My brother-in-law recently lent me his copy of this critically-acclaimed book.  

 

I had been waiting for a day in which I could devote a good bulk of time to it because the first fifty pages were riveting.  So Monday (my day off) I was able to knock it out.  The rest of the book proved to be just as captivating as the first part.  It reads like a novel and Swanson does a great job of helping you get a feel for what the mood of the country was like at the close of the Civil War. Although the main character of the book is John Wilkes Booth, he maintains his Lincoln as the hero.

 

In addition to Booth and Lincoln, all kinds of fascinating characters are presented in the book: Booth’s escape partner, David Herold; Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton, who oversaw the manhunt for Booth; Lewis Powell, who dramatically failed in his assassination attempt of Secretary of State William H. Seward; and Thomas Jones, also known as the rebel river ghost, who successfully hid Booth and Herold for a week and then led them on to Virginia.

 

Of course, as a Christian, reading this non-fiction account, I couldn’t help but think about the Providence of God over all circumstances.  J.W. Booth intended for the assassination of Lincoln to reverse the outcome of the war, devastating the North and re-energizing the South.  He envisioned escaping to the South to a hero’s welcome and living out his days in fame and glory in a preserved Confederate nation.

 

Of course, his plans failed miserably.  Though he succeeded in ending Lincoln’s life, the rest of his dream ended up being a nightmare.  Lincoln, in death, became far more loved and revered than in life.  His death didn’t devastate the North, it simply solidified the victory.  The South wasn’t re-energized.  No, the South was afraid.  Southern leaders immediately condemned the assassin’s act and wanted to distance themselves as much as possible from his desperate deed.

 

He didn’t enter the South to a hero’s welcome. Instead, no one wanted to take him in, for fear of future reprisal, even if they were not Lincoln fans.  Instead of living his days out in a preserved Confederate nation, he died on the front porch of a farmhouse in Virginia, just 12 days after shooting the President.

 

No, Booth did not realize his dreams.  What he intended for evil, God meant for good.