The traditional story of Abraham Lincoln's assassination is littered with errors, some of which are accidental while others are willful. Too often, authors describe Lincoln's assassination rather than explain it. The current work is an attempt to explain the underlying causes of Lincoln's assassination and expose those who aided and abetted John Wilkes Booth in his plan to remove Lincoln from office and why.
Winner of the 2001 The Lincoln Group of New York's Award of Achievement A History Book Club Selection The assassination of Abraham Lincoln is usually told as a tale of a lone deranged actor who struck from a twisted lust for revenge. This is not only too simple an explanation; Blood on the Moon reveals that it is completely wrong. John Wilkes Booth was neither mad nor alone in his act of murder. He received the help of many, not the least of whom was Dr. Samuel Alexander Mudd, the Charles County physician who has been portrayed as the innocent victim of a vengeful government. Booth was also aided by the Confederate leadership in Richmond. As he made his plans to strike at Lincoln, Booth was in contact with key members of the Confederate underground, and after the assassination these same forces used all of their resources to attempt his escape. Noted Lincoln authority Edward Steers Jr. introduces the cast of characters in this ill-fated drama, he explores why they were so willing to help pull the trigger, and corrects the many misconceptions surrounding this defining moment that changed American history. After completing an acclaimed career as a research scientist at the National Institutes of Health, Edward Steers Jr. has turned his research skills to the Lincoln assassination. He is the author of several books about the president, including The Trial.
In the more than 140 years since his death, Abraham Lincoln has become America's most revered president. The mythmaking about this self-made man began early, some of it starting during his campaign for the presidency in 1860. As an American icon, Lincoln has been the subject of speculation and inquiry as authors and researchers have examined every aspect—personal and professional—of the president's life. In Lincoln Legends, noted historian and Lincoln expert Edward Steers Jr. carefully scrutinizes some of the most notorious tall tales and distorted ideas about America's sixteenth president. These inaccuracies and speculations about Lincoln's personal and professional life abound. Did he write his greatest speech on the back of an envelope on the way to Gettysburg? Did Lincoln appear before a congressional committee to defend his wife against charges of treason? Was he an illegitimate child? Did Lincoln have romantic encounters with women other than his wife? Did he have love affairs with men? What really happened in the weeks leading up to April 14, 1865, and in the aftermath of Lincoln's tragic assassination? Lincoln Legends evaluates the evidence on all sides of the many heated debates about the Great Emancipator. Not only does Steers weigh the merits of all relevant arguments and interpretations, but he also traces the often fascinating evolution of flawed theories about Lincoln and uncovers the motivations of the individuals—occasionally sincere but more often cynical, self-serving, and nefarious—who are responsible for their dispersal. Based on extensive primary research, the conclusions in Lincoln Legends will settle many of the enduring questions and persistent myths about Lincoln's life once and for all. Steers leaves us with a clearer image of Abraham Lincoln as a man, as an exceptionally effective president, and as a deserving recipient of the nation's admiration.
A “lively yet thoroughly researched” look at persistent myths and stubborn scams, and how historians try to combat them (The Courier-Journal). Did a collector with a knack for making sensational discoveries really find the first document ever printed in America? Did Hitler actually pen a revealing set of diaries? Has Jesus’ burial cloth survived the ages? Can the shocking true account of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination be found in lost pages from his murderer’s diary? Napoleon famously observed that “history is a set of lies agreed upon,” and Edward Steers Jr. investigates six of the most amazing frauds ever to gain wide acceptance in this engrossing book. Hoax examines the legitimacy of the Shroud of Turin, perhaps the most hotly debated relic in all of Christianity, and the fossils purported to confirm humanity’s “missing link,” the Piltdown Man. Steers also discusses two remarkable forgeries, the Hitler diaries and the “Oath of a Freeman,” and famous conspiracy theories alleging that Franklin D. Roosevelt had prior knowledge of the planned attack on Pearl Harbor and that the details of Lincoln’s assassination are recorded in missing pages from John Wilkes Booth’s journal. The controversies that Steers presents show that there are two major factors involved in the success of a hoax or forgery—greed and the desire to believe. Though all of the counterfeits and conspiracies featured in Hoax have been scientifically debunked, some remain fixed in many people’s minds as truth. As Steers points out, the success of these frauds highlights a disturbing fact: If true history fails to entertain the public, it is likely to be ignored or forgotten.
Did Abraham Lincoln hate his father so much that he would not visit him on his deathbed or buy him a tombstone? Is it true that Ann Rutledge, who died tragically young, was the real love of his life? Did he order the murder of thirty-eight Dakota Sioux warriors because of his hatred of Native Americans? Noted historian and Lincoln expert Edward Steers Jr. sets the record straight in this engaging and authoritative book, analyzing the facts and clarifying some of the most prominent misconceptions about the sixteenth president's life. He investigates claims that have found a foothold in mainstream lore, ranging from the contention that Lincoln had a troubled and perhaps scandalous early adulthood in Springfield, to more serious attacks on his character, such as the accusation that he was reluctant to emancipate enslaved people and held racist beliefs. Drawing on his background in health science, Steers also examines allegations that Lincoln suffered numerous illnesses -- from endocrine disorders to syphilis. Much of the recent revisionist history about Abraham Lincoln relies on selective sources that provide a false image of the man. His law partner of twenty-one years, close friend, and early biographer William Herndon described Lincoln as "the most shut-mouthed man" he ever knew, and yet volumes have been written on Lincoln's musings, beliefs, and private thoughts in general. His life and deeds have been heavily researched, interpreted, and reinterpreted time and again until the interpretations themselves have become untrustworthy. In this book, Steers relies on primary textual evidence to address each legend at the source and maintains caution when reviewing the potentially biased reminiscences of historic figures close to the president. The result is a fascinating forensic exploration of some of the persistent hoaxes and myths related to America's most revered president.
Did a collector with a knack for making sensational discoveries really find the first document ever printed in America? Did Adolf Hitler actually pen a revealing multivolume set of diaries? Has Jesus of Nazareth's burial cloth survived the ages? Can the shocking true account of Abraham Lincoln's assassination be found in lost pages from his murderer's diary? Napoleon famously observed that "history is a set of lies agreed upon," and Edward Steers Jr. investigates six of the most amazing frauds ever to gain wide acceptance in this engrossing book. Hoax examines the legitimacy of the Shroud of Turin, perhaps the most hotly debated relic in all of Christianity, and the fossils purported to confirm humanity's "missing link," the Piltdown Man. Steers also discusses two remarkable forgeries, the Hitler diaries and the "Oath of a Freeman," and famous conspiracy theories alleging that Franklin D. Roosevelt had prior knowledge of the planned attack on Pearl Harbor and that the details of Lincoln's assassination are recorded in missing pages from John Wilkes Booth's journal. The controversies that Steers presents show that there are two major factors involved in the success of a hoax or forgery -- greed and the desire to believe. Though all of the counterfeits and conspiracies featured in Hoax have been scientifically debunked, some remain fixed in many people's minds as truth. As Steers points out, the success of these frauds highlights a disturbing fact: If true history fails to entertain the public, it is likely to be ignored or forgotten.
Diverse perspectives on Lincoln’s assassination, its aftermath, and its place in national memory from some of today’s leading Lincoln scholars. The assassination of President Abraham Lincoln remains one of the most significant events in US history. It continues to attract the interest of scholars, writers, and armchair historians, ranging from painstaking new research to wild-eyed speculation. Now leading scholars of Lincoln and his murder offer in one volume their most salient studies and arguments about the assassination, its aftermath, the extraordinary—and complicated—public reaction, and the iconography that Lincoln’s murder and deification inspired. Contributors also offer the latest accounts of the pursuit, prosecution, and punishment of the conspirators. Everything from graphic tributes to religious sermons, to spontaneous outbursts on the nation’s city streets, to emotional mass-mourning at carefully organized funerals, as well as the imposition of military jurisprudence to try the conspirators, is examined in the light of fresh evidence and insightful analysis. Contributing to this volume are some of the finest scholars specializing in Lincoln’s assassination. All have earned well-deserved reputations for the quality of their research, their originality, and their writing. In addition to the editors, contributors include Thomas R. Turner, Edward Steers Jr., Michael W. Kauffman, Thomas P. Lowry, Richard E. Sloan, Elizabeth D. Leonard, and Richard Nelson Current.
“In this encyclopedia of Lincoln’s assassination, Edward Steers, Jr., the foremost scholar of the assassination, has assembled knowledge of the subject scattered in documents and writings over a period of nearly a century and a half, organized it authoritatively and comprehensively, and written about it clearly.” —William Hanchett, author of Out of the Wilderness: The Life of Abraham Lincoln The definitive A-to-Z reference to the Abraham Lincoln assassination by Edward Steers, author of Blood on the Moon: The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln. With a foreword by Manhunt author James L. Swanson.
During his 25 months of service, Kennedy rose to the rank of captain serving on brigade staff fighting in the Teche bayous of Louisiana at Bisland and Port Hudson, before moving to the Shenandoah Valley where he saw action at the battles of Winchester, Fisher's Hill, and Cedar Creek.
When Ted Hendricks, an American pilot during WWII, is shot down over occupied France while on a bomb mission, an underground resistance cell comes to his rescue. HendricksA[a¬a[ escape to England is put on hold when the resistance group receives orders to rescue two British SOE agents captured by the Gestapo. Sent to France to recover top-secret German Enigma codes, the captured agents must be rescued at all cost before the Gestapo torture them into revealing information. Hendricks joins the group in a daring daylight ambush, and six lives are forever changed as a result of the bloody attack in the small French village of Roye.
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