(02-06-2013 07:24 PM)L Verge Wrote:  The other day, I mentioned a new book about the 1861 Baltimore Plot to assassinate Lincoln. Entitled The Hour of Peril: The Secret Plot to Murder Lincoln Before the Civil War, my copy arrived today. The author is Daniel Stashower, and it looks quite good with my cursory skimming.

It is based, it appears, on the Pinkerton version of the plot and the maneuvering to save the President. As some of you know, Ward Hill Lamon refuted Pinkerton's claims; and this has led to disagreement among some historians as to whether or not the Baltimore Plot even existed, or if it did, how well-organized it was.

I like one of the ending sentences in the book: In Lamon's manuscript, he writes, "There was never an hour from the time he entered Washington on the 23rd of February, 1861, to the 15th of April, 1865, that he [Lincoln] was not in danger of his life from violence...."

Lamon's daughter, Dorothy, later made a small, but telling, alteration: "It is now an acknowledged fact that there never was a moment from the day he [Lincoln] crossed the Maryland line, up to the time of his assassination, that he was not in danger of death by violence..."

I now have to find the time to read the book in its entirety. If someone beats me to it, please give a book report.

(02-10-2013 06:39 PM)L Verge Wrote:  Joe,

I began reading The Hour of Peril today and got in about 60 pages. I am enjoying it so far. This is the fourth book I have read about the plot to assassinate Lincoln in Baltimore in February of 1861. The first was Arrival:12:38 about forty years ago. I can'at remember the second one; but after those two, I was tending to follow the nay-sayers who didn't want to believe that the plot actually existed. I have now come to suspect that those nay-sayers did not want anyone to think that Lincoln would ever have to sneak into DC under the cover of night and in disguise.

I continued to follow the story, and completely changed my mind after reading Michael Kline's book on the subject 3-4 years ago. I invited him to speak at a Surratt conference, and he gave an excellent presentation and handled questions quite well. His book is a textbook of information and citations.

This book by Daniel Stashower just came out in 2013. His writing style is more casual - like a good mystery; but it is chocked full of quotes and sources also (at least in the beginning chapters). I'm sure that it will support the Pinkerton version of the event, but that doesn't bother me as long as there are good citations. Mr. Stashower is no stranger to writing either. You can google his other works, a mixture of fiction and non-fiction.

We are now speedily trying to get copies of the book to have at the conference in a month, and I am going to contact Mr. Stashower to see if he can participate in the Authors' Hour. Luckily, he lives within 45 minutes of Surratt House; however, he may have booked lots of speaking engagements this close to the premiere of his book.