Backstage at the Lincoln Assassination: The Untold Story of the Actors and Stagehand's at Ford's Theater

Backstage at the Lincoln Assassination: The Untold Story of the Actors and Stagehands at Ford’s Theater by Thomas A. Bogar    377 pages

I’ve been a student of Abraham Lincoln for many years. I enjoy reading about him and his family.

I always seem to learn something new. When I stumbled across this 2013 gem from Regency History, I knew I was onto something.

 None of the other books I had read or movies I had seen every delved into this particular aspect of the assassination. As Bogar researches this unmined area, he makes some interesting revelations.

 The book is about the forty-six actors and stagehand that were either on stage or backstage after John Wilkes Booth shot President Abraham Lincoln on April 14, 1865. Now approaching the 150^th anniversary of this event, figures from the past seem to hover back in the gaslight for another review.

The people who were in John T. Ford’s employment that night had their lives complicated, distributed, disrupted, and even destroyed. Some could never outrun Lincoln’s ghost; others, like Peanut John completely disappeared from history.

The crux of the true-life expose is how most of Ford’ employees were arrested and tried. Not many history books cover this aspect of the assassination.

 While not a page-turner, Backstage at the Lincoln Assassination: The Untold Story of the Actors and Stagehands at Ford’s Theater is an interesting, revelatory read. I give it 5 out of 5 stars.