GOOD BROTHER, BAD BROTHER

Edwin Booth was the greatest classical actor of his day and did much to pave the way for the respect theater now has in our country. His younger brother John assassinated Abraham Lincoln. For every person who knows of Edwin Booth, thousands know about his murderous sibling. Such is the way with heroes and villains. Particularly compelling in this volume are details of the conspiracy John hatched to bring down the government by killing Andrew Johnson and William Seward, and kidnapping the president to ransom him for Confederate prisoners. Giblin successfully combines his twin interests in theater and the Civil War in this fascinating biography of brothers during a time of war. Archival photographs and reproductions of posters, playbills, paintings and engravings are a handsome complement to the text. The extensive bibliography and source notes are readable and interesting in their own right. Add this far-ranging work to Civil War collections, histories of American theater and other fine nonfiction works by the author. (index) (Nonfiction. 10-14)