The Hour of Peril: The Secret Plot to Murder Lincoln Before the Civil War

I do enjoy reading about historical events. Although, I would not call myself a history buff. I do have a love/hate relationship with history. This is because, while I do enjoy reading about history, I am particular to certain time periods and also, because it is history, I do grow easily bored of reading about the past after a while. This did happen with this book as well. I really appreciated Mr. Stashower’s explicit knowledge to details even to the little minor ones but after a while, I did grow tried and had to skim and flash forward sections of this book.

I expected this book to me more focused on the plot to murder Lincoln. Don’t get me wrong as Mr. Stashower did explain about the attempts on Lincoln prior to him becoming President but this book seemed like it was spent in detail talking about the Pinkertons. I did not mind reading about Allan Pinkerton as I did find him an entertaining character. I did like that he and his wife were part of the “underground railroad” movement. This part of history has fascinated me. Another person that was interesting was Kate Warne. She is considered to be the first woman private eye. She is someone that I would have imagined wanting to be if I lived in this time period.

The letters and photos that were inserted throughout this book were great. Overall, I found The Hour of Peril to be an enjoyable read.