I think you will love this book. If history is what you want and Lincoln and the Civil War are your passions, then James Swanson has brought to life a period that is central to the American story. I have always found it amazing that some authors can take extraordinary historical events and make them as boring as watching wet paint dry, while others can put you right into the event. You feel you are there, and you can't put the book down until you are finished. This is what Bloody Crimes does for you.
When Swanson is done, you will understand the Civil War, and you will understand not just Lincoln but his counterpart, Jefferson Davis the President of the Confederacy. Davis was a man who many felt was destined to be President of the United States, West Point educated, an innovator who changed the army with his concepts of command and control before leaving for his position in the South.
In the early days of April 1865 word came to Lincoln that the North was ready to invade Richmond, Virginia, it had never happened before in four long years of fighting. President Davis was informed that you have to get out of Richmond, and get out now. Davis knew there were still things he had to do would take another 24 hours, but he instructed his wife to get ready to leave within hours.
As she was leaving she embraced him. He told her, if I live, you can comfort me when the struggle is ended, and then realizing how dire the situation was, he told her, I do not expect to survive the destruction of the constitutional liberty. The poignancy of the departure is striking. Even though most readers are dedicated to Lincoln and the sacredness of his mission, the author is able to get you into both corners sympathizing with both sides.
If one reads serious history, then you realize that true history may not be as it is portrayed in the history books. History is written by the victors, and so the losers are relegated to being bad guys no matter what the real story is. In this book some of the amazing things you will learn include:
* On April 4th, 1865 a week before his death, Lincoln is getting ready to enter Richmond himself and he thinks to himself, that thank God, he has lived to see the end to this horrid dream for four years, and now the nightmare is gone.
* In the midst of this horror show Lincoln talks about a man who came to visit him, and asked for an ambassadorship. Lincoln told him he could not accommodate him. He then asked to become a minister somewhere; Lincoln could not help him out. Well what about a civil service job - can't do it.
The man left after Lincoln gave him a pair of trousers. Even amongst the pain and horror of the war, Lincoln kept his sense of humor.
* Richmond has been taken, the city severely damaged, burned and looted. Lincoln accompanied by just a dozen soldiers takes a small boat to Richmond. Getting off the boat he quickly is seen by a handful of former slaves. The group enlarges within seconds, and they kneel down to him, grabbing his pants leg. Lincoln looks at them and tells them, not to kneel down to him, that is not right. Kneel only to God. He Lincoln, is only God's instrument, but they may rest assured that as long as he lives, no one shall put a shackle on their limbs, and they shall have the rights that God has given to every other free man, and citizen of the Republic.
* Jefferson Davis was a former Secretary of War in the American government. Learned, educated, the possessor of a vast library, he revered George Washington and the founding fathers. He was an able and elegant statesman. His library numbered books in the thousands, and Davis had studied every one of them.
* Lincoln meanwhile couldn't afford books, so he read the same books narrowly, and deeply. He had read Shakespeare, the Bible, politics and history, until he had thoroughly absorbed their contents and could quote from them verbatim.
* Lincoln knew he was not a perfect man, but thought that George Washington and Henry Clay were. He also felt that if Washington was not perfect, it was better if we thought of him that way. This allowed Lincoln to staff his government with super stars who were not perfect but thought of themselves as such. Lincoln found he could understand and deal with such men.
* Davis however could not deal with men who were not perfect. He could not abide men who failed to live up to the standards he set for himself. This would be his downfall.
* Lincoln dies, and it is a 1600 mile trip to Springfield. The detailed and sad events of the circumstances surrounding the hours it took Lincoln to die, the events, the chase, the mourning, it's all here in detail, and very well written.
* One million Americans viewed the open casket, and another 3 million Americans stood at the railroad sidings to see a man who would become immortal in history. Davis on the other hand travels throughout the South with a $100,000 bounty on his head.
This book and this author have it all. The event is a game changer. The Civil War changes everything. It addresses the one issue that the founding fathers knew they could not address. The founding of the Republic had to include slavery or the Southern states would not join the United States.
It was left to Lincoln to end slavery and begin the second founding of the United States with his election, and his actions. This will ultimately make him the second greatest President in American history after the founder George Washington.
Doris Kearns Goodwin a masterful historian in her own right returns the favor and calls Swanson a "master storyteller". Prominent historian Douglas Brinkley says that Swanson now "emerges as one of America's greatest historians."
I couldn't put the book down, and neither will you. Compelling history, our history, wars, battles, assassination, chases, ceremony, euphoria, sadness, and depression, it is all here, and told as well as it can be told. Give yourself a chance to relish a history told in a way that has never been told before. It is an exquisite book of hope, and reverence. Enjoy it, and thank you for reading this review.
Richard C. Stoyeck
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