The Civil War and Lincoln Assasination From Both Sides

Recently I've been reading Gore Vidal's Lincoln and was reminded of a book I read a few years ago, American Brutus, by Michael Kauffman.  Both tell the story of the Civil war years and the events leading up to and following the assassination of Lincoln, with American Brutus from the viewpoint of the assassin Booth and his fellow conspirators, and Lincoln primarily from the viewpoint of Lincoln and his administration.  What makes them so much more than a dry recitation of historical events is they both are written as pieces of fiction, detailing all the events large and small in a cohesive story.

Instead of leaving out key events and conversations that are not documented in the written histories, both authors attempt to fill in those gaps with dialogue and actions of the main characters that can only be guessed on.  This way the characters become more fully formed and believable than you might see from history books, experiencing real human emotions.  You might think that the creative license taken by these authors may take away from their credibility, and you may have been right if these stories were left to less capable hands.  But clearly these authors have done their homework, and their historical guesswork mixes in flawlessly with historical facts.  It's fascinating to see those small moments of laughter, humilation, anger, and fear being experienced by these (until now) very set-in-stone and unknowable characters in history.  So these books give you the best of both worlds, great insight into events that laid the foundation for this country, and a top-notch story full of characters to keep you turning the pages.