Fascinating retelling of the two weeks leading up to Lincoln's Assassination. This included Lee's defeat at Petersburg, his retreat, and his final surrender - details of which I didn't not know. I feel sad thinking about Lincoln's Assassination, and the deluded thinking behind it. It is so strange to me that had one or two details been different Lincoln would have been spared, or at least, not on that day. It is also interesting to note he died on Easter Sunday.

p.11 Lee's attempted escape to the Blue Ridge Mountains would not end the war (but lead to guerrilla warfare) citizens in the North would demand an end to the war, and the union would be divided.

p 90: "I always thought that Dixie was one of the best tunes I ever heard. Our adversaries over the way, I know, have attempted to appropriate it. But I insist that yesterday we fairly captured it. . . . It is now our property . . . favor us with a performance."

p 108: trusting the South to peacefully join the Union was going to be as challenging as the war itself.

I was not particularly fond of the rapid-fire pace of the writing and the short chapters designed to increase the intensity and obscure the facts - guess I should have known given the author.

I was surprised at how little I knew about the actual conspiracy to kill Abraham Lincoln and this book delivers all that and more. This is definitely popular level history and not meant as a serious in depth study for historians, and in its role it succeeds greatly. Of particular interest is the characterization of Booth and his conspirators who I had known little about before reading. Overall, a quick and informative read.

Growing up in Europe I don't know too much about American history. Bill O'Reilly does a great job as he wrote and also narrates the audiobook. The way he tells the story of Lincoln kept me wanting to listen to hear all the details. I probably now know more than most about the assassination and the events leading up to it. A must read to learn more about Lincoln and the man that ended his life way too soon!

Simply fascinating. I think everyone has a general idea on the story of Abraham Lincoln's assassination, but the details surrounding the planning, execution, and aftermath of the incident, that this book includes are nothing short of incredible. I could not stop reading, very informative and intriguing.