James L.Swanson is the Edgar Award–winning author of the New York Times bestseller MANHUNT: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer. In 2009 in Newsweek magazine, Patricia Cornwell named Swanson's MANHUNT and Truman Capote's IN COLD BLOOD as the two best nonfiction crime books ever.

In 2006, Entertainment Weekly magazine named MANHUNT one of the 10 best books of the year. Swanson has degrees in history from The University of Chicago, where he was a student of John Hope Franklin, and law from the University of California, Los Angeles. He has held a number of government and think-tank posts in Washington, D.C., including at the United States Department of Justice. He serves on the advisory council of the Ford’s Theatre Society.

His other books include the acclaimed photographic history LINCOLN'S ASSASSINS: Their Trial and Execution, as well as CHASING LINCOLN'S KILLER, and adaptations of MANHUNT and BLOODY CRIMES for young readers. James L. Swanson was born on Lincoln’s birthday.

Books by James L. Swanson

Bloody Times: The Funeral of Abraham Lincoln and the Manhunt for Jefferson Davis

by James L. Swanson - History, Young Adult 12+

New York Times bestselling author of Manhunt James L. Swanson creates an adaptation for young people of his adult book Bloody Crimes, a suspense-filled thriller that sheds light on two fallen leaders of the North and South. One man, President Lincoln, assassinated, on his way to the grave. Another man, the president of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis, on the run, soon to be sent to prison. Their actions forever changed the history of a nation.

Chasing King's Killer: The Hunt for Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Assassin

by James L. Swanson - African American Interest, Biography, History, Nonfiction, Social Issues, Young Adult 12+

End of Days: The Assassination of John F. Kennedy

by James L. Swanson - History, Nonfiction

The assassination of John F. Kennedy has been the subject of enduring debate, speculation and numerous conspiracy theories. But James L. Swanson's account follows the event hour-by-hour, from the moment Lee Harvey Oswald conceived of the crime three days before its execution, to his own murder two days later at a Dallas Police precinct at the hands of Jack Ruby, a two-bit nightclub owner.

The President Has Been Shot! The Assassination of John F. Kennedy

by James L. Swanson - Biography, History

Bloody Crimes: The Funeral of Abraham Lincoln and the Chase for Jefferson Davis

by James L. Swanson

The saga that began with MANHUNT continues as James Swanson masterfully weaves together stories of two fallen leaders as they make their final journeys through the bloody landscape of a wounded nation.

Bloody Crimes: The Chase for Jefferson Davis And The Death Pageant for Lincoln's Corpse

by James L. Swanson - History, Nonfiction

Chasing Lincoln's Killer

by James L. Swanson - History

Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer

by James L. Swanson - History, Nonfiction