Jim Bishop (1) (1907–1987)

Why is it that individual acts of monstrous evil fascinate us, moving us more than hearing on the news that another ten thousand have perished in an earthquake or a volcano outbreak? That being the case, this book is a great read.
I first read it in grade school, then persuaded our teacher to let me turn it into a play. I was Lincoln, of course; I cast Deborah, on whom I had an undying crush (her family moved away that summer and I never heard of her again -- isn't that the perfect way for a show more grade school crush to end?). But my friend Bart stole the show. The class loved the way he relished shouting out "Sic semper tyrannis" after shooting me with a cap pistol.
Reread it more than thirty years later, and it didn't hold up too badly. show less

The title is accurate: this is literally an hour-by-hour account of the last day of Abraham Lincoln's life. And it's actually very interesting, though I do wonder how in the world the author knew some of the details - where people sat in a room, what they said to each other, what time they put their head in their hands, that kind of thing. Was that information really available? How much did he fill in the gaps on his own? Still, it's quite the thorough immersion into life during that time show more period, and a fascinating look at the surprisingly sloppy execution of an ultimately successful conspiracy. show less

Hourly account of what key players were doing on this fateful day from the time of awakening on April 14th until the president succumbed to his wounds on April 15th. Bishop includes two chapters that provide additional background material on the small group of conspirators and events leading up assassination. It covers the hourly movements of Lincoln, his family, and cabinet members, as well as those of the conspirators, and the actions taken in the aftermath.

This book provides insight into show more the character, wit, and perspicacity of Lincoln through his words and actions. The reader comes away from the narrative with an understanding of the personalities and motivations of the principals. Bishop’s account of the night at Ford’s theater is filled with tension and foreboding. The story is logical, well-paced, and captivating. Bishop adds descriptive details that provide a sense of the era. The author lists his sources in the bibliography but does not annotate passages with formal footnotes. It reads as non-fiction in the form of a story.

Even though the reader knows the outcome, it is hard to resist hoping for a different ending. It is a good source for putting to rest some of the more outlandish speculations that came about after the fact. It seems clear that Reconstruction would have been handled differently had Lincoln survived. Bishop puts readers “on the scene” of the tragic end to one of the worst periods of American history. show less

This is a fascinating, almost day-by-day account of FDR's last year. The decision to run for a fourth term, to replace VP Henry Wallace with Harry Truman, the war on two fronts, the anguished birth of the United Nations, and the Yalta Conference are historical episodes related in great but mesmorizing detail. For WWII buffs, or anyone even the slightest bit interested in the events of this pivital moment in history, Bishop's reporting and writing style make this 600 page tome almost show more irresistable. show less