"They Have Killed Papa Dead!": The Road to Ford's Theatre, Abraham Lincoln's Murder, and the Rage for Vengeance - Hardcover

Pitch, Anthony

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1586421581 ISBN 13: 9781586421588

Publisher: Steerforth, 2008

Synopsis

The assassination of Abraham Lincoln is a central drama of the American experience. Its impact is felt to this day, and the basic story is known to all. Anthony Pitch’s thrilling account of the Lincoln conspiracy and its aftermath transcends the mere facts of that awful night during which dashing actor John Wilkes Booth shot Lincoln in the head and would-be assassin Lewis Payne butchered Secretary of State William Seward in the bed of his own home. “They Have Killed Papa Dead!” transports the reader to one of the most breathtaking moments in history, and reveals much that is new about the stories, passions, and times of those who shaped this great tragedy.

Virtually every word of Anthony Pitch’s account is based on primary source material: new quotes from previously unpublished diaries, letters and journals – authentic contemporary voices writing with freshness and clarity as eyewitnesses or intimate participants – new images, a new vision and understanding of one of America’s defining moments. With an unwavering fidelity to historical accuracy, Pitch provides new confirmation of threats against the president-elect’s life as he traveled to Washington by train for his first inauguration, and a vivid personal account of John Wilkes Booth being physically restrained from approaching Lincoln at his second inauguration. Perhaps most chillingly, new details come to light about conditions in the special prison where the civilian conspirators accused of participating in the Lincoln assassination endured tortuous conditions in extreme isolation and deprivation, hooded and shackled, before and even during their military trial. Pitch masterfully synthesizes the findings of his prodigious research into a tight, gripping narrative that adds important new insights to our national story.

About this title

From the Author:

Author's Response To Lincoln ReviewI am in the closing years of life after a stroke but am compelled to expose Washington Post reviewer, Michael F. Bishop, for his disgraceful and ignorant piece on my book, "They Have Killed Papa Dead!" - The Road to Ford's Theatre, Abraham Lincoln's Murder, and the Rage for Vengeance. At this age I have no need to brag nor to portray false modesty.Bishop writes that "like any good tour guide he excitedly points out sights along the way." Before the reviewer was born, and afterwards when still a pre-teen, I was a journalist in Africa, Israel, London and the Associated Press Broadcast Editor in Philadelphia, then a senior writer in the books division of U.S. News & World Report. When I retired from journalism I became the most acclaimed tour guide in Washington, D.C., having two of my tours on Lincoln and the Presidents filmed by C-Span, narrating in the White House for Tribune Broadcasting TV, and featured on C-Span TV, together with four other distinguished experts on Lincoln.  Like any good reviewer, Bishop should have known this.     He paged through my book so quickly that he made no mention of my 1830 footnotes, the footprints of an author, showing where I went for my primary source research, detailed in Bibliography. He could not have made the statement, "his archival labors have unearthed some interesting tidbits" had he studied my voluminous sources.  It is slanderous to describe them as "tidbits." I was correct in saying my book "bulges with new finds." The mass of new material is there for anyone to marvel at in every chapter.  It took nine years of strenuous labor to write and research, which I stated in the Preface.     The reviewer mentions two other books for their "exhaustive studies" and a third for being "a bestselling non-fiction thriller." There is no criticism at all of the books, one of which was written atrociously, another so submerged in detail that the narrative groans, and a third that inserts fiction.     Michael Bishop's review is crassly shameful by an unqualified person.  It is neither fair to the book's author nor to the general public.  A reviewer worth his salt might have found the book to be the best of the lot, as did the Chicago Sun-Times and others.

About the Author:

Anthony S. Pitch is the author of a number of books including The Burning of Washington: The British Invasion of 1814, a selection of the History Book Club and winner of the Arline Custer Memorial Prize and Maryland Historical Society’s annual book award. He has been featured on outlets ranging from NPR to The History Channel to C-Span to Fox News and is a highly sought-after public speaker. A former journalist in England, Africa, and Israel, Pitch has been a broadcast editor for the Associated Press and a senior writer for US News and World Report’s Books division. He lives in a Washington, DC, suburb.

About this edition

• Publisher: Steerforth
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 1586421581
• ISBN 13: 9781586421588
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 512