My Thoughts Be Bloody

The Bitter Rivalry Between Edwin and John Wilkes Booth

By: Nora Titone, Doris Kearns Goodwin - introduction/notes

Narrated by: John B. Lloyd

Length: 19 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's summary

My Thoughts Be Bloody, a sweeping family saga, revives an extraordinary figure whose name has been missing, until now, from the story of President Lincoln's death. Edwin Booth, John Wilkes's older brother by four years, was in his day the biggest star of the American stage. He won his celebrity at the precocious age of 19, before the Civil War began, when John Wilkes was a schoolboy. Without an account of Edwin Booth, author Nora Titone argues, the real story of Lincoln's assassin has never been told. Using an array of private letters, diaries, and reminiscences of the Booth family, Titone has uncovered a hidden history that reveals the reasons why John Wilkes Booth became this country's most notorious assassin.

The details of the conspiracy to kill Lincoln have been well documented elsewhere. My Thoughts Be Bloody tells a new story, one that explains for the first time why Lincoln's assassin decided to conspire against the president in the first place, and sets that decision in the context of a bitterly divided family—and nation. By the end of this riveting journey, listeners will see Abraham Lincoln's death less as the result of the war between the North and South and more as the climax of a dark struggle between two brothers who never wore the uniform of soldiers, except on stage.

©2010 Nora Titone (P)2010 Simon and Schuster Audio

Critic reviews

"Titone's account paints a colorful panorama of 19th-century theatrical life, with its endless drunken touring through frontier backwaters and showbiz pratfalls. Neither deep nor tragic, her John Wilkes is oddly convincing: the first of the grandiose hollow men in America's cast of assassins." ( Publishers Weekly)

Very good!

I was very surprised about the history of the Booth family. It was well performed and I couldn’t have enjoyed it more. A must read for anyone interested in Civil War Era literature.

The real story behind the Lincoln Assassin

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This book would definitely be recommended by me because it explains so much about what John Wilkes Booth was all about.
His horrible childhood and the hierarchy in his family and how difficult it was for him to fit in.

What did you like best about this story?

Learning something I didn't know about before. Edwin Booth was a great actor but not always a great human being. Celebrity gets away with a lot today just like he did in his time.

What about John B. Lloyd’s performance did you like?

His reading was spot on and very engaging.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Nothing this long should be listened to in one sitting. It was a great listen though and I enjoyed setting aside the time to listen.

Any additional comments?

Good for any history buff especially those that have read extensively on A. Lincoln. This book gives you additional insights not delved into previously.

Riveting story of America's most dramatic family

Fantastic account of the talents and rivalries of a family of actors whose lives intersected many of the important events of the nineteenth century. Titone brings to life the famous, the infamous and the forgotten. Mary Ann, a Coventry flower girl seduced by promises and Byronic poems from the eratic and brilliant Junius Brutus Booth, sets out with him for America, where she will have ten children. Titone concentrates on quiet, intense Edwin, renowned in his lifetime as the greatest actor of his generation, and John Wilkes, beautiful and charismatic and destined to be remembered for much longer. Lesser lights in the family get a sympathetic account: long-suffering "June," the family mediator, Asia, a sister close to all the battling brothers. Well written and very hard to put down.

Excellent!

This is the most thorough history of the Booth family that I have read. Great job!

Excellent history well told

I appreciate the great job done with respect to researching and telling this story. It is another piece of the puzzle that is the assassination of President Lincoln. Great perspective!

loved it

amazing book, a huge part of American arts explored, not just shining on John Wilkes

One son's action does not define a family.

Would you listen to My Thoughts Be Bloody again? Why?

Of all the books I have listened to and read, this is one of the few I would re-read or listen to again! This was my first Audible book (had done books on tape, CD, but not via Audible) and it got me hooked, if all books could be this good, this interesting, this captivating.

What was one of the most memorable moments of My Thoughts Be Bloody?

The are so many! The description of the lifestyles - the highs and lows, the life at Tudor Hall, the tour of the Western USA during the Gold Rush of Junius and Edwin, the description of them traveling tough turrain. The romance between Edwin Booth and Laura Keene (the actress staring in Our American Cousin the night Lincoln was shot, and craddled his head), the taunting of Junius Booth's abandoned wife and Mary Ann Holmes. Just the unique and non-comformist information the reader learned.

Nora Titone brings the reader along to comprehend the talent of Junius and Edwin as actors - not just saying they were talented, but providing an understanding of the theatre of the time - the the thespian standards, and expectation of that periords audience. It was eye-opening and so fascinating.

Nora Titone brings to life one of the most fascinating families. I have to say, the handling of John Wilkes Booth was just excellently balanced. You get an understanding of him, what some of his motivations could have been, his childhood, relationships with brothers, mother, father. Yet, this is not his story, his does not dominate. Here is the family's story.

What about John B. Lloyd’s performance did you like?

It was steady and easy to identify the characters without overdramatic inflections.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

This book made me think the Booth family would be a well-known American family even if John Wilkes Booth did not assissinate President Lincoln. It would have been a great American saga instead of a tragic one; a family whose name will always be associated with one of the most notorious moments in American history.

Any additional comments?

The listener will not walk away unsatisfied.

Still listening, but compelled to review it . . .

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would recommend this book to a friend. It is informative, interesting, well written, well narrated.

What was one of the most memorable moments of My Thoughts Be Bloody?

I am still listening, but the most memorable moments so far are the facts about the Booth family and the society in which they lived.

What about John B. Lloyd’s performance did you like?

I liked John B. Lloyd's voice, pacing, tone and inflection. He is one of my favorite audio book narrators.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

What is most moving so far, is how the events in a person's life can change the world.

Any additional comments?

I am really enjoying this book. I find I learn about history much better by listening to audio books about certain time periods, than I ever did in the classroom. I enjoy learning about the mid and late 1800's, especially about the Civil War, by listening to audio books.

One comment, write more!!!

I Saw Nora Titone on Charlie Rose introducing this book and got it immediately! It was obviously a work of love. This is a story that needed to be told and Nora Titone did her due diligence. Newspaper interviews with neighbors, letters between characters, you become a fly on the wall witnessing a truly Shakespearean tragedy. The list of characters is a veritable "who's who" of the era. Reading some of the reviews I must disagree with detractors. While facts are repeated, they are done so by arriving at a conclusion from a different path, adding dimension to a vividly drawn canvas. A "must read" for any one interested in American History and the Civil War. Worth every penny, worth every minute.

Totally riveting

This book uncovers JWB in a different light to anything I thought I knew about him, it has been extremely well researched and is a fascinating listen. I always believed JWB to have been a great actor at the top of his fame, and the truth appears to be very different. He comes across as a spoilt, entitled younger brother with even less conscience and integrity and less sympathy for the southern cause than he has ever been given credit for. His brother and father are fantastic and talented men. this is a really great listen.