Book description
Winner of the 2001 The Lincoln Group of New York's Award of
Achievement A History Book Club Selection The assassination of Abraham
Lincoln is usually told as a tale of a lone deranged actor who struck
from a twisted lust for revenge. This is not only too simple an
explanation; Blood on the Moon reveals that it is completely wrong.
John Wilkes Booth was neither mad nor alone in his act of murder. He
received the help of many, not the least of whom was Dr. Samuel
Alexander Mudd, the Charles County physician who has been portrayed as
the innocent victim of a vengeful government. Booth was also aided by
the Confederate leadership in Richmond. As he made his plans to strike
at Lincoln, Booth was in contact with key members of the Confederate
underground, and after the assassination these same forces used all of
their resources to attempt his escape. Noted Lincoln authority Edward
Steers Jr. introduces the cast of characters in this ill-fated drama,
he explores why they were so willing to help pull the trigger, and
corrects the many misconceptions surrounding this defining moment that
changed American history. After completing an acclaimed career as a
research scientist at the National Institutes of Health, Edward Steers
Jr. has turned his research skills to the Lincoln assassination. He is
the author of several books about the president, including The Trial.
He lives in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia.
"Steers has a sharp ear for historical discordance and a
novelist's eye for illuminating detail..... Provocative reading."
-- Publishers Weekly
