From his election in November 1860 to his death in April 1865, Abraham Lincoln faced constant danger from those hostile to him and to the Union cause. Lincoln's enemies made four overt attempts on his life, including a Confederate partisan effort to infect him with yellow fever by sending a contaminated valise of clothing to the White House. Because Lincoln's life ended with John Wilkes Booth's assassination plot, the president's protection has come under extreme scrutiny, with many considering it flawed, inadequate, or completely lacking. By providing the first thorough exploration of the...

The eight people charged with conspiring to assassinate President Abraham Lincoln were tried by a military commission under military law. It is my contention that this was illegal, since the civilian legal system was functioning. I have described the many ways in which the defendants' rights were violated, and also the ways in which the trial testimony was either not accurate or not legally obtained. I also have compared the trial with other incidents in which the U.S. military was used in police and judicial functions, with questionable results. The book is a warning against unchecked power...

The American public never grows tired of reading about Abraham Lincoln, and yet, Lincoln was a complex character, and there is much about him which is little known or even unknown. The story of the assassination is also filled with characters and details which are only poorly known to today's public. Combine this thirst to know with a story which provides powerful drama, and you have a novel which should appeal to all readers who enjoy murder mysteries, tales of intrigue, action adventures, and emotional involvement. What kind of a person was Abraham Lincoln? Did he have weaknesses and...