1 comments about The History of the German Resistance, 1933-1945.

1. I'm writing this review simply because no one else has, and this story deserves to be known. I pretend to no special expertise on Germany or the Holocaust. I read this book in the early 1980's, and recite my recollection now without having reread it, except for a few parts.
   
   In general, I was surprised at the source of the strongest resistance -- the German military -- and then at the range and simple number of attempts on Hitler's life. From 1938 forward, so it seems, the military was actively conspiring to kill Hitler, almost without let up.
   
   Their foremost concern was, not surprisingly, that Hitler was going to get them into another war that they knew would destroy Germany. Their motivation later in the war and their tactics were in some cases mixed -- they desperately tried to cut a separate peace with the West that would allow them to continue the war with Russia(The Americans wouldn't discuss the topic on those terms, apparently out of fear that rumors would get back to Stalin and he would, like the Russian leaders of 1917, cut their own deal with Germany and withdraw from the war).
   
   Reading this story is not easy; the text is turgid and requires something on the order of a muscular effort to plod on thru. Nonetheless, the effort is worth it if frustrating in other ways. Among the frustrating and recurring patterns are the number of instances in which German officers entered a meeting with Hitler and, perhaps only because they were seated at a less than perfect angle in relation to him, chose to hold off attempting the assassination for fear of failure -- and an ensuing "hardening" of the target. We know from Albert Speer's books that the post 20 July 44 bunker was in fact hardened; all officers were searched on entering. Nonetheless, the effect on the reader is to shout at the book: "Pull the trigger, you fool!"
   
   The other frustrating fact is the simply incredible luck Hitler enjoyed. One effort to kill him consisted of placing a bomb with a chemical trigger on his plane. It was mid-Winter and, as the plane climbed in altitude, the chemical process slowed down with the declining temperature. In fact it froze. Only after landing and Hitler was safely away did the poor bastards refueling his plane take the full brunt of the explosion. One pounds one's head. The lucky GD stiff.
   
   But the real reason to read the book is to get the details of Claus Von Stauffenberg's efforts, culminating on 20 July 44, the famous briefcase that exploded and injured but did not kill Hitler. Stauffenberg himself stopped two prior efforts to kill Hitler with a bomb because Himmler, whom all of the military feared, was not present; the idea was to take them all out at once.
   
   But as news of the plot started to leak out, Stauffenberg realized he needed to act, and he did. His courage and determination -- he lacked one hand and had only three fingers on the other -- override all obstacles, again save for Hitler's spectacular luck. Ten million people died in the next twelve months of the war, so this was not simply a question of when the war ended. And the failure has got to be considered enormous from that point of view.
   
   Stauffenberg's efforts did succeed, in one respect, which will strike some as inadequate and others as important. He showed that even in the darkest moment of Hitler's terror, there were persons of conscience willing to pay for their principles with their life, and that there were Germans who knew of the debacle that had befallen their country -- and the world -- and that they as Germans would do whatever was possible to end it.
   
   "Long live Holy Germany" Stauffenberg said in the face of his firing squad. I am told that the memorial in Germany to Stauffenberg and his co-conspirators is a simple marble block with the date -- 20 July 1944 -- inscribed. Much much more is told here of his actions, and should be told and retold again and again.

1 comments about Retired Dallas Police Chief Jesse Curry Reveals His Personal JFK ASSASSINATION FILE Limited Collectors Edition.

1. As the leading civilian authority on the U.S. Secret Service (and President Kennedy's interaction with the agency), I was much interested in this book by the late DPD Chief Jesse Curry (who drove the lead car in the fateful Dallas motorcade of 11/22/63; the other passengers were Sheriff Bill Decker ***and*** Secret Service agents Win Lawson and Forrest Sorrels, both of whom I spoke to and/ or corresponded with). This is quite a rare book...and a good one, at that. What Chief Curry has to say about the JFK case is VERY important, to say the least. In fact, his work was an important part of my book, as well. Get this! Vince Palamara

No comments about The Lincoln assassination, April 14, 1865;: Investigation of a President's murder uncovers a web of conspiracy (A Focus book).

No comments about Public Passions: The Trial of Shi Jianqiao and the Rise of Popular Sympathy in Republican China.

5 comments about The Greater Good: A Thriller.

1. First off, if you are going to write this genre, then recognize that there are people out there who know weapons, know the law and know unarmed combat. This books fails in all of those details.
   
   It is not that it is poorly written, but we have your basic corrupt republican administartion interested in buying bullets and expanding the "evil" military. They want to keep a terrible secret from getting loose.
   
   Then there is a cold blooded assassin, who starts out good, but makes dumb mistake after dumb mistake.
   
   There is the idealistic jornalist that starts running for her life around page 200.
   
   And the billionaire bad guys and biillionaire good guys. I'm sure this novel appealed to the New York publishing establishment's world view--does the word cliche mean anything?
   
   Finally, when we have a chance for an interesting ending, the author pulls a rabbit out of the hat to make everything better.
   
   This plot was terribly predictable.



2. The author has more than enough promising ingredients to whip up a superior thriller - a heavy-duty international villain deploying a hit man to do in the VP of the U.S. in order to protect skullduggery at the highest levels of government, an innocent little journalist pursued by a couple platoons of ruthless killers trying to retrieve a video tape, and a devoted father seeking his long-lost daughter. But nothing that happens is all that novel or suspenseful. Everybody chases around until the killers manage to wipe each other out, allowing our heroine to deliver the video tape to some good guys who have the wherewithal to see that the corrupt pols get what they deserve. At least that's the implication, since just how this comes about is not revealed.



3. I read a lot of thrillers, and this debut by Casey Moreton disappointed me. As a previous reviewer pointed out, there is very little in this plot that is original or suspenseful. It is instead consists of elements recycled from a lot of previous thrillers -- a corrupt President, a reformed hit-man, a father looking for his lost daughter, etc.
   
   The most problematic aspect of this book is the lack of a central character. The author keeps jumping around from person to person, changing narrative perspectives. I therefore had no idea who the "hero" of this novel was supposed to be. To me, it's hard to write a good suspense novel unless you have a sympathetic central character, and there really isn't one in this novel.
   
   If you like suspense novels, I recommend reading Harlan Coben or CJ Box instead.



4. I loved the union of stories and never quite knew where the author was taking me. Very imaginative story.



5. If you can stand really really really bad writing ("He swayed with every turn, his spine absorbing each anomoly the road's surface had to offer"), the story is okay.

No comments about The JFK Assassination Debate: Lone Gunman Versus Conspiracy.

5 comments about Not in Your Lifetime.

1. As far as all facets of the JFK Assassination with objectivity, you won't find a finer book than this. Summers is open-minded, yet, cautious, so he isn't a conspiracy theorist or a debunker, In other words he is one great reporter. Clearly, from Dealey Plaza-to-Parkland Hospital-Bethesda Naval Hospital-Mexico City-New Orleans and the secret war against Fidel..there is plenty of tangible evidence in each area for conspiracy. The new material on Mexico City and a death bed confession from one of the well-connected players in the covert apparatus against Castro is featured.



2. This book is a completely revised and updated version of Anthony Summer's classic "Conspiracy", which was published in 1980 following a congressional committee's findings that there was a conspiracy to kill President John F. Kennedy. When it was released "Conspiracy" won rave reviews from such prestigious publications as Newsweek, The Washington Post, and The New York Times, and former Kennedy aides such as Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. and Pierre Salinger praised Summers for his thorough research and sensible approach to the problem. It also won the coveted "Golden Dagger" award as the best "true crime" book of 1980. Although there have been many "pro-conspiracy" books written on the Kennedy assassination, this book is BY FAR the best-written, most reliable, and most persuasive. Summers, a respected investigative reporter for the British Broadcasting Company (BBC), did an exhaustive, years-long investigation into the Kennedy assassination. In this book he presents the various groups in America which had a good reason to try and kill Kennedy in 1963 - the mafia, the anti-Castro forces, rogue government agents, and of course Lee Harvey Oswald himself - and then presents the evidence he found for a conspiracy. Wisely, Summers doesn't advocate any single theory - he simply presents the evidence and leaves it to the reader to decide. The result is easily the best single-volume "pro-conspiracy" tome on the JFK assassination, and if you could only read one "pro-conspiracy" book this should definitely be it. However, there are always two sides to every story - and I would also strongly recommend reading Gerald Posner's "Case Closed" to get the single best "anti-conspiracy" book. After reading "Not In Your Lifetime" and "Case Closed" you will have seen the best and most persuasive arguments for and against a conspiracy to assassinate President Kennedy. Highly Recommended!



3. This work is certainly one of the best investigations into the murder of President Kennedy.
   It is a new version of his former book 'Conspiracy'.

   Although the author admits that he could not find the ultimate truth, he believes that Lee Harvey Oswald was framed by an alliance of anti-Castro militants, the Mafia and members of the CIA. He could not find out if or not Oswald was a low level CIA agent himself. The author believes however that Oswald was used by U.S. intelligence without his knowledge.

   The author also proves convincingly that the version of the killing proclaimed by the Warren Commission is untenable.

   This book is a real thriller about a diabolic masterstroke. The real protagonists behind the curtain could load all the suspicions on one person, whom they then ordered to be killed. The whole plot was buried by the Warren Commission.

   A masterly investigation.




4. This book by Anthony Summers is the best overview available regarding the JFK assassination and the case for conspiracy. Summers comes across as a very objective writer, as well an investigator who made a major effort to track down those who could shed light on the key events. Although believing that a conspiracy existed, and that Oswald was a patsy, he also clearly spells out the evidence, which is quite convincing, that Oswald was also involved in it somehow--given, for example, some lies that Oswald told his questioners after he was arrested on November 22. Summers presents more solid information than just about any other book on the topic. Many witnesses that the Warren Commission ignored are covered in this book. The result is a compelling case that there was a conspiracy in the JFK assassination. This book contains the information that any objective person should be willing to think about before coming to a conclusion about the case. If you bypass this book, you will likely miss some key information required to make a reasoned judgement about what happened in Dallas that day.



5. Good, but ULTIMATE SACRIFICE the best book ever
   
   While I thought this book was worthwhile in many respects, ULTIMATE SACRIFICE is simply the best book ever on the JFK assassination.Still, worth your time.
   
   Vince Palamara-JFK/ Secret Service expert (History Channel, author of two books, in over 30 other author's books, etc.)
   Pittsburgh, PA
   
   BEST JFK ASSASSINATION BOOK: ULTIMATE SACRIFICE
   BEST JFK SECRET SERVICE BOOK: SURVIVOR'S GUILT BY YOURS TRULY :)

No comments about Assassination at Sarajevo: The Spark That Started World War I (Snapshots in History).

5 comments about Passion for Truth: From Finding JFK's Single Bullet to Questioning Anita Hill to Impeaching Clinton.

1. As a law school grad, political junkie and resident of a Philly suburb, I have watched Arlen Specter with great interest over the years. There was always something intriguing about him, something more that he had as compared to the typical political hack. One would wait for his turn as the questioner in senate hearings. Why? For me, it was to watch a superior intellect at work. Specter is, it seems to me, often ill at ease when playing the politician in public, and far more at home as the truth seeker.
   His book is similar. Anyone looking for a Senate veterans personal view of his colleagues or a political manifesto will not find it. What they will find is a bit like Specter himself, a little awkward in personality, but far beyond most in his ability to keep put the political from clouding the facts and evidence. His book shows how this ability, and willingness to seek the truth has at times placed him in the position of being both useful and frustrating to those in his own party with far more strident agendas, but vilified by those who in other camps who "never let the facts get in the way of a good argument".
   This book is worth reading if for no other reason than to see the Clarence Thomas hearings and Anita Hill's questioning from Specters' vantage point.
   I did feel the treatment of the Clinton Impeachment was disappointing, as I was hoping for a more insightful legal analysis from a former DA and long time Senator. His habit of claiming credit for a host of little occurences seemed disingenuous, but not unlike Arlen in person. I guess one could argue that he was more taking responsibility than taking credit, but I think not.
   Specter is a maverick, and it is clear he holds "the Truth" in high regard. How refreshing! His intellect and independence might be welcome on the Supreme Court one day.



2. I really enjoyed this book ... it was really worth the read ...



3. Just one question/comment.
   If Specter has such a "Passion for Truth", why did he knowingly B.S. us with his disgraceful "magic bullet theory"?
   He KNEW that Kennedy had a wound in his BACK, yet said it was in his "neck".
   If Specter doesnt know a man's back from a man's neck, can we believe that he has any talent for recognizing and telling the "truth"?
   After all, Specter helped Ira Einhorn,( a man who killed a woman and left her decaying body in a chest in his apartment) to escape the law....until the law caught up with him (Einhorn).
   How funny, (in an unfunny way), that the man who created THE biggest political lie in history (the magic bullet theory), named his book "a passion for TRUTH".
   If the title "Passion for truth" and the name "Arlen Specter" arent an oxymoron, I dont know what is.
   Mr Specter, "truth" is in the eye of the beholder. And when you worked for the Warren Commission, contact lenses woud have served you well. I mean no disrespect, sir.
   I WILL give credit to Mr Specter for being one of the more compassionate Senators, when it comes to protecting the welfare of Animals. For that, I thank Him. And I commend him.
   He has done good in that area. Thank you Sir.
   God Bless You for caring about Animals. I thank you on their behalf.



4. Virtually all conspiracy theorists who are of the opinion that President John F. Kennedy met his violent death on November 22, 1963, as the result of an evil, elaborate plot orchestrated and carried out by _________ (the roster of potential assassins and conspirators is nearly endless to use in this blank space), are also of the opinion that Mr. Arlen Specter and the Warren Commission he worked for in the year 1964 were all wet and/or full of stinky fecal matter when it comes to the three words that have sparked debate the world over since the President's assassination -- the "Single-Bullet Theory".
   
   But if CTers could shake loose the forever-strangling "All Evidence In The JFK Case Must Have Been Faked And/Or Tampered With" albatross that hangs around their necks, they could easily see that any theory that needs to be substituted for the Single-Bullet Conclusion lacks all credibility and can easily be shot full of holes via "common sense" alone.
   
   Forgive the heavy dose of sarcasm that follows, but I think it is appropriate given the subject matter. .... I've put on my Arlen Specter hat when writing the comments below, which are comments that serve as a "faux notebook" of Mr. Specter's in a sense, as Arlen tries to figure out what the devil really occurred on Elm Street in Dallas, Texas, on 11/22/63. (And for the sake of my imaginary "Specter Notes", the dreaded "SBT" is NOT to be considered as an option for even a brief moment.)
   
   I can just hear Mr. Specter now, as he attempts to explain the simultaneous wounding of JFK and Governor John B. Connally in a "Non-SBT" manner -- which, of course, would be in a manner that needs to reconcile an incredible THREE-SHOTS-LOOK-LIKE-ONE shooting that the Houdini-like riflemen seemingly pulled off in Dealey Plaza.
   
   In such a make-believe scenario, Arlen's notebook just might be filled with comments like this (as of early September 1964, just before the Commission hands over its Final Report to President Johnson):
   
   "We here at the Warren Commission have come to the conclusion that President Kennedy and Governor Connally were struck by three separate bullets (not counting the JFK head shot). These three bullets all disappeared...somehow...without a single one being recovered and placed into evidence.
   
   "Re. the subject of bullets -- The Commission discounts Bullet #CE399 as being connected to the actual shooting in any fashion whatsoever....because we've been told by people with far greater minds and resources than that which the Commission possesses that Bullet 399 was "planted" in Parkland Hospital by some unknown conspirator in order to mislead the investigators and in order to falsely implicate one Lee Harvey Oswald in the President's demise.
   
   "Therefore, the Commission has no choice but to accept this rumor of bullet-planting as being an ironclad, undeniable "fact"....even though the Commission has no solid, verifiable evidence to back up such allegations of evidence tampering. But, I'm obliged to go with the flow and just assume that said bullet was a plant. Oh, well. So be it.
   
   "We at the Commission are at a loss to explain where all of these three missing projectiles vanished to. But I guess we'll just have to assume that they all just magically evaporated into a puff of smoke just after the THREE (unknown and unseen) separate gunmen squeezed off these rounds into the two victims.
   
   "We at the Commission are also at a loss to explain just HOW the bullet which entered Mr. Connally's back created a keyhole-shaped, elongated entry wound without having hit President Kennedy (or some solid object) first. But, we'll just have to assume, I guess, that the bullet started tumbling in mid-air after having hit nothing but Dallas, Texas, atmosphere between the rifleman's weapon and the Governor's back.
   
   "Also...we at the WC are somewhat stumped as to WHY two separate bullets completely stopped after striking JFK's neck and back, with neither bullet causing an exit wound after entering, and with neither of these two bullets striking any hard or bony substances within the President's body. Another obligatory "Oh, well" is needed here it would appear. (Along with a vigorous shrugging of the shoulders, signifying complete and utter bewilderment re. this matter, a matter that all CTers think is totally unimportant and, therefore, doesn't mean a darn thing.)
   
   "The rest of the WC staff and I are also unable to explain the fact that the autopsy report (signed by three doctors) unambiguously determined that the bullet which struck JFK in his upper back positively emerged from the front of his neck and then went .... well .... where the hell did it go? It must have gone someplace. But I've been told by CTers that I can't rely on a "Single-Bullet Conclusion"; so the answer must rest elsewhere.
   
   "And we know the bullet did not do any damage to the interior of the limousine, because the FBI's Bob Frazier testified to that fact during our interview with him. (Note -- Check on Mr. Robert A. Frazier's credibility...he may be "in" on the "cover-up" too, just like hundreds of others like him, who are bent on keeping the truth of JFK's death a secret no matter what.)
   
   "Oh well, we'll just leave this additional little problem to greater minds than the WC's in future generations. For right now, I'll just pretend this snafu re. the autopsy report (saying that a bullet exited JFK's throat) doesn't exist at all.
   
   "We at the WC are also a little puzzled as to HOW in the world Governor Connally was struck by a separate shot in the back, even though he was seated directly in front of JFK in the car. Given the bullet's entry point on Mr. Connally's back and its downward and slightly right-to-left course through JBC's body, it would seem to us at the Commission that this bullet would have probably had to have passed through someone sitting behind the Governor prior to striking Mr. Connally. But, CTers have told us that this one-bullet scenario must be impossible...so I guess we'll have to think of a non-SBT way for this bullet to get to Connally by not travelling through the man sitting behind JBC. Oh well...we'll try another theory I guess.
   
   "Another "WC Stumper" for us dumbbells in Washington is the amazing "lining up" of the three wounds on the two victims -- with the back wounds on JFK and JBC, plus the wound on the front of JFK's neck, seemingly lining up pretty doggone close to being at an approx. 17-degree downward angle through the men, which is, as it turns out by gosh, an angle that leads back to a 6th-Floor window in a building where a certain rifle with the serial number "C2766" was found at 1:22 PM on November 22 (just 52 minutes after JFK & JBC were shot by these {at least} three separate gunmen in Dealey Plaza). Oh well, just a pure coincidence I guess. I'll mark it down as such a coincidence...but I want these incredible shooters/marksmen on MY side in the next war, by golly, I'll tell ya that right now!
   
   "We at the Commission, after looking long and hard at the Abraham Zapruder home movie of the assassination, are also a tad bit perplexed at just exactly HOW these THREE SEPARATE (ace) shooters in Dallas were able to fire their respective weapons in perfect, or near-perfect, synchronization from their three separate locations within Dealey Plaza so to have struck the two victims with these three shots/bullets at a point in time (per the Zapruder home movie) to make it appear that both men were struck initially by bullets at an identical point in time.
   
   "Note -- Maybe the Zapruder film has been "altered" in some manner....consult a certain "Mr. Fetzer" for further info on this possibility; because, sans "alteration" of said motion picture and sans a whole bunch of people running around covering up the real evidence, it looks to the Commission as if this 3-bullet scenario is a real turd of an idea.
   
   "The WC is also in a quandary over the NAA analysis, which concluded that the Connally wrist fragments "most likely" came from bullet CE399 found at Parkland. But, if the WC is to believe the words of valid and bona fide CT researchers who have studied this case long and hard, then CE399, as I discussed earlier, was "planted" by evil henchmen in the hospital.
   
   "Note -- Figure out a way to make myself believe that there was ANY way on this Earth that some crazy, suicidal conspirator(s) would have had a desire to risk blowing the conspiracy plot wide open by planting a bullet on a Parkland stretcher before 2:00 PM (CST) on 11/22/63, a time when Governor Connally was still in the operating room and, hence, no "plotters" had the slightest friggin' idea where all the "real" bullets connected with the assassination were located. Then...call Vince Bugliosi in Minnesota or L.A. -- I need to talk to someone with a grip on reality here."*
   
   * = Paraphrased 1964 transcript of Arlen Specter's probable notes re. an SBT alternative. Exact verbiage may vary from any real-life notes of Mr. Specter's....but, rest assured, whatever the final verbatim version of such a notebook would have looked like, the end result would have been undoubtedly just as laughable and impossibly ridiculous.
   
   -----------------------
   
   The Single-Bullet Theory is so obviously the most logical (and almost certainly correct) version of the wounding of both JFK and John Connally....and for so many different and interconnected reasons (most of which are outlined in tongue-in-cheek style above).
   
   Even the "evidence" which ISN'T present in the JFK murder case (but SHOULD definitely be in existence if the SBT is a false scenario) is telling us that the Commission's single-bullet conclusion almost HAS to be accurate -- e.g., no bullets found in the victims; no other bullets in evidence except CE399; no damage to the limo's back-seat areas; plus: virtually no damage done to the interior portions of JFK's upper back and neck (i.e., no broken bones and no hard, bony structures being struck by either of the TWO projectiles that CTers believe entered these regions of the President's body and failed to exit).
   
   The total absence of injuries within Kennedy's neck and back is enough all by itself to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that just a single bullet made a clean getaway through JFK's body...without pausing to do any substantial damage whatsoever.
   
   It's always been amazing to me that so many people who bash Mr. Specter and the SBT can then seemingly believe in some "alternate" scenario that is far more fanciful and full of implausibilities and complications and vanishing bullets than is the Single-Bullet Conclusion. (And there MUST be a "correct alternate theory" if the SBT is untrue; so what the heck is it?! Conspiracists never say, of course.)
   
   In short, those who disbelieve the SBT are, by default, automatically choosing to believe some OTHER theory re. the wounding of President Kennedy and Governor Connally. And ANY alternate theory in this matter falls way, way short in the common-sense and realistic departments (not to mention in the "physical evidence" category as well).
   
   Only an outright fool could believe in an "alternate" theory to the SBT. Let's face it, the shooting DID occur -- these two men WERE injured on November 22nd in Dallas -- and somebody WAS shooting at them.
   
   And I shall ask again -- Lacking the SBT, what is the correct shooting scenario to account for the seven wounds sustained by JFK and JBC? No CTer ever wants to tackle that perfectly-valid question. Which says a lot, IMO; because no conspiracy theorist can answer that question without making a total goof out of himself.
   
   But even if one day in the year 2099 (when some brave CTer decides to put forth an alternate theory that he/she thinks debunks the SBT once and for all), one thing's still a certainty: No other theory postulated could possibly match the EVIDENCE and, above all, the COMMON SENSE that the SBT matches and possesses.
   
   -----------------------
   
   "You call it the {Single-Bullet} theory; I call it the 'conclusion'; it was a theory until we found the facts; that's why I refer to it as the 'Single-Bullet Conclusion'." -- Arlen Specter



5. Well, it's probably the ultimate in Washington narcissism to review your own work, but it seemed important to note for the record - now six years after initial publication - that Passion for Truth remains vital and relevant. Just last week, The New Yorker magazine quoted and cited the book extensively in a major piece on Sen. Specter, who now chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee. The book, alas, would have drawn far more initial attention if it had come out after the Senator took his larger role on the national stage. But it's still all there, and just as important and insightful.

3 comments about American Gothic: The Story of America's Legendary Theatrical Family-Junius, Edwin, and John Wilkes Booth.

1. The older Booth brothers were a hard act to follow, being classical and Shakespearean actors of the highest degree. Edwin played Hamlet upteen times on stage. John felt second best and left out of the major plays and had to seek his fame in another way. He is now called American Brutus, but I beg to differ: Booth was in Harper's Ferry, Virginia, (now West Virginia) in 1863 and fell in love with the surroundings. I have seen this special place in a few movies since my boys and I were there. It is a distinctly different place from any other. Once you've been there, you will never forget every little detail. It is that historical and meaninful in this country's war zone. I have been interested in Lincoln's assassination for over twenty years, mainly because they hanged Mary Surrat, the first woman to be officially killed in this manner. It was at her boardinghouse where the conspirators met to discuss and plan killing Lincoln and others in his Cabinet.
   
   John Wilkes Booth, from a prominent acting family, was a Confederacy sympathizer. But that in itself does not make him guilty. He was denied his right to a trial. Most of the South were more than a little upset when Lincoln was inaugurated for the second time. They refused to accept him as "our" President. We had Jefferson Davis who married Zachary Taylor's daughter. I don't believe old Zach was a Rebel. "Killing Lincoln' as a one-man theatrical presentation, written by Amy Russell, originally premiered in Toronto, Canada. I emphatized with the young actor (who I thought was an old man, as he is such a good actor) who said, "I enjoyed playing off you." I told him the reason he held my complete attention was due to the fact that I had read so much about Lincoln and also sympathized with Booth's reasoning.
   
   Lincoln as it so happens was a Shakespeare fan and enjoyed going to Ford's Theatre. John Wilkes Booth (Brutus) as one of the most promising young Shakespearean actors of his day. Booth considered Lincoln an "American Caesar." He is sometimes called Booth "American Brutus," the title of another Booth book I have reviewed. He was an extremely handsome man and, even though he broke his leg in the leap to the stage (instead of running down the back stairs), he eluded capture with the help of a Dr. Mudd for twelve days. He was not given a chance to tell his side and the complex, misleading reasons he did what he did. That took fortitude! He did not act alone! That's a major issue. He was cornered in that barn like an animal and burned (at the stake) by the vigilante cowards. He was never close to Lincoln as Brutus was to Jesus so the title is deceiving. He was merely a misinformed player who ended up "on his own" after the dasdardly deed. He deserves better than to be called a devil. To some, he was an avenging angel. He achieved fame in his own way, though there have been romors thathe did not die in the fire but survied to live another day and another life. That has not been confirmed, but Eric will delve through the history and tell us what really happened. And why.



2. I find this book to be very helpful in my investigations of understanding the Booth family. Those whom are interested should know it's like a Shakespeare tradgedy. I recommend this book to anyone studying John Wilkes Booth.



3. As the two reviews below demonstrate, many people might read this book just to find out more about Lincoln's assassin. From the post-Civil War era to this day, "assassin" is the only translation of the name "Booth" that most people understand.
   
   But Gene Smith gives us the rest of the story of a theatrical "dynasty", and the depth of his research is amazing, at least in my opinion. Yes, there were other Booths besides John Wilkes, and other reasons for memorializing this family besides Presidential death. No one today remembers the father, Junius Brutus Booth, a wonderfully boisterous, crazy old drunk and ground-breaking actor who was adulated like a rock star in his time. Edwin and John, two out of the nine or ten (legitimate and illegitimate) progeny of JBB, surpassed their father, and Edwin has been called the greatest American tragedian who ever lived.
   
   Like any biographer, Mr. Smith puts flesh on these characters, with a particular eye toward trying to rehabilitate John. It is a lyrical, touching, sympathetic story full of little-known details: John's body finally being released to his mother from its secret basement hole for reburial in the family plot; Edwin burning his brother's theatrical trunk and every costume and prop in it, under the rueful eyes of a long-time servant; the spontaneous, disastrous collapse of the original Ford's Theater building, seemingly at the moment of the death of Edwin; a certain hummock in the median strip of a Virginia freeway, the site of the house on whose porch the "unfortunate" Johnny sucked his life away.
   
   But Mr. Smith doesn't really answer the question of why Johnny did it. His (purported) fiancee, Lucy Hale, was a Yankee. John's animus seemed to be directed at Lincoln himself rather than the U.S. Republic. Maybe it was partly theatrics and partly the family tendency toward insanity.