When Phil and I make our weekend treks in the Jetta back and forth to Iowa or Missouri, we stay entertained with audio books from Audible.com. Over the past few years (and 90,000 miles), we've listened to lots of great books; fiction and non-fiction. But this past weekend we heard one of the most compelling yet. It was a book called Manhunt and it details the chase of Abraham Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth.
The author went through all of the notes and personal accounts of witnesses and everything and put it together as a story detailing John Wilkes Booth and his cohort's actions leading up to and after the assassination, until JWB was captured 12 days later. Incredible story. I realized I knew almost nothing about how Lincoln was murdered (except that he was shot at Ford's Theatre) and really actually nothing about John Wilkes Booth.
I always assumed JWB was just a monster. Of course, he was a murderer and I completely disagree with his justification and the actual act of murdering another human being, especially Lincoln. But he really thought he was doing what was best to preserve the Confederacy. His original plan was to kidnap Lincoln and smuggle him to the South and use him as leverage in the war. But, those plans fell through. So, he actually changed his plans the morning of the play when he saw the opportunity and had planned with his co-conspiritors to take out the President, Vice President and Secretary of State all on that same night. When I found out (sadly, not until the introduction of the book last weekend) that Booth was on the run for 12 days, I assumed he terrorized people all over during his time on the run, but that really wasn't the case. Incredibly interesting read (or listen).
Phil and I have always been fascinated by Lincoln anyway. I still don't know nearly as much about him as I wish I did, but I know he was an incredible man who allowed God to use him in amazing ways. Lincoln wasn't afraid of doing the hard thing and he remains one of the greatest historical figures and greatest democracy- and freedom-fighters of the USA's short history. Because of great leaders like Lincoln, the United States of America is a great nation and a free land. Let's just hope and pray for more great leaders like Lincoln in our future to bring us back from our negligence of the constitution of the inalienable rights endowed to all people by our Creator.
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Good call on Audible. Unfortunately, I don't have any device on which to keep digital audio other than my work laptop (it would actually be more space efficient to get a book on tape). Until I can afford to upgrade from the Walkman, I'll just have to utilize the library and truck stops; the dichotomy of audio books.
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