Coming This Fall

[L Verge]

Amazon is announcing that it's ready for pre-orders of Ed Steers's upcoming book on The Lincoln Assassination. Release is expected this fall. Here's a blurb:

Lincoln's Assassination Hardcover
by Edward Steers Jr. (Author)

For 150 years, the assassination of Abraham Lincoln has fascinated the American people. Relatively few academic historians, however, have devoted study to it, viewing the murder as a side note tied to neither the Civil War nor Reconstruction. Over time, the traditional story of the assassination has become littered with myths, from the innocence of Mary Surratt and Samuel Mudd to John Wilkes Booth’s escape to Oklahoma or India, where he died by suicide several years later. In this succinct volume, Edward Steers, Jr. sets the record straight, expertly analyzing the historical evidence to explain Lincoln’s assassination.

The decision to kill President Lincoln, Steers shows, was an afterthought. John Wilkes Booth’s original plan involved capturing Lincoln, delivering him to the Confederate leadership in Richmond, and using him as a bargaining chip to exchange for southern soldiers being held in Union prison camps. Only after Robert E. Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia and Richmond fell to Union forces did Booth change his plan from capture to murder. As Steers explains, public perception about Lincoln’s death has been shaped by limited but popular histories that assert, alternately, that Secretary of War Edwin Stanton engineered the assassination or that John Wilkes Booth was a mad actor fueled by delusional revenge. In his detailed chronicle of the planning and execution of Booth’s plot, Steers demonstrates that neither Stanton nor anyone else in Lincoln’s sphere of political confidants participated in Lincoln’s death, and Booth remained a fully rational person whose original plan to capture Lincoln was both reasonable and capable of success. He also implicates both Mary Surratt and Samuel Mudd, as well as other conspirators, clarifying their parts in the scheme.

At the heart of Lincoln’s assassination, Steers reveals, lies the institution of slavery. Lincoln’s move toward ending slavery and his unwillingness to compromise on emancipation spurred ... Booth and ultimately resulted in the president’s untimely death. With concise chapters and inviting prose, this brief volume will prove essential for anyone seeking a straightforward, authoritative analysis of one of the most dramatic events in American history.

[BettyO]

Glad to see that Ed has a new book! This is a definite keeper.....

[RJNorton]

I agree, Betty. This is wonderful. Kudos, Ed!

[Kieran McAuliffe]

You might be interested to know that this book is one in a series on Abraham Lincoln put out by Southern Illinois University Press.
To quote the website... “(The book) is one of the new Concise Lincoln Library series. They are similar in format, (they have similar covers) short, moderately priced and able to fit in a jacket pocket or small purse for easy travel reading. They are well edited, have none of the usual typos, and waste no space with “filler” dialogue.”
Here is a link to one of the books...
http://www.amazon.com/Abraham-Mary-Linco...0809330490

[LincolnToddFan]

I became a lifetime member of the Ed Steer's Fan Club after reading "Blood On The Moon". It is one of the most amazing books I have ever read on the subject, and I am in awe of ES. He really knows his stuff. I am very much looking forward to his new book!

However, I cannot agree with him regarding his conviction that Mary Surratt was guilty of conspiracy in the assassination. No devout Catholic who takes the Sacrament regularly is going to swear to something that is a lie when he/she is on the gallows, staring at eternity. I think she definitely knew about the kidnap conspiracy, but on April 14th she found herself drawn into something that she did not 100% understand-with catastrophic consequences for her. Anyway that is my very subjective opinion, and I realize that I am off topic so I will pipe it down now.

Thanks much Laurie, for the heads up!

[JMadonna]

(04-09-2014 08:02 PM)LincolnToddFan Wrote:  No devout Catholic who takes the Sacrament regularly is going to swear to something that is a lie on the gallows, staring at eternity. I think she definitely knew about the kidnap conspiracy, but on April 14th she found herself drawn into something that she did not 100% understand-with catastrophic results for her. Anyway that is my subjective opinion and I realize that I am off topic so I will pipe it down now.

As a devout Catholic, I remember spending my Good Fridays in church from 12:00 to 3:00. Mary Surratt was off on a carriage ride in the country. Makes me question to what cause was she most devout.

[LincolnToddFan]

Hmmm....good point JMadonna. But I have also read that later that same evening she was praying the Rosary in Church.

I consider myself a believing, practicing(with practice being the operative word here) and I certainly have not always observed Good Friday in the manner in which I should have.

In fact, last year I even went on a Skittles binge! I know, I know...I am doomed!

[Eva Elisabeth]

(04-09-2014 08:02 PM)LincolnToddFan Wrote:  I became a lifetime member of the Ed Steer's Fan Club after reading "Blood On The Moon".

Me too.

(04-09-2014 08:02 PM)LincolnToddFan Wrote:  But I have also read that later that same evening she was praying the Rosary in Church.

I consider this rather another indication she was aware of her active share in the conspiracy. As a devout Catholic you benefit from the privilege of confession. Confess to God, pray for forbearance - and you sins will be forgiven - many people in the strict Catholic area where I grew up who considered themselves devout also firmly believed in this principle, whatever the sin was. A Skittles binge - if it is what I assume - might have ranked pretty low (thus I'm sure there's hope in this regard - but I'm not a Catholic...)

[LincolnToddFan]

Of course you are right Eva E, you make some great points. As for the Skittles binge I was being silly as I am accustomed to being.

There are much worse ways to spend a holy day than bingeing on candy, no doubt!

[Linda Anderson]

I don't think that Mary would have found being a devout Catholic an impediment to being a secessionist. She more than likely thought that God was on her side and when she prayed for her intentions with her Rosary, those intentions may very well have been to rid the country of the tyrant Lincoln.

As for her lying on the scaffold, didn't she lie when she denied knowing Lewis Powell when he showed up at her boarding house on the evening of April 17? She even used God's name.

"I [Major Smith] stepped to the door of the parlor, and said, 'Mrs. Surratt, will you step here a minute?' Mrs. Surratt stepped there. Said I, 'Do you know this man?' She said, raising her right hand, 'Before God, sir, I do not know this man; and I have never seen him.'"

Also, wouldn't she lie about being involved in the assassination so as to not implicate her son, John, and daughter Anna?

[Wild Bill]

For what it is worth, I agree with Linda's thesis and her examples

[Linda Anderson]

(04-10-2014 07:43 AM)Wild Bill Wrote:  For what it is worth, I agree with Linda's thesis and her examples

It's worth a lot, Bill. Thank you!

[Eva Elisabeth]

(04-10-2014 07:19 AM)Linda Anderson Wrote:  I don't think that Mary would have found being a devout Catholic an impediment to being a secessionist. She more than likely thought that God was on her side and when she prayed for her intentions with her Rosary.

Good point as in all times devout believers of all dominations haven't considered it objectionable to kill in the name of "higher intentions" - saving a people or country included (just think of the crusades - or even use religious intentions to cover and justify their desire for economic and political power).

[Linda Anderson]

(04-10-2014 08:13 AM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote:  

(04-10-2014 07:19 AM)Linda Anderson Wrote:  I don't think that Mary would have found being a devout Catholic an impediment to being a secessionist. She more than likely thought that God was on her side and when she prayed for her intentions with her Rosary.

Good point as in all times devout believers of all dominations haven't considered it objectionable to kill in the name of "higher intentions" - saving a people or country included (just think of the crusades - or even use religious intentions to cover and justify their desire for economic and political power).

Very true, Eva. I found this post (#76) from Roger Norton on "Booth's visit to the Surratt Boarding House after the assassination" thread started by Wild Bill. It sounds to me like Mary knew what was going to happen when Weichmann saw her right before the assassination, if we are to believe Weichmann, of course.

Can someone explain what the phrase "pray for my intentions" means? It is not a phrase I am familiar with. I was looking at Weichmann's book, and if the timing in Weichmann's book is correct, this reference comes shortly after the "mysterious" 9:00 P.M. visitor departed. Weichmann indicates Mrs. Surratt got very nervous after this visitor departed. At 9:30 I think Smoot found her in a state of feverish excitement and rushed him out the door. Mary then asked Weichmann to pray for her intentions. Is there any way this could be interpreted as her intention to hold on to Booth's stuff for a quick 10:30 pick up? When Weichmann indicated he didn't know what her intentions were she replied to pray for them anyway. She then chased everyone to their rooms. Weichmann says he was asleep when the president was shot. Do we know what Mrs. Surratt was doing at 10:30?

[LincolnMan]

Thanks Laurie for posting the thread about the upcoming book. I, for one, knew nothing about it. Having so enjoyed his previous works- I'm sure this one will also be a sure fire winner.