03/30/2020

Meltzer and Mensch (The First Conspiracy) deliver a solid recounting of the conspiracy to assassinate president-elect Abraham Lincoln during his February 1861 railroad trip from Springfield, Ill., to Washington, D.C., and the successful efforts to foil it. Opening in dramatic fashion (“There’s a secret on this train”), the authors describe how “America’s first private detective,” Allan Pinkerton, and two undercover agents—a man and a woman—snuck Lincoln, who was disguised as the woman’s invalid brother and concealed in a sleeper berth, into Baltimore, Md., in the middle of the night, where he changed trains and immediately departed, thwarting “an underground network of secessionists” who expected him to arrive a day-and-a-half later. Flashbacks to Lincoln’s presidential campaign illuminate the tensions between pro- and anti-slavery activists, and the authors briskly detail the backgrounds of conspirators Cypriano Ferrandini, Baltimore’s “most powerful barber,” and 28-year-old socialite Otis K. Hillard, as well as the efforts of Pinkerton Agency detectives to gather intelligence on the white supremacist societies allegedly behind the plot. Meltzer and Mensch maintain suspense despite the known outcome of the story, and convincingly counter claims that Pinkerton made the whole thing up for publicity purposes. Readers new to the “Baltimore Plot” will appreciate this comprehensive and well-written overview. (May)

"Takes a little-known true story about the FIRST plot to kill Abraham Lincoln and turns it into a first-rate nonfiction thriller. Filled with amazing American history, secret societies, incredible research, and a shocking conspiracy to murder Abraham Lincoln at the dawn of his presidency. A brilliant combination of edge-of-your-seat history and superb storytelling." - James L. Swanson, bestselling author of Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer

"Think you know everything about Abraham Lincoln? Well, think again. The Lincoln Conspiracy not only revitalizes history, it transforms it, turning its principal player into a flesh and blood defender of everything the republic stands for, and the target of a malevolent cabal that went awry long before the ill-fated night at Ford's Theatre. Fantastic. You’ll never look at Abraham Lincoln the same way again." - Les Standiford, bestselling author of Last Train to Paradise & Meet You in Hell

“Brad Meltzer and Josh Mensch have found and rescued the harrowing story of Abraham Lincoln under assault by lurking would-be assassins (long before John Wilkes Booth). Every page is mesmerizing and eye-opening. A must-read!” - Douglas Brinkley, the Katherine Tsanoff Brown Chair in Humanities and Professor of History at Rice University and author of American Moonshot: John F. Kennedy and the Great Space Race.

“Abraham Lincoln. Secret Societies. A deadly plot. And it all really happened! You won’t be getting any sleep tonight. This book is dynamite. Meltzer does it again. History at its very best.” - Brian Kilmeade, bestselling author of Sam Houston and the Alamo Avengers

"A delightful addition to popular literature on the Civil War era." - Booklist

"Meltzer and Mensch maintain suspense despite the known outcome of the story, and convincingly counter claims that Pinkerton made the whole thing up for publicity purposes. Readers new to the “Baltimore Plot” will appreciate this comprehensive and well-written overview." - Publishers Weekly

“Energetic....A brisk political thriller centered on a nefarious plot to murder Lincoln before his inauguration.... A sharply drawn episode.” - Kirkus

"The Lincoln Conspiracy is...relentlessly fun to read. Meltzer and Mensch are refreshingly unpretentious authors who prove gifted at providing essential context to the main storyline — they deftly paint a picture of 19th-century America, taking deep dives into Lincoln's life and the prevailing attitudes toward race and politics at the time. It's an expertly crafted book that seems sure to delight readers with an interest in lesser-known episodes of American history." - NPR

04/17/2020

Coauthors Meltzer and Mensch (The First Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill George Washington) turn their historical sleuthing skills to uncover the plot by Baltimore pro-secessionists to murder president-elect Abraham Lincoln while he passed through Baltimore on his way to his inauguration in 1861. Relying largely on the field notes and recollections of private detective Allen Pinkerton and his agents, the authors follow the trail of intrigue, disguises, deceptions, and countermoves whereby Pinkerton and company worked their way into the plotters' circle to foil the murder plot. The account moves back and forth between the investigation and Lincoln's journey, from his home in Illinois to his inauguration in Washington, DC, but the book's real appeal is in its descriptions of the methods and meaning of the Pinkertons' work. VERDICT While the authors offer no new information or interpretation of Lincoln's preinaugural journey, which is better related in Ted Widmer's Lincoln on the Verge: Thirteen Days to Washington, the instructive accounting of the mentality, movements, and means of Pinkerton and his agents makes for a revealing look inside the world of secessionist fanaticism.—Randall M. Miller, St. Joseph's Univ., Philadelphia

Everyone knows that Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, but how many know that there was a previous, unsuccessful attempt on his life? Let narrator Scott Brick tell you all about it. Historian, novelist, and television mystery show host Brad Meltzer once again roots through history to unearth secrets long hidden. And Brick acts as his voice to get the story out. It’s no wonder. Brick can make a nursery rhyme sound exciting, and he’s on fire in this audiobook. His enthralling voice builds excitement as he delivers the narrative on a Southern secret society that hates the new president’s intolerance of slavery. To them, it’s war even before the South detaches itself from the nation. Even though we know the first plot failed, the work is hypnotic and transports the listener to an America that was sharply divided by a president, a situation eerily familiar. M.S. 2021 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine

2020-03-01
The tale of how Abraham Lincoln came close to being assassinated even before taking the oath of office.

In short, energetic chapters, Meltzer and Mensch, who collaborated on The First Conspiracy: The Secret Plot To Kill George Washington (2019), fashion a brisk political thriller centered on a nefarious plot to murder Lincoln before his inauguration. Lincoln, who won a slim majority of the popular vote, was deeply hated by the slaveholding South. Six weeks after the election, South Carolina became the first state to secede; five others soon followed, and Jefferson Davis was sworn in as president of the Confederacy. But secession did not satisfy a group of conspirators who gathered to devise a plan to seize the city of Washington and prevent the inauguration and even to kill Lincoln on his way to the capital, “and thus inaugurate a revolution.” The authors speculate that the conspirators were likely members of the Knights of the Golden Circle and National Volunteers, groups composed of pro-slavery white supremacists that grew in virulence after Lincoln’s election and likely were precursors of the Ku Klux Klan. They were thwarted largely through the efforts of pioneering private detective Allen Pinkerton, who was called in to investigate, and foil, the plot. The authors create an admiring portrait of Pinkerton and his staff, which included the first female detective, the sly, unflappable Kate Warne. In addition, a secret “Committee of Five,” convened by Secretary of State William Seward, gathered in Washington to ensure the peaceful transfer of power. Pinkerton was charged with logistics, which meant studying the train route for Lincoln’s convoluted inaugural journey, planning for every contingency, and eventually masterminding a plan that involved smuggling Lincoln, in disguise, onto a train days before he was expected. In addition to revealing the conspiracy, the authors vividly convey the virulent racism endemic in the South.

A sharply drawn episode from a regrettable part of America's past. (b/w illustrations)