James L. Swanson (1959–2025)
Author of Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer
About the Author
James L.Swanson is the Edgar Award winning author of the New York Times bestseller Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer. In 2009 in Newsweek magazine, Patricia Cornwell named Swanson's Manhunt and Truman Capote's In Cold Blood as the two best nonfiction crime books ever. In 2006, show more Entertainment Weekly magazine named Manhunt one of the ten best books of the year. Swanson has degrees in history from The University of Chicago, where he was a student of John Hope Franklin, and law from the University of California, Los Angeles. He has held a number of government and think-tank posts in Washington, D.C., including at the United States Department of Justice. He serves on the advisory council of the Ford's Theatre Society. His other books include the acclaimed photographic history Lincoln's Assassins: Their Trial and Execution, as well as Chasing Lincoln's Killer, and adaptations of Manhunt and Bloody Crimes for young readers. In 2014 his title, The President Has Been Shot!: The Assasination of Joh F. Kennedy, made The New York Times Best Seller List. James L. Swanson was born on Lincoln's birthday. (Publisher Provided) show less
Disambiguation Notice:
In addition to history, James L. Swanson writes novels.
Image credit: James Swanson at the 2018 U.S. National Book Festival By Fuzheado - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=72307373
Works by James L. Swanson
Bloody Crimes: The Funeral of Abraham Lincoln and the Chase for Jefferson Davis (2010) 753 copies, 26 reviews
Chasing King's Killer: The Hunt for Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Assassin (2018) 254 copies, 10 reviews
The Deerfield Massacre: A Surprise Attack, a Forced March, and the Fight for Survival in Early America (2024) 121 copies, 2 reviews
Chasing Lincoln's killer 4 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Other names
- SWANSON, James L.
- Birthdate
- 1959-02-12
- Date of death
- 2025-04-21
- Gender
- male
- Education
- University of Chicago (BA, History)
University of California, Los Angeles (JD) - Occupations
- lawyer
historian
author
editor - Organizations
- Cato Institute
The Heritage Foundation
U.S. Department of Justice
Ford's Theatre Society - Relationships
- Mays, Andrea (wife)
- Cause of death
- brain cancer
- Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Chicago, Illinois, USA
- Places of residence
- Washington, D.C., USA
Norwood Park, Chicago, Illinois, USA
Virginia, USA - Place of death
- Naperville, Illinois, USA
- Disambiguation notice
- In addition to history, James L. Swanson writes novels.
- Associated Place (for map)
- Illinois, USA
Members
Reviews
***NO SPOILERS***
Countless books have been written about Abraham Lincoln but far fewer about his assassin John Wilkes Booth. As someone who's uncomfortable with books devoted to criminals, I think this is just as well; however, to provide a complete history of Lincoln, Booth can't be ignored. Manhunt is a thorough, carefully researched account of this man, a staunch supporter of the Confederacy who'd been plotting against Lincoln for a long time before finally shooting him on April 14, 1865. show more (Lincoln died the next day.)
Before reading Manhunt I knew exactly three things about Booth: that he was an actor, that he shot Lincoln in Ford's Theatre while Lincoln watched a play, and that he broke his leg while escaping. He was a cardboard villain, and I didn't realize anyone found him fascinating. I was wrong. As author James L. Swanson said in the acknowledgements:
The hunt for Booth was complicated and frustrating for the manhunters. As he attempted to escape to the deep South, Booth was helped by many Confederate sympathizers, some more willing than others. He had several co-conspirators, and Lincoln wasn't the only political figure plotted against. Booth and his co-conspirators had an ambitious plan that fortunately fell apart.
Swanson's research is impressive, as is to be expected considering he's a Lincoln scholar specifically concentrating on the assassination. As he explains in the afterword, he's been fascinated by this since he was ten years old, when he received what I consider a disturbing but what Swanson calls "unusual," birthday gift from his grandmother: a framed engraving of Booth's Deringer pistol.
Although I admire Swanson's research and detailed account (especially in how he brought to life the fringe characters no one thinks about), I was at times uncomfortable with the tone. Swanson wrote this in the third person, but the understanding is that the reader is (often, but not always) inside Booth's mind; therefore, Lincoln gets labeled a "tyrant," and the Confederacy is viewed as something admirable and the sympathizers who help Booth noble.
All the while, Swanson never implied that Booth's actions should be condemned. That isn't to say Swanson actually admires the man, but if I didn't know what the author is all about I could have mistaken this book as a commendation of Booth. At the least, Manhunt has an underlying sympathy that leads me to believe Swanson feels Booth is more someone people should try to understand than to condemn. I heartily disagree. Booth was a madman, a famous and arrogant actor obsessed with fame and with being admired. In murdering Lincoln he wanted to forever be remembered as a hero who "died for my country." I enjoyed every page of this captivating book, yet my feelings about it are mixed.
For its ability to make Booth and 1865 come alive and for the exhaustive detail and Swanson's research, this historical true-crime is, however, deserving of praise and its Edgar Award. It's a page-turner that I'd never have read had it not been recommended to me. I'm tired of being inside Booth's deranged mind, though, and won't seek out more books about him. show less
Countless books have been written about Abraham Lincoln but far fewer about his assassin John Wilkes Booth. As someone who's uncomfortable with books devoted to criminals, I think this is just as well; however, to provide a complete history of Lincoln, Booth can't be ignored. Manhunt is a thorough, carefully researched account of this man, a staunch supporter of the Confederacy who'd been plotting against Lincoln for a long time before finally shooting him on April 14, 1865. show more (Lincoln died the next day.)
Before reading Manhunt I knew exactly three things about Booth: that he was an actor, that he shot Lincoln in Ford's Theatre while Lincoln watched a play, and that he broke his leg while escaping. He was a cardboard villain, and I didn't realize anyone found him fascinating. I was wrong. As author James L. Swanson said in the acknowledgements:
Special thanks to a Southern friend who, after insisting on anonymity, disclosed her family's secret custom: ever since April 15, 1866—the first anniversary of the murder—they have held their annual cotillion on that day to celebrate the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and to honor their Brutus.and further, in the afterword:
[Booth's] fame is of a peculiar kind. Booth was reviled as a fiend during the manhunt. The newspaper editorials, letters from private citizens, mob violence, and the treatment of his body are proof enough of that. Yes, in some quarters there were those who hated Lincoln and admired Booth, but the devotees of the cult of “Our Brutus” dared not express public sympathy for the assassin. Then, over time, something changed. Booth became part of American folklore and his image morphed from evil murderer of a president into fascinating antihero—the brooding, misguided, romantic, and tragic assassin. Booth is not celebrated for the murder, but he has in some way been forgiven for it. What else can explain the presence of large street banners, decorated with the assassin’s photo, hanging from lampposts along his F Street escape route, directing tourists to Ford’s Theatre? In comparison, the display of Lee Harvey Oswald banners in Dallas, or James Earl Ray banners in Memphis, would be obscene.After finishing this book I have a multi-dimensional understanding of this despicable man and of how people felt (and still feel) about him.
The hunt for Booth was complicated and frustrating for the manhunters. As he attempted to escape to the deep South, Booth was helped by many Confederate sympathizers, some more willing than others. He had several co-conspirators, and Lincoln wasn't the only political figure plotted against. Booth and his co-conspirators had an ambitious plan that fortunately fell apart.
Swanson's research is impressive, as is to be expected considering he's a Lincoln scholar specifically concentrating on the assassination. As he explains in the afterword, he's been fascinated by this since he was ten years old, when he received what I consider a disturbing but what Swanson calls "unusual," birthday gift from his grandmother: a framed engraving of Booth's Deringer pistol.
Although I admire Swanson's research and detailed account (especially in how he brought to life the fringe characters no one thinks about), I was at times uncomfortable with the tone. Swanson wrote this in the third person, but the understanding is that the reader is (often, but not always) inside Booth's mind; therefore, Lincoln gets labeled a "tyrant," and the Confederacy is viewed as something admirable and the sympathizers who help Booth noble.
All the while, Swanson never implied that Booth's actions should be condemned. That isn't to say Swanson actually admires the man, but if I didn't know what the author is all about I could have mistaken this book as a commendation of Booth. At the least, Manhunt has an underlying sympathy that leads me to believe Swanson feels Booth is more someone people should try to understand than to condemn. I heartily disagree. Booth was a madman, a famous and arrogant actor obsessed with fame and with being admired. In murdering Lincoln he wanted to forever be remembered as a hero who "died for my country." I enjoyed every page of this captivating book, yet my feelings about it are mixed.
For its ability to make Booth and 1865 come alive and for the exhaustive detail and Swanson's research, this historical true-crime is, however, deserving of praise and its Edgar Award. It's a page-turner that I'd never have read had it not been recommended to me. I'm tired of being inside Booth's deranged mind, though, and won't seek out more books about him. show less
James L. Swanson brings a lifetime of interest and study of Abraham Lincoln, as well as a large personal research library, to this tale of the manhunt for Lincoln's assassin. The book touches upon the events leading up to the assassination, as well as the eventual trial. However, the greatest focus is upon the 12 days from John Wilkes Booth's infamous act in Ford's Theater, through his escape into Maryland, to his eventual capture and death at Garrett's Farm in Virginia.
I found this book as show more engrossing as Capote's "In Cold Blood" or Larson's "The Devil in White City." Swanson's use of original material gives a 'real-time' immediacy and urgency to the action. He promises that all statements within quotations are derived from this original documentation. I would have been happier if these were adequately footnoted, but this would have likely made the book significantly longer. There are end notes with general attribution. Not a dry academic tome, it races along for the general history reader like me.
I found much that I didn't know or the telling detail which spoke vividly for me, such as: Booth's encounter with U. S. Grant as they drove to the train station. Fanny Seward's spirited defense of her father from would-be killer Powell. Confederate courier Thomas Jones' hiding Booth and Herold for five days in a dense Maryland pine thicket, confounding potential capturers.
I was also taken by the idiocy of the ragtag band of co-conspirators. Powell's bonehead appearance at the Surratt Boardinghouse, walking in on Federal officials and into quick arrest. Booth's lack of a well thought out escape plan. Atzerodt's mindless meandering rather than quick escape. Booth and Herold's inexplicable decisions to tarry in Indiantown and then at Garrett's Farm when immediate flight South was of the essence. It should give conspiracy theorists of all stripes pause. More often than not, we are not dealing with a brilliant mastermind, but rather lucky numbskulls. show less
I found this book as show more engrossing as Capote's "In Cold Blood" or Larson's "The Devil in White City." Swanson's use of original material gives a 'real-time' immediacy and urgency to the action. He promises that all statements within quotations are derived from this original documentation. I would have been happier if these were adequately footnoted, but this would have likely made the book significantly longer. There are end notes with general attribution. Not a dry academic tome, it races along for the general history reader like me.
I found much that I didn't know or the telling detail which spoke vividly for me, such as: Booth's encounter with U. S. Grant as they drove to the train station. Fanny Seward's spirited defense of her father from would-be killer Powell. Confederate courier Thomas Jones' hiding Booth and Herold for five days in a dense Maryland pine thicket, confounding potential capturers.
I was also taken by the idiocy of the ragtag band of co-conspirators. Powell's bonehead appearance at the Surratt Boardinghouse, walking in on Federal officials and into quick arrest. Booth's lack of a well thought out escape plan. Atzerodt's mindless meandering rather than quick escape. Booth and Herold's inexplicable decisions to tarry in Indiantown and then at Garrett's Farm when immediate flight South was of the essence. It should give conspiracy theorists of all stripes pause. More often than not, we are not dealing with a brilliant mastermind, but rather lucky numbskulls. show less
I thought I knew a lot about Lincoln's assassination but this book was full of new-to-me information. This is nonfiction that reads like fiction - engaging and surprisingly unpredictable. Some of the assumptions made about people's thoughts and motives felt more assumed than deduced, but there was enough evidence brought forth to make it convincing. It was a good reminder that all these momentous events in history involved regular humans who act like regular humans. Which includes stupid, show more vain, foolhardy, brave, sensible, and honorable - often in equal measures. show less
Manhunt: The Twelve-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer, by James Swanson (Morrow, 2006) is a fascinating and well-written account of the immediate lead-up and aftermath of Lincoln's assassination. Unlike many books on the subject, Lincoln does not get center stage here: John Wilkes Booth does (just, I suspect, as the famous actor would have hoped). Swanson does quite a nice job of both setting the stage for the shooting of Lincoln (and the near-murder of William Seward) and then the show more conspirators' escape from Washington. Others have as well. What Swanson does more ably than I've read in a long time is describe Booth's escape and the events of the twelve days following the assassination.
Deftly alternating perspectives between Booth and his fleeing co-conspirators to the "manhunters" who are hot on their tails, Swanson brings the race to life. He also demonstates just how much evidence existed against Dr. Samuel Mudd, whose descendants have worked relentlessly to clear his name but who clearly knew who Booth was and understood what he was doing by assisting the escape.
While the book falls into some speculative traps at certain points (how can we know just what Booth and Herold spoke to each other during their five days in a Maryland pine thicket as they waited to cross into Virginia, for example), and also contained a few unwelcome editorial interjections, its flaws are few compared to the great research that Swanson brings to bear here. My only major problem with the text was its lack of citations - sure, I believe Swanson that he got all his direct conversational quotes from primary accounts ... but it sure would be nice to know what's coming from where. We don't get that, and it's unfortunate.
Nonetheless, this was an attention-holding book, and I think gets at the anxiety and fear and real importance of those twelve days in America's history.
http://philobiblos.blogspot.com/2007/02/book-review-manhunt.html show less
Deftly alternating perspectives between Booth and his fleeing co-conspirators to the "manhunters" who are hot on their tails, Swanson brings the race to life. He also demonstates just how much evidence existed against Dr. Samuel Mudd, whose descendants have worked relentlessly to clear his name but who clearly knew who Booth was and understood what he was doing by assisting the escape.
While the book falls into some speculative traps at certain points (how can we know just what Booth and Herold spoke to each other during their five days in a Maryland pine thicket as they waited to cross into Virginia, for example), and also contained a few unwelcome editorial interjections, its flaws are few compared to the great research that Swanson brings to bear here. My only major problem with the text was its lack of citations - sure, I believe Swanson that he got all his direct conversational quotes from primary accounts ... but it sure would be nice to know what's coming from where. We don't get that, and it's unfortunate.
Nonetheless, this was an attention-holding book, and I think gets at the anxiety and fear and real importance of those twelve days in America's history.
http://philobiblos.blogspot.com/2007/02/book-review-manhunt.html show less
Lists
Lincoln (1)
Edgar Award (1)
Awards
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Statistics
- Works
- 24
- Members
- 8,086
- Popularity
- #2,995
- Rating
- 4.0
- Reviews
- 259
- ISBNs
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