes" during the Revolutionary War), and took part in the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794 (it was on this campaign that he first met Meriwether Lewis). Resigning his commission from militia duty two years later, he retired to the family farm in Kentucky (near present-day Louisville). It was here that Lewis contacted Clark in 1803 proposing co-leadership roles in the expedition to the Pacific Ocean. Clark was the chief mapmaker on the journey, and also was preferred over Lewis as the one to negotiate with the Indians.
   
   After the successful completion of this extraordinary exploring venture, Clark was named the principal Indian agent at St. Louis. He established Ft. Osage on the Missouri River and began dealing with Native American concerns, building a reputation as a fair, friendly, and compassionate (for his day) agent. He was present at Prairie du Chien during the late 1820s to help conclude major treaties with various tribes. He died in St. Louis in 1838.
   
   Clark has been praised often as a brave and able explorer, and a successful Indian agent. He was human, though, and there were dark sides to Clark as well, which Jones is willing to point out. Once when he had "trouble" with one of his slaves, he paid a man 50 cents to whip him. Tens of thousands of Native Americans were forcibly removed from their lands while he was Indian agent, most notably the Cherokees, who were made to walk to Oklahoma from their lands in the southeastern US along what became know as the "Trail of Tears" because of the death and misery endured along it. Heroes, like everyone else, are not cut from a single cloth, and whether the reader thinks of Clark as a hero at all, Jones provides a balanced and fair account of Clark's life on which to decide.



5. This is an interesting work on William Clark, of Lewis and Clark fame. Touched on only briefly in most histories, Clark was quite an enigmatic person who figured prominently in early American and early Missouri frontier history. The subtitle, Shaping of the West, is quite appropriate as Clark, as Indian Agent for Missouri, negotiated numerous treaties with the Osage, Missouri, Fox, Sac, Winnebago and other contemporary Indian tribes.
   
   Landon Jones does not spend too much time on the epic, 1803-1806 transcontinental exploration, choosing instead to focus on the other aspects of Clark's life. Brother of General George Rogers Clark, William is intimately connected in the Trans Appalachian West's Indian wars with the Shawnee and various other Lake Country, Northwest Indian tribes which culminated in the Battle of Fallen Timbers. This start sets the tone for the rest of his life which was spent fighting, evaluating, negotiating and moving Indians as America's frontiers rapidly moved across the Eastern and Midwestern United States.
   
   For 50 years Clark and his family are directly involved in the early stages of America's Manifest Destiny, in the sweep of American history from colonial Virginia to the conquest of the West. No one played a larger part in that accomplishment than William Clark.

1 comments about Private Osborne, Massachusetts 23rd Volunteers: Burnside Expedition, Roanoke Island, Second Front Against Richmond.

1. This book is based around fifty-odd letters written by Frederick Osborne from Salem, Massachusetts who served three years in Company F, 23rd Massachusetts Infantry. His brother Stephen also served in Company G and brother Nathan became a career soldier after securing a commission in the Regular Army. Marcotte tries to create a worthwhile book out of Osborne's rather mundane letters with some decent research. Osborne was only under fire at the battles of Roanoke, New Bern, and Whitehall, all in North Carolina in 1862. The 23rd did not see much active service in 1863 and Osborne was transferred to the Veteran Reserve Corps due to a non-combat leg injury sustained in a "scuffle" and missed seeing any action during 1864 before his muster out that fall. Taking Osborne's letters as a basis for the book, Marcotte first prints the letter then explains what you have just read in a text that goes on for 1-3 pages each. He also uses footnotes, but the redundant material of explaining what you have just read, plus information on everything from the lyceum, to Union war aims, to soldier life, could also have been placed in footnotes. If this book was meant for readers who know little about the Civil War, the very limited topic will find few takers. If meant for readers with an interest in the war, most of Marcotte's text is not necessary. This book will interest 1) readers who read accounts by New England soldiers, and, 2) those having an interest in the North Carolina campaign of 1862. Osborne's father was an officer of the Salem Lyceum along with Nathaniel Hawthorne. Unfortunately, there is no evidence why a sixteen year-old son of an educated family would be allowed to enlist in 1861. The book needed a careful proofreader. Major J. Lewis Stackpole is identified as Stockpile, Stackpole and Stockpile again all within a set of notes on page 267. Marcotte makes a game attempt to create a useful book, but given the very ordinary letters that have survived (and it seems many have not) about a campaign that few people in the Civil War community care about, this book has very limited usefulness.

5 comments about Journal of a Trapper: A Hunter's Rambles Among the Wild Regions of the Rocky Mountains, 1834 - 1843.

1. This is by far one of the best books that a fur trade re-enactor can read. It is also a must read for the modern beaver trapper as well. Osborne describes the everyday events of the fur brigades in their heyday. If you are a buckskinner, living historian, trapper or just an old west history buff then this is a MUST have!



2. This well-known and highly-regarded account of the life of a fur trapper in the Rocky Mountain West was born as a corrective by its author of an earlier narrative (Pattie's PERSONAL NARRATIVE) that he thought was filled with inaccuracies. Osborne Russell spent eight years as a trapper in the employ of a number of fur companies before becoming an independent trapper working out of Fort Hall. Fortunately, when he first went to the mountains with Nathaniel Wyeth's expedition in 1834, he began to keep a journal. From his journal he compiled a manuscript for publication; it's from this manuscript that the present book is based on. Osborne had a tendency to run sentences together and to practice unconventional language usage, all of which editor Aubrey Haines retains in this edition. One quickly gets used to it, however.
   
   Russell was an acute observer and, especially in describing his travels, was careful to mention distances and names (streams, mountains, etc.) when possible. Haines has been able to trace Russell's travels accurately, and ten accompanying maps illustrate his wanderings. (Haines's annotations are also numerous and thorough.) He trapped for a time with Jim Bridger, and some of what we've learned about him has direct bearings on Russell's journal accounts. In fact, Russell's book is the major source of information for a number of important events in the Rockies during this time. He also writes about the Indians (especially the Crows, Blackfeet, and Snakes) and much about the animals found in the West. Most of all, he tries hard to convey the life of a trapper - scouting the country, the laying of traps, hunting for game, dealing with the weather and terrain, the rendezvous experience (Russell attended six of them) - all the everyday routines trappers went through. This indeed is the most valuable thing about the book. Russell left the mountains in 1842 and settled in Oregon City; after an unsuccessful run for governor in 1845, he wrote his manuscript for JOURNAL OF A TRAPPER. He got the gold fever in 1848 and went to California, where he became a merchant. After his partner ran off with the company funds, Russell spent the rest of his life trying to pay off the creditors. He died near Placerville in 1892.
   
   This is a must-read book for anyone interested in the fur trade period of the trans-Mississippi West. It's gone through many editions and always seems to stay in print, thank heaven. Highly recommended.



3. There's not much that one can add to this list of great reviews. That's what kind of book this is. I found it remarkable how quickly the landscape changed in those 10 years regarding populations of Native Americans, buffalo, and beaver. In the last few entries we begin to see some of the damage done upon the Native Americans i.e. small pox, alcohol, and lifestyle and it's very depressing. Likewise, Osborne describes the plummet in buffalo populations and the approaching end of the fur quest as beaver populations dwindled and other furbearers were becoming more profitable. These were a rugged bunch of men and this is perhaps the best look into their lives and into the changed and vanished West.



4. Osborne Russell was never one of the elite of the Mountain Men. He spent most of his time in the mundane tasks of cooking, cleaning, and other camp chores while on trapping expeditions. But he wrote one of the best accounts -- certainly one of the most accurate -- of the peregrinations and the exciting events in the life of a Mountain Man. Osborne was in the Northern Rockies between 1834-1943 and was a minor participant in many expeditions and fights with the Blackfeet.
   
   Editor Haines has compiled the routes of Russell's travel in 10 maps and added explanatory notes to his narrative. However, a lot more could be done to make this book more readable. First, there are no chapter or paragraph divisions to ease the task of the reader. It's even hard to keep track of what year Russell is talking about. Secondly, there is room for many, many more footnotes and explanations of what Russell was doing and when and where.
   
   We need a new edition of Russell's work which will make it more accessible to the reader. This old edition is invaluable if you are a student of the Mountain Man, but the casual reader will bog down.
   
   Smallchief



5. This book offers an excellent insite to the period at the tail end of the beaver trapping erra of the "Mountain Men".

3 comments about Return of Assassin: John Wilkes Booth.

1. I read this book from cover to cover the first time I got it and have bought 5 other copies as gifts for friends who have said the SAME THING!!! It is the BEST book I have read since THE LINCOLN CONSPIRACY, and by the way, The last 4 chapters read very much like an extension OF THAT very BOOK!! I won't give any thing away except to say that RETURN OF THE ASSASSIN-JOHN WILKES BOOTH is most assuredly a MUST READ BOOK for every Lincoln Assassination buff Bar none!!!



2. I have read this book from cover to cover since i got it and i am of the firm belief that the John Wilkes Booth Claimant David E. George in 1902 was indeed the real Booth and that he had escaped capture from the law after assassinating President Abraham Lincoln in Fords Theater back in 1865, and that a confederate soldier by the name of 'John' 'William' 'Boyd' was killed in Booths place!.Read this gripping book and judge for yourself!.



3. John Wilkes Booth died as history records he did. He shot Lincoln, and fled, nearly escaping. He was caught, more with luck and manpower than anything else, by Federal troops and detectives in a barn near Port Royal Virginia. After he refused to surrender, one trooper took it upon himself (against orders) to shoot Booth. The bullet went through his spine. Booth was dragged out of the barn, and died a few hours later on the porch of a farmhouse. Booth was a famous man. Everyone recognized him. His autopsy was preformed virtually in public, and his body matched very well with descriptions given of him by various people.
   
   Do not allow yourself to be convinced by amateur, opportunistic and deceitful history. The huge amount of genuine confusion and mystery which still surrounds the assassination of Abraham Lincoln should not be discounted or swept under the rug. Neither should it allow the propagation of such utterly untrue and patently false theories as this.
   
   Yes, for many years, a mummy toured the country, reportedly the corpse of John Wilkes Booth. It was a carnival side-show. That is all this book amounts to.