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) 751 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) 118 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
Perhaps the best historical fiction book I've read for children and young adults, James Swanson simply writes and complies a perfect account of President Kennedy's assassination for young readers. The opening chapters lay out JFK's rise to the presidency with immediacy and interesting details, and then do the same with Harvey Lee Oswald, with the two men meeting in Dallas on that fateful day, November 22, 1963. Swanson's extensive research gives a full and humanizing view of that day, show more particularly Jackie's perspective. Images that are seared on our nation's conscience are given greater depth through Swanson's narrative. I could hardly put the book down, and read it at the edge of my seat, with my heart racing, my disbelief growing, my anguish, and my tears welling even though I know the turn of events. Even though I wasn't alive in 1963. Even though we all know how this story ends. I can only hope that kids find this book and read it or have it read to them. It is essential and should be required reading in American history courses through High School AP courses. Swanson provides tremendous artifacts, photographs, and an extensive bibliography that illuminates the resources that he used as well as a compilation of conspiracy theory books that he acknowledges have a place in the historical discourse, even as he argues that the facts of the day all lead to the conclusion that Oswald acted alone and though his motives will never be known, that luck, chance, and randomness led to his decision to assassinate America's youngest president.
Outstanding, illuminating, and powerful. Highly recommended grades 6-9. show less
Outstanding, illuminating, and powerful. Highly recommended grades 6-9. show less
Bloody Crimes: The Chase for Jefferson Davis and the Death Pageant for Lincoln's Corpse by James L. Swanson
Fascinating coverage of a part of the Civil War that I'd never really thought about: the immediate aftermath of Lee's surrender and Lincoln's assassination. In particular, I was intrigued by the slow unwinding of the end of the Confederacy: Davis's hopes to keep going, the surrenders of the various armies, the insistence of his associates that Davis either flee the country or try to keep the Confederacy going in Texas. (!!!)
What bugged me, ultimately, was the entirely sympathetic treatment show more of Davis and the Confederacy, which just made me madder and madder in the last portion of the book. Davis lived to be a VERY old man, ultimately receiving the adulation of Southerners as the exemplar of the Lost Cause. And good grief...in a lot of ways (IMHO) the Lost Cause is one of the root causes of the mess of modern American politics. So cue gnashing of teeth trying to read the last chapter in particular. show less
What bugged me, ultimately, was the entirely sympathetic treatment show more of Davis and the Confederacy, which just made me madder and madder in the last portion of the book. Davis lived to be a VERY old man, ultimately receiving the adulation of Southerners as the exemplar of the Lost Cause. And good grief...in a lot of ways (IMHO) the Lost Cause is one of the root causes of the mess of modern American politics. So cue gnashing of teeth trying to read the last chapter in particular. show less
***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
The Deerfield Massacre: A Surprise Attack, a Forced March, and the Fight for Survival in Early America by James L. Swanson
I live not too far from Old Deerfield. In fact, I drive by fairly often. And after reading this I now know I drive by the battle of Bloody Brook location even more often. It was fun to read about a history that’s right at my doorstep, perhaps literally. Connecting the names of the people involved with streets I drive down, bridges I cross is a real treat for a history nerd like myself.
I’ll agree with many of the reviewers who say the last third of the book was fairly boring. Though I show more found it infuriating how wishy washy the early committees in Deerfield were when it came to preserving the Indian House and reclaiming the Indian Door. Part 3 was mostly about remembering and memorializing. A lot of names and dates. I didn’t mind so much because of the connection I have with the area.
Overall this was a very interesting book even if you’re not from the area. It’s a captivating story with many first person accounts. The author did a great job of bringing the reader into the past while keeping our modern sensibilities in mind. show less
I’ll agree with many of the reviewers who say the last third of the book was fairly boring. Though I show more found it infuriating how wishy washy the early committees in Deerfield were when it came to preserving the Indian House and reclaiming the Indian Door. Part 3 was mostly about remembering and memorializing. A lot of names and dates. I didn’t mind so much because of the connection I have with the area.
Overall this was a very interesting book even if you’re not from the area. It’s a captivating story with many first person accounts. The author did a great job of bringing the reader into the past while keeping our modern sensibilities in mind. show less
Lists
Lincoln (1)
Edgar Award (1)
Awards
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Statistics
- Works
- 23
- Members
- 8,064
- Popularity
- #3,002
- Rating
- 4.0
- Reviews
- 259
- ISBNs
- 118
- Languages
- 4
- Favorited
- 3
