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  • Backstage at the Lincoln Assassination

  • The Untold Story of the Actors and Stagehands at Ford's Theatre
  • By: Thomas A. Bogar
  • Narrated by: R.C. Bray
  • Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins
  • 4.8 out of 5 stars (4 ratings)

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Backstage at the Lincoln Assassination

By: Thomas A. Bogar
Narrated by: R.C. Bray
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Summary

April 14, 1865. A famous actor pulls a trigger in the presidential balcony, leaps to the stage, and escapes, as the president lies fatally wounded. In the panic that follows, forty-six terrified people scatter in and around Ford's Theater as soldiers take up stations by the doors and the audience surges into the streets chanting, "Burn the place down!"

This is the untold story of Lincoln's assassination: The forty-six stage hands, actors, and theater workers on hand for the bewildering events in the theater that night, and what each of them witnessed in the chaos-streaked hours before John Wilkes Booth was discovered to be the culprit.

In Backstage at the Lincoln Assassination, historian Thomas A. Bogar delves into previously unpublished sources to tell the story of Lincoln's assassination from behind the curtain, and the tale is shocking. Police rounded up and arrested dozens of innocent people, wasting time that allowed the real culprit to get further away. Some closely connected to John Wilkes Booth were not even questioned, while innocent witnesses were relentlessly pursued. Booth was more connected with the production than you might have known - learn how he knew each member of the cast and crew, which was a hotbed of secessionist resentment. Backstage at the Lincoln Assassination also tells the story of what happened to each of these witnesses to history after the investigation was over - and how each one lived their lives after seeing one of America's greatest presidents shot dead without warning.

©2013 Thomas A. Bogar (P)2013 Tantor
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Critic reviews

"Dr. Bogar's scholarship is original and impeccable. With stunning clarity, this vivid narrative shines a light into the shadows and behind the scenes of the most resonant crime in American history. Backstage at the Lincoln Assassination is an indispensable resource for understanding the width, breadth and scope of the tragedy at Ford's Theatre." (Erik Jendresen, writer/producer of Killing Lincoln and Band of Brothers)

What listeners say about Backstage at the Lincoln Assassination

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All of the actors and backstage persons actions on the day and their personal histories was fascinating listening.

A thorough account of the persons involved or in the theatre on the night gave a depth to the story not usually known or importance to the unfolding events acknowledged. Fascinating history of everyday or even famous persons actions and influences on the night.

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