THE LINCOLN CONSPIRACY: The Secret Plot to Kill America’s 16th President—and Why It Failed
by Brad Meltzer and Josh Mensch
Flatiron Books, Non-Fiction, 448 pages. For sale here.
SIGNED COPIES are available through VJ Books.
Most people know the story of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination in 1865, but few are aware of the first plot to kill him four years earlier in 1861, just before his first inauguration on the eve of the Civil War. The conspirators were part of a proslavery secret society in Baltimore, Maryland, determined to prevent an abolitionist from occupying the White House. The plot was discovered by renowned private detective Allan Pinkerton, working with a team that included Kate Warne, the first woman detective in American history.
Against the backdrop of the nation’s battle over slavery and onset of the Civil War, the story of this little-know assassination plot provides a gripping window into some of the most tense and dramatic months in American history. It also illuminates the character of the man who would become of America’s most revered presidents.
Continuing in the tradition of Brad Meltzer and Josh Mensch’s New York Times #2 nonfiction bestseller The First Conspiracy, The Lincoln Conspiracy combines a gripping true-life narrative with rich historical and political detail.
Early Praise for The Lincoln Conspiracy
"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
“In short, energetic chapters, Meltzer and Mensch fashion a brisk political thriller centered on a nefarious plot to kill Lincoln before his inauguration… 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.”
―Kirkus Reviews
“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.
"A delightful addition to popular literature on the Civil War era."
—Booklist
"Meltzer and Mensch maintain suspense despite the known outcome of the story… Readers new to the “Baltimore Plot” will appreciate this comprehensive and well-written overview."
—Publishers Weekly