I guess I can’t expect for you guys to understand how much I love Abraham Lincoln because none of you have to hear me gush about him on a regular basis like my co-workers do. But gosh y’all. I love me some old Abe, which is why I was thrilled to find out that a new book was coming out about his life! Even though the list of books about Lincoln is dangerously close to numbering 1,000,000,000, every now and then one comes along that claws its way through the rest and rises to the top (see: Team of Rivals). I believe that The Hour of Peril by Daniel Stashower might just be one of those.
That’s Pinkerton to the left of Lincoln. This was the first meeting of their Fancy Hat Club.
You all know how Lincoln died– his is arguably one of the most famous assassinations that has ever taken place, but what you may not know is that he came dangerously close to the same fate in 1861 while on his way to his presidential inauguration in Washington. This is what Stashower’s new book is about! Intrigue! Enter Alan Pinkerton, Irish immigrant, sassy dancer (or so I imagine), detective extraordinaire. Hired to protect the president and thwart any devious plots during their trip to the inauguration ceremonies, Pinkerton did just that– he thwarted with the best of them. Pinkerton is everything you want in a hero– he’s gruff and grimy and will do whatever it takes to save the president of the United States, dang it! After getting wind of an assassination plot that was planned to take place during the train trip from Springfield, IL to Washington DC, he struggled to pull together clues wherever he could find them in order to do what he did best- thwarting, even if that meant putting Lincoln’s life at stake at one point in order to do so. (I’m not going to tell you how though. Spoilers.) You may have already figured this out for yourself, but he was very successful in saving Lincoln’s life, which is rather important when you think about it, because Lincoln still had some pretty big stuff to tackle.
If I haven’t already convinced you to read this book, allow me to introduce you to Kate Warne, America’s first female private eye. She assisted Pinkerton with his assassination-thwarting plot, and was generally awesome. In the picture to the left, it’s argued that the person standing behind Pinkerton with that baby-smooth face is Warne. Woah lady, good job on that whole disguise thing. Fancy hats off to you.
Basically Pinkerton is famous for not only saving Lincoln’s life with his cunning expertise, but also for being the first real private eye in America. Pinkerton’s National Detective Agency’s motto was “We never sleep” written around an open eye, which is terrifying, but also totally awesome. Good for you Pinky. I like that this book is hard to throw onto the mountainous pile of literature about Lincoln because when you think about it, this book isn’t really about only Lincoln, it’s about Pinkerton and the birth of a new era of crime-fighting. I’m super excited about this because it offers a glimpse not only into an earlier time in Lincoln’s political career but also introduces who I feel to be a pretty important character in our country’s history.
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