Mr. Lincoln's Master Spy - Lafayette Baker

[Gene C]

Interesting book of about 185 pages written by Arthur Orrmont in 1966. It appears to have been written for young adults and seems to have leaned heavily on the information in Lafayette Baker's book "History of the United States Secret Service" and Jacob Moglelver's book, "Death To Traitors". (I've only read Death to Traitors)

It was an interesting book, mainly because Baker was an interesting person. The author has a very high opinion of Baker. He does a good job of taking something I thought was a bit complicated in Mogelever's book, and making it little more understandable, like his chapter about the Treasury Dept. scandal of 1864, and other activities he was involved in. He takes a very negative view of Lt. Doherty. The chapter on Booth's capture was a bit weak. Does not go into the circumstances of Baker's death, but mentions he is buried in an unmarked grave. Many of Baker's questionable actions are written off as a necessary evil of the times, and are glossed over. The author does tell about the task Baker was working on that led to his downfall. He writes just enough about specific events and activities Baker was involved with, so that I want to know more. No footnotes.

Considering the date of the book and his intended audience, I would classify this book as dramatized non-fiction. (He added conversations that may or may not have taken place) Only available as a used book, I bought my copy on Amazon, in very good condition, for $2.89 plus s&h. For me, it was well worth the price, despite it's shortcomings.

http://www.amazon.com/Mr-Lincolns-Master...ette+baker
(Mine has the green cover too)

[LincolnMan]

Gene: collecting children's books on Lincoln seems interesting-plus the illustrations are cool. How many do you have?

[Gene C]

About 15, some of them are poorly written. You're right, the illustrations are cool. The books over 50 years old are the ones I like the most.

This book on Baker didn't have any illustrations, it's interesting because there are just not many books about him