Moonlight: Abraham Lincoln and the Almanac Trial

On August 29, 1857, in the light of a three-quarter moon, James Metzger was savagely beaten by two assailants in a grove not far from his home. Two days later he died and his assailants, James Norris and William Armstrong, were arrested and charged with his murder. Norris was tried and convicted first. As William "Duff" Armstrong waited for his trial, his own father died. James Armstrong's deathbed wish was that Duff's mother, Hannah, engage the best lawyer possible to defend Duff. The best person Hannah could think of was a friend, a young lawyer from Springfield by the name of Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln took the case and with that begins one of the oddest journeys Lincoln took on his trek towards immortality. What really happened? How much did the moon reveal? What did Lincoln really know? Walsh makes a strong case for viewing Honest Abe in a different light in this tale of murder and moonlight.

Moonlight is a 2001 Edgar Award Nominee for Best Fact Crime.

Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: St. Martins Press-3PL
Published: 06/03/2000
ISBN: 9780312229221
Pages: 192
Weight: 0.76lbs
Size: 8.55h x 5.81w x 0.93d
Award: Edgar Allan Poe Awards - Nominee

Review Citations: Publishers Weekly 05/22/2000 pg. 84
Kirkus Reviews 05/15/2000 pg. 706
Booklist 05/15/2000 pg. 1709
Library Journal 07/01/2000 pg. 116
Reference and Research Bk News 11/01/2000 pg. 124
Publishers Weekly 05/15/2000