Home Feed
Home
Search
Search
Add Review, Blurb, Quote
Add
Activity
Activity
Profile
Profile
Lincoln's Last Trial: The Murder Case That Propelled Him to the Presidency (Original)
Lincoln's Last Trial: The Murder Case That Propelled Him to the Presidency (Original) | David Fisher, Dan Abrams
"Makes you feel as if you are watching a live camera riveted on a courtroom more than 150 years ago." --Diane Sawyer The true story of Abraham Lincoln's last murder trial, a case in which he had a deep personal involvement--and which played out in the nation's newspapers as he began his presidential campaignAt the end of the summer of 1859, twenty-two-year-old Peachy Quinn Harrison went on trial for murder in Springfield, Illinois. Abraham Lincoln, who had been involved in more than three thousand cases--including more than twenty-five murder trials--during his two-decades-long career, was hired to defend him. This was to be his last great case as a lawyer.What normally would have been a local case took on momentous meaning. Lincoln's debates with Senator Stephen Douglas the previous fall had gained him a national following, transforming the little-known, self-taught lawyer into a respected politician. He was being urged to make a dark-horse run for the presidency in 1860. Taking this case involved great risk. His reputation was untarnished, but should he lose this trial, should Harrison be convicted of murder, the spotlight now focused so brightly on him might be dimmed. He had won his most recent murder trial with a daring and dramatic maneuver that had become a local legend, but another had ended with his client dangling from the end of a rope.The case posed painful personal challenges for Lincoln. The murder victim had trained for the law in his office, and Lincoln had been his friend and his mentor. His accused killer, the young man Lincoln would defend, was the son of a close friend and loyal supporter. And to win this trial he would have to form an unholy allegiance with a longtime enemy, a revivalist preacher he had twice run against for political office--and who had bitterly slandered Lincoln as an "infidel...too lacking in faith" to be elected.Lincoln's Last Trial captures the presidential hopeful's dramatic courtroom confrontations in vivid detail as he fights for his client--but also for his own blossoming political future. It is a moment in history that shines a light on our legal system, as in this case Lincoln fought a legal battle that remains incredibly relevant today.
Amazon Indiebound Barnes and Noble WorldCat Goodreads LibraryThing
review
SirReadsalot1776
Mehso-so

Dan Abram's work on Lincoln is worth reading. It is not always a page turner, but does contain interesting aspects of Lincoln's law career and the times he lived in.

blurb
TheBookStacker
post image

Listening to this at work out in the field. Very interesting. Over halfway through. Sometimes hard to keep up with all the names but it is really good.

26 likes1 stack add
review
melissajayne
post image
Pickpick

Really interesting book not only on this specific trial, but also on the history of American criminal law. #nonfiction #2019 #bookreview #history #lincoln 4⭐️

18 likes1 stack add
blurb
melissajayne
post image

1) Two. The United States 🇺🇸 and Brazil 🇧🇷 (lived in Brazil for 2 years when I was a kid).
2) Both; depends on the mood. Living in BC I have both at my disposal fairly easily.
3) Notre Dame Cathedral
4) Beach

#wonderouswednesday @Eggs

Eggs Thanks for playing 👏🏻👏🏻 5y
16 likes1 comment
blurb
melissajayne
post image

My afternoon read.

17 likes1 stack add
blurb
rkpope

Great book with insight into the legal system and courtrooms in the 1800's. Told from the point of view of the court reporter.

review
cdreincarnate
post image
Mehso-so

I don‘t have much to say about this audiobook. It‘s an interesting case and I learned a lot, but it didn‘t really impact my opinion of Lincoln or change my life in any way.

8little_paws I heard this author's latest book on teddy roosevelt is fantastic 5y
cdreincarnate @8little_paws That one does sound interesting and I might have to check it out even though I didn‘t love this one. 5y
2 likes2 comments
blurb
Sharpeipup
post image

My last book of 2018
#readinthenewyear #newyearseve

19 likes1 stack add
blurb
BrainyHeroine
post image

Bookclub picks! 2 for November and 1 for November through January.

Megabooks Enjoy! 6y
31 likes1 comment
review
JenReadsAlot
post image
Mehso-so

Decent overall - some parts were boring, but interesting to read about Lincoln as a lawyer and the history of the legal system.

blurb
BeththeBookDragon
post image

If the print book has diagrams, you should read it instead of listen...

38 likes2 stack adds