Bloody Crimes: The Chase for Jefferson Davis and the Death Pageant for Lincoln's Corpse [Paperback]

InBloody Crimes,James L. Swanson—the Edgar® Award-winning,New York Timesbestselling author ofManhunt—brings to life two epic events of the Civil War era:the thrilling chase to apprehend Confederate president Jefferson Davis in the wake of the Lincoln assassination and the momentous  20 -day funeral that took Abraham Lincoln’s body home to Springfield. A true tale full of fascinating twists and turns, and lavishly illustrated with dozens of rare historical images—some never before seen—Bloody Crimesis a fascinating companion to Swanson’sManhuntand  a riveting true-crime thriller that will electrify civil war buffs, general readers, and everyone in between.

On the morning of April 2, 1865, Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy, received a telegram from General Robert E. Lee. There is no more time—the Yankees are coming, it warned. Shortly before midnight, Davis boarded a train from Richmond and fled the capital, setting off an intense and thrilling chase in which Union cavalry hunted the Confederate president.

Two weeks later, President Lincoln was assassinated, and the nation was convinced that Davis was involved in the conspiracy that led to the crime. Lincoln's murder, autopsy, and White House funeral transfixed the nation. His final journey began when soldiers placed his corpse aboard a special train that would carry him home on the 1,600-mile trip to Springfield. It was the largest and most magnificent funeral pageant in American history.

The saga that began withManhuntcontinues with the electrifyingBloody Crimes. James Swanson masterfully weaves together the stories of two fallen leaders as they made their last expeditions through the bloody landscape of a wounded nation.

Gripping  sometimes even gruesome  and heartrending.... Brilliant. -USA Today