The Impeachment of Abraham Lincoln is a
very interesting alternate-history book, perfect for the current political
season. It’s a legal drama that supposes
that Abraham Lincoln survived John Wilkes Booth’s bullet and went on to serve
as President well after the end of the Civil War. Our history was much
different of course: Lincoln was succeeded by the corrupt and incompetent
Andrew Johnson, who himself only narrowly avoided being successfully impeached.
Carter
imagines Johnson instead being the victim of an assassin’s bullet – in our
history, he was also targeted for assassination by the plotters, but at the at
last minute that part of the plan fell through. In Carter’s novel, Johnson dies
but Lincoln survives, only to be set up for vast conspiracy built around a show-trial
of an impeachment.
Enter our
main character: a young black woman, Abigail Canner, who was been given a job
at as a law clerk at the law firm charged with defending Lincoln, coincidentally
just at the time the trial is due to proceed. There’s a lot of intrigue and
murder and Abigail is quickly involved in the action. Abigail is a strong female protagonist who must not only deal with the prejudice she faces, but also some personal revelations as she slowly but surely helps unravel the conspiracy against the President of the
United States.
As Abigail
moves through the novel, Carter paints a very detailed picture of life in
post-Civil War Washington DC, describing the emerging black middle and
professional class. He also goes into great detail about the Washington elite and
political power brokers of the day, mixing both historical fictional characters with
ease. Through this, you gain a very sense of the political machinations that
swirled around Lincoln in real life.
It’s
something that historians such as Doris Kearns Goodwin writing in her 2005 Team
of Rivals, have noted. Upon becoming President in 1860, with the country
slipping headlong into civil war, Lincoln invited his chief rivals for the
Republican presidential nomination into his cabinet. Of course they were able
individuals and with a war coming, Lincoln needed them. But quite possibly, he
was following the old maxim of keeping your friends close, but your enemies
closer.
Now be
warned: The Impeachment of Abraham
Lincoln is a very long, dense read, packed with historical details. But
once it gets moving, it moves. It should appeal to court room drama fans and
alt-history fans alike. Definitely recommended.
What’s Next?
I’ve just started
to read Harry Turtledove’s newest release in paperback: Bombs Away, the first
book in his new The Hot War series.
Watch for a review of it in the near future.
Coming up over the next few months, I’ll also have reviews on Peter
Tieryas’s United States of Japan, Terry Pratchett and Stephen
Baxter’s The Long Utopia and, as promised, The Man in the High Castle first season.
Meanwhile, you can help out a poor unemployed writer by purchasing Elvis Saves JFK! for just 99 cents and War Plan Crimson, A Novel of Alternate History, for $2.99 and now The Key to My Heart, also $2.99 (all are free to preview). All books -- which are already on Smashword's premium distribution list -- are also available through such fine on-line retailers such as Sony, Chapters Indigo, Barnes & Noble and Apple's iTunes Store. Thanks.
