Killing Lincoln Book Report

Cloaks, Daggers, and Pistol Smoke
The book Killing Lincoln is written by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard. According to Dugard’s website, he is an athlete and adventurer author even though the book states he is a historian. Dugard has written bestselling books Chasing Lance, Into Africa, The Murder of King Tut, and To Be a Runner. Bill O’Reilly is an ex-history teacher, now polarizing political commentator and poster-boy for Fox News Channel. He is viewed as a right-wing conservative by many Americans (who watch and who don’t watch his show), but claims himself a moderate independent. Bill O’Reilly also writes a syndicated newspaper column and has authored several other number-one bestselling books.
The purpose of the novel Killing Lincoln…show more content…
Prior to reading this novel, I had little knowledge about his personality. Lincoln cared deeply for the country and took public perception of him to heart. He was an extremely polarizing president and was hated as much as he was loved, “There was an assassination attempt on Lincoln in 1861 which the he eluded by wearing a disguise. The newspapers mocked Lincoln for it and his enemies labeled him a coward. Lincoln never wore a disguise after even though he was aware many people wanted to kill him and standing at 6”4’ he was an easy target” (O’Reilly & Dugard 111). Lincoln would often have nightmares of his death, and believed that he would die before he could finish his work. Despite his lack of sleep, and the belief that he would die before he could finish healing the nation, Lincoln trudged on everyday…show more content…
The attack on Seward included four stabbing victims (occupants taking care of Seward). Vice President Johnson’s attacker got too drunk and never showed up to kill him. I was also not aware that Lincoln lived from 10:20 P.M. until 7:22 A.M. the next morning with a bullet in his brain. The doctors had to unclog the blood-clotted hole in his head with a finger to relieve pressure on his brain constantly throughout the night. I also was not aware the Booth was funded by the Confederates to kidnap Lincoln before the assassination.
Personally, I enjoyed Killing Lincoln very much and would keep the book as it is. I read it in one sitting because I could not put it down. I am not usually someone who enjoys non-fiction material, but this was a wonderful read. I would strongly recommend this book to anyone who is uneducated about Abraham Lincoln. It is an interesting and easy read, which is detailed enough for any reader to take away more than a handful of valuable knowledge.

Work Cited
O'Reilly, Bill, and Martin Dugard. Killing Lincoln. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2011. Print. Levingston, Steven. "O’Reilly Says Errors Corrected in “Killing Lincoln”." Washington Post. Washington Post, 15 Nov. 2011. Web. 7 Aug. 2012. Dugard, Martin. "Martin Dugard Athlete.Adventurer.Author." Martin Dugard. Martin