Book Review: "Bloody Crimes" by James Swanson  bloody crimes
james swansonAs a history major in college, I approached Bloody
Crimes: The Chase for Jefferson Davis and the Death Pageant for
Lincoln's Corpse with the desire to uncover nuggets of
information that I have never encountered in other books on
similar subjects. I have read my fair share of various Civil
War-era books, ranging from the daunting: James McPherson’s
Battlecry of Freedom and Gerald Linderman’s Embattled Courage:
The Experience of Combat in the Civil War to the middling, with
James McPherson’s For Cause and Comrades and David Donald’s Why
the North Won the Civil War.  I found what I wanted in Bloody
Crimes. Following up his highly acclaimed book, Manhunt: A 12
Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer, James Swanson introduces the
interweaving stories of Lincoln’s post-mortem journey to the
grave and Jefferson Davis’ plight as president of the
Confederacy. Bloody Crimes navigates these two story lines
superbly. Swanson never wavers too long on one st