This book explores the stories behind the Untied States' four presidential assassinations. It begins with Abraham Lincoln, continues with Andrew Garfield and then moves onto William McKinley and finally John F. Kennedy.

Assassins' America shows how the lives of these presidents and their killers came together. It also explores the possibilities of what might have happened had the president not died.

I really enjoyed this brief, but thorough, introduction to these national tragedies. I learned a lot about both the presidents and the assassins. We all know about the great deeds of Abraham Lincoln, but I also was impressed with the potential of Andrew Garfield who didn't live long enough to do much in office.

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3.75 Hearts This is an interesting read. There are sections on each president that are quick reads and give you some background into each one. But the sections also explain the assassination of each and why the author believes the assassinations happened.

I have been on a bit of a kick about real life and death of presidents and celebrities alike and I found this book very interesting. Especially the parts about Lincoln and Kennedy since we have heard so much about them already.

Interesting read for any history buff.

Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

A must for American history buffs! Thanks to NetGalley and Capstone for the opportunity to read and review Assassin’s America: Four Killers, Four Murdered Presidents, and the Country They Left Behind by Jessica Gunderson & Joe Tougas. The true story is told in four parts, one for each president, describing the assassin and how our country may have been different without the assassination. A detailed report of each assassin and each president is followed by the description of the killing and the state of America and, finally, a timeline. I have read about the assassinations of Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy many times but never Garfield’s or McKinley’s. It saddens me to think the last two could have lived with better medical care. Very tragic. Informative and laid out in an interesting way, this book is a must for history buffs, 5 stars!

As a teacher, I am so glad that a book aimed at students addresses the assassinations of Garfield and McKinley (in addition to the better-known assassinations of Lincoln and Kennedy). This book has plenty of substance about all four presidents and their killers, making this a valuable resource for students and teachers.

There is no shortage of books about assassinations, particularly about Lincoln and Kennedy. You might think there was nothing else to write. This book laughs in the face of such an assertion. A fantastic approach. Gunderson and Tougas do several things right. We're given background on both president and assassin, childhood events that shaped the direction of their lives, the events of the shooting itself, and how life might have changed had the death not occurred. And it's not just wild speculation. The authors rely on primary sources, personal documents, that reflect the plans each president had for the country. Especially fascinating is the section on Garfield. A great choice for young history buffs nad those with an interest in government.

Over the years there have been numerous assassination attempts on the President of the United States. According to Wikipedia, there have been more than 30 attempts on the president's life and four attempts were successful. Being from Dallas, the assassination of President John F. Kennedy is still talked about to this day in our area, and everyone knows about President Abraham Lincoln's assassination at Ford's Theatre, but what about the other two presidents that were murdered in cold blood while in office, and what about the men that assassinated them?

Jessica Gunderson and Joe Tougas tackle this tough subject, wanting to "examine the lives of each killer and his victim," in Assassins' America.

Published by Capstone, this book targets children ages nine to fifteen, but is still informative for an older audience as well. It is extremely well written, well researched, and does not diminish the violent acts in which each presidents was assassinated, or the depiction of their killers. There are a few little facts that are left out but they are nothing that takes away from the validity of the each individual stories. The book is laid out in an easily readable format, which could be used for teaching as well as casual reading.

I was refreshed on my knowledge of Presidents Lincoln and Kennedy, both their lives and their deaths, and learned a lot about Presidents Garfield and McKinley, who's lives and assassinations I knew very little about. What's heartbreaking is how public each assassination was. I cannot imagine what the spectators of these horrific acts experienced. I also found it extremely interesting that this book delved into the killers minds and circumstances during that time. Years later my heart still hurts for these presidents and my mind wonders how different America would be if any of them had lived to carry out their terms.

Assassins' America is currently only available for purchase through Capstone and is actually broken down into four individual volumes, each focusing on one president. I highly recommend this book for young adults as well as teachers and libraries. Wonderful resource!

*RECEIVED FROM NETGALLEY
As a history major, I did like this book a lot. It was not a five out of five because it could have been better. I learned new facts that I have never known before and I would love more books like this in the future. I don't even know what age level this can be, obviously not for a five-year-old but you get the picture. Any age can read it but I think on the site it was labeled as YA. Nonetheless, I did like this book quite a lot.

Assassins' America by Jessica Gunderson and Joe Tougas (2018) - Four American Presidents have been assassinated. Each story has details that are often overlooked.



For younger readers, this will be a solid intro to one of the most disruptive political acts possible. Assassinating the head of state is intended to disrupt the functioning of the nation. Whether the motivation is political or personal, the goal is to bring down the government of the moment. Yet it has never happened in the history of the United States of America.



This book is aimed at the Teen/YA audience. This is not an in-depth look at any of the four stories, but rather an introductory opening to the concepts behind the acts. Each of the four Presidents, Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley, and Kennedy, died for different reasons on the surface. The twists in each of the stories get some attention, enough to whet the appetite to explore a little deeper.



If there's a weakness here it may be the remnants of the national sainthood placed on President Kennedy following his death. In the years since then, we have discovered that JFK had feet of clay. His death, like the deaths of his predecessors, is tragic enough without attempting to make them anyone other than who they were.



If you've got a younger reader who is starting to get into history and politics, this would be a great addition to their reading. It's not a bad read for adult readers, either.



Why You Will Like It - A good basic history that's a quick, easy read.

(Review will post January 10 at 5 PM)

Assassins' America: Four Killers, Four Murdered Presidents, and the Country They Left Behind by Capstone Paperback is a wonderful new book on stores this March 1, 2018. Written by Jessica Gunderson and Joe Tougas, the book tells with great lucidity, precision, and intriguing tales what happened to the Presidents of the USA killed during the times and the effects their departures meant for the USA.

The History starts of course with Abraham Lincoln the most beloved President of the USA.
As I guess you will know the story.
John Wilkes Booth, a very famous theater's star, shot the President on April 14, 1865 while the President was attending Our American Cousin at Ford's Theater in Washington D.C.

That day Lincoln's wife wasn't fine. Why not giving up she asked him?
But President Lincoln insisted and they went to theater with some friends.
John Wilkes disliked profoundly the ideas of President Lincoln and he hated him but there is to say that he wasn't mentally ill, his life was successful, he was very rich, the most famous actor of the USA at that time.
The comparison of our times? Your favorite movie-star. We are at that levels.
His family a family of great actors.
All the possible luck and talent of the life, sent to hell for an absurdity like this one!
Wilkes was wrong thinking that after the death of Lincoln people would have thanked him for his insane gesture.
It was the opposite.
Lincoln was very loved also when alive and in particular black people kept in their houses the picture of the President as if he would have been a Saint. We were at these levels of love! An assassin can physically kill a person but won't never be in grade of killing love.
Wilkes was hanged up with the rest of his gang once captured and in the moment of Lincoln's death started the beautiful legend and myth of this President.
President Lincoln died the next morning for the injury at the brain.

The second President "killed" for malpractice by doctors more than by the absurd gesture of his assassin according to the authors of the book was James Garfield, freshly elected.
In his case the assassin was an extravagant man and lawyer Charles J.Guiteau. He tried to kill the President during a public appearance on July 2,1881.
Problem in the case of President Garfield? Doctors tried to search for one of the bullet using their fingers and other instruments without any kind of attention for germs, and for this reason the President passed away after more than two painful months on September 1881 because of infections contracted including a pneumonia.

Mr Garfield's life was remarkable. Like in the case of Lincoln he was born very poor.
His first pair of shoes at the age of 4 years. Later he became a teacher and then during the Secession War he did military career. Later, policy. The Republican Party at that time divided in two factions.
The killer was an exasperated God's believer but a pretty eccentric man as well. Once the President elected he tried all his best, being a lawyer to follow the President to Washington for obtaining a job thanks to him. The President answered to his requests with a no. After that the idea of killing him.
A magazine in a caricature of the assassin let us see Guiteau with a gun on the right hand and on the left a short letter where there is written: An Office or Your Life!

Guiteau's life was complicated, plenty of failures, populated by a distorted vision of religion, weird groups he joined in and tentative to trying to define his existence.

The third President murdered was William McKinley. It was the beginning of the XX century, new expectations, people were leaving farms for cities starting to work in factories. Minor labor was consented because children and teenagers inexpensive if compared at an adult.

In this sort of turmoil including the fact that President McKinley supported wealthy families and groups we can find the "humus and air" breathed by Leon Czolgosz, the future assassin of the President.
He was an anarchic, with mental illness, "inspired" by Gaetano Bresci the murderer of the Italian King Umberto, assassinated in 1900.
The murderer of President McKinley bought the same gun used by Gaetano Bresci for killing the President in Buffalo on Sept 6 1901.

It was touching the behavior of President McKinley when he understood what happened: his first thought for his wife, frequently sick.
She fell depressed when they lost their two children and later she started to suffering of epilepsy.
He said to one of his collaborators of explaining her this assassination with calm and attention. Wow!

President McKinley didn't die immediately, all the opposite! He recovered very well but one of the bullet still inside him poisoned his body.
Doctors didn't want to use the R-X for seeing where the bullet was located for a good extraction of it. A gangrene grew around the bullet and on Sept 14 1901 the President died.

Desperate, Leon was killed with the electric chair. He said while they were carrying him to his final destination, he did it "For the good of the laboring people, the good people."

Vice-president Theodore Roosevelt understood that his moment was arrived.
Roosevelt was a fantastic President. He didn't go for big corporations, he was a lover of nature and its beauty, his family very numerous, chaotic and cheerful, he loved to spend a lot of time outside, in the forests. He passed at the story as the President of National Parks, of outdoors life, the creator of Teddy Bear. Do you know the story of Teddy Bear?

Once the President refused to kill an old sick bear. What kind of gusto can have a man in killing a sick animal close to the end? He decided of leaving the bear alone. Roosevelt was a hunter and when news spread it appeared more than natural to let know to everyone this act of kindness and love creating this cute, romantic, tender gift, in particular presented during Valentine's Day or other special occasions.

The final chapters involves of course President John Fitzgerald Kennedy killed in Dallas on Nov 22 1963.
Yes: of course there is a great reconstruction of the President, the historical moment and also the biography of Lee Harvey Oswald the so-called official assassin of President Kennedy is superb.
Sure Lee Harvey Oswald wasn't in Dallas for giving a hug to the President. I don't doubt for a second of the bad intention of that man but in this final case, I would add to children and teenagers that the story can't be considered complete and closed without the inclusion of other people. I think that there was a conspiration behind this assassination.

There are other chapters to write about this story, where and if it will be possible.
In opposite case, the John Fitzgerald Kennedy's assassination will remain forever "A case still open."

I highly suggest this book to everyone. It is in particular a book for teenagers but I can tell you that also an adult can learn a lot reading this book. Very informative and formative :-)

I thank NetGalley and Capstone for this beautiful and as always very good ebook!

Very well written book. I knew a lot about the Lincoln and Kennedy assassinations but not much about Garfield nor McKinley. The overarching hypothesis is that America would be a very different place today if even one of these would not have been killed. I feel cheated that we didn't learn more about Garfield and McKinley in history class -- not only in high school but as also as a history major in college. I was fascinated with these men's lives. The author also used a true storyteller approach instead of dry statement of facts which is often the case for history books. If I was a history teacher I would have students read this book. Another interesting approach to the book was looking at the assassins and how they were products of the times as well as untreated mental health issues. I had to laugh when reading about how during Garfield's administration politics were about trusts and positions were appointments to cronies instead of who was qualified for the position. It was all about lining pockets and getting rich instead of governing. Sounds like the modern political landscape in America....

Unfortunately couldn’t open the file. "......................

I loved this book! Focusing exclusively on the four successful assassination attempts in American political history, this provides concise biographies of Presidents Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley and Kennedy, as well as their assassins, Booth, Guiteau, Czolgosz and Oswald.

I particularly liked the last chapter of each section, which looks into the ‘What if the assassins had not succeeded?’ scenario. I found the McKinley / Roosevelt section concerning woodland preservation and Kennedy / Johnson section concerning Vietnam to be the most interesting of this section.

This was a very good book, and despite the few spelling and grammar issues, I recommend it strongly.

Anyone who believes in the Great Man theory of History – that key individuals can impact events – must logically also subscribe to the Little Man view of History: that by removing a Great Man (or woman) their assassin can also influence the course of events. Such is the supposition behind “Assassins’ America” which is subtitled “Four Killers, Four Murdered Presidents, and the Country They Left Behind”.

Within each section of the book’s four parts (relating to Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley and Kennedy), the authors, Jessica Gunderson and Joe Tougas, consider the President, their assassin, the assassination and its consequences for America.

The book is very well illustrated and mostly comprises very easy to read narrative. The problems arise when an attempt is made at analysis, where such broad brushstrokes are employed that the project is in danger of being devalued.

Take, for example, the assessment of the “Lasting Blow to Freedom and Equality” represented by Lincoln’s replacement by Andrew Johnson. It is, of course true, that the latter destroyed the hopes of the Radical Republicans for a full-blooded Reconstruction but whilst his pardons, opposition to a redistribution of land to former slaves and allowing the southern states to develop restrictive Black Codes are all covered, there’s no mention of his vetoing of the Freedmen’s Bureau and Civil Rights Bills or his opposition to ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment. Moreover a leap is made from the Black Codes and the Ku Klux Klan to the Montgomery Bus Boycott with no reference to events such as the Hayes Compromise (1877), which resulted in the end of Reconstruction, or Plessy v Ferguson (1896), which provided the legal bedrock for Jim Crow.

Similarly, the many flaws in the Warren Report are simply brushed aside and Lee Harvey Oswald is unequivocally presented as the lone gunmen guilty of killing Kennedy (and Officer Tippit). Moreover, readers are not invited to consider the consequences of Kennedy’s killing in any area of policy other than Vietnam, where the authors leave a rather unsatisfying open verdict on whether or not he would have escalated US involvement.

However, when one remembers that this book is aimed at young readers, one can appreciate that they are likely to find it visually appealing and textually informative and it should, most importantly, inspire them to read more widely, filling in some of the gaps, or even challenging some of the assumptions, of the present volume.