Lincoln's avengers : justice, revenge and reunion after the Civil War

On April 14th 1865, Abraham Lincoln was murdered by John Wilkes Booth, and Secretary of State William H.

Seward was brutally stabbed. Clearly, a conspiracy was afoot. Judge Advocate General Joseph Holt was put in charge of the investigation and trial.

He first set out to punish all of Booth's accomplices and then wanted to go after Jefferson Davis, whom he felt had instigated the assassination - depite stern opposition, not least from Lincoln's successor, Andrew Johnson.

This book tells the story of the two assassination trials, exploring what made them pivotal in American history.

Were they used to make the South pay for secession? Were they to be fair trials based on the evidence? Or were they points of reconciliation, with the South forgiven at all costs to create as solid union.