Killing Lincoln

The Shocking Assassination That Changed America Forever

By: Bill O'Reilly, Martin Dugard

Narrated by: Bill O'Reilly

Length: 7 hrs and 49 mins

Publisher's summary

A riveting historical narrative of the heart-stopping events surrounding the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, and the first work of history from mega best-selling author Bill O'Reilly.

The iconic anchor of The O'Reilly Factor recounts one of the most dramatic stories in American history - how one gunshot changed the country forever. In the spring of 1865, the bloody saga of America's Civil War finally comes to an end after a series of increasingly harrowing battles. President Abraham Lincoln's generous terms for Robert E. Lee's surrender are devised to fulfill Lincoln's dream of healing a divided nation, with the former Confederates allowed to reintegrate into American society. But one man and his band of murderous accomplices, perhaps reaching into the highest ranks of the U.S. government, are not appeased.

In the midst of the patriotic celebrations in Washington, DC, John Wilkes Booth - charismatic ladies' man and impenitent racist - murders Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre. A furious manhunt ensues and Booth immediately becomes the country's most wanted fugitive. Lafayette C. Baker, a smart but shifty New York detective and former Union spy, unravels the string of clues leading to Booth, while federal forces track his accomplices. The thrilling chase ends in a fiery shootout and a series of court-ordered executions - including that of the first woman ever executed by the U.S. government, Mary Surratt.

Featuring some of history's most remarkable figures, vivid detail, and pause-resisting action, Killing Lincoln is history that comes across like a thriller.

©2011 Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard (P)2011 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

"As a history major, I wish my required reading had been as well written as this truly vivid and emotionally engaging account of Lincoln's assassination. And as a former combat infantry officer, I found myself running for cover at the Civil War battle scenes. This is the story of an American tragedy that changed the course of history. If you think you know this story, you don't until you’ve read Killing Lincoln. Add historian to Bill O’Reilly’s already impressive résumé." (Nelson DeMille, author of The Lion and The Gold Coast)

"[ Killing Lincoln] is nonfiction, albeit told in white-knuckled, John Grisham-like style." ( New York Post)

"If Grisham wrote a novel about April 1865…it might well read like Killing Lincoln." (Peter J. Boyer, Newsweek)

Proper pronunciation

Very well written but poorly performed as many words were not pronounced correctly (Calvary instead of cavalry) just to name an instance.

O'Reilly needs pronunciation lessons

I enjoyed the book quite a lot however, I was annoyed by the author's incorrect pronunciation of many words throughout the text. The most grievous error was using the word "Calvary" when he meant "cavalry". Calvary is a name Christians use for the location of Where Jesus was crucified. A cavalry is a group of soldiers mounted on horseback. Since there is a lot of mention of mounted soldiers in the story, this error was frequent and annoying for such an educated man as Bill O'Reilly. If this frequent mispronunciation of this word and several others were not present I would have only great praise for the book as I have enjoyed all of the "Killing of..." books by the same authors. Please continue to make more like these of prominent figures in our country's history.

Most Excellent

I was so impressed with both the writing and the reading of this novel. I was captured from the very first word. Mr. O'Reilly did a superb job in the reading. I was intrigued by how he read it in the form of a novel. I learned many new things about the assassination, and I know that I will listen to it again. I will recommend this book to anyone and everyone.

Best

The "killing" series is one of the best story formats ever. I wish I would have had audible books during US history as a young lad. Bill O'Reilly's narration is superb.

What would have this world been like if neither Lincoln or JFK were not assassinated. Both were so preventable and clearly a conspiracy to facilitate.

What they didn’t teach you in history

What a great book! Killing Lincoln is A must read if you love American history! A++

So much I did not know..

Great listen and I was fascinated by how much information contained in the book I had never heard before. At first I thought the narration was a little dull, but I got used to it pretty quickly and the story more than made up for it.

This is how history should be taught!

although I stidied and taught U.S. History, I never learned the detail and bacstories presented in this book.

great read.

easy listening. lots of characters. untold story that is not taught. 15 word minimum for review
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Important History

as with the rest of the killing series books this book is excellent very entetaining an a must read

10/10

This book was amazing! I thought I knew everything there was about Lincoln‘s assassination after years of learning about it in school. After hearing the story I know I know I knew next to nothing. If you like history this is a book for you