Durant la guerre de Sécession, Montréal a accueilli la plus grande base des services secrets confédérés. Les banques de la ville et d'autres institutions financières canadiennes ont financé des activités clandestines et ont tenté de déstabiliser l'économie nordiste. Envahie de réfugiés, de mercenaires, d'espions, d'assassins et de contrebandiers, Montréal était une ville pro-sécessionniste. C'est d'ailleurs là que s'est réfugié le président sudiste Jefferson Davis à la fin du conflit. Dans les grands hôtels de la ville se sont ourdis des complots de toutes sortes, dont l'enlèvement de Lincoln qui s'est transformé en assassinat. On a retrouvé dans la poche du manteau du tireur une traite bancaire signée par le banquier montréalais et futur maire Henry Starnes.S'appuyant sur des recherches d'archives originales et sur ses précédents livres, Barry Sheehy remet en question les principaux éléments de la narration de la guerre civile américaine. Le tout est accompagné de nombreuses photos du cé

Montreal hosted the Confederacy's largest foreign secret service base during the Civil War. Montreal banks and other Canadian financial institutions held a million dollars or more in hard currency or gold to fund clandestine activities. When Jefferson Davis fled the U.S. in 1865, Montreal welcomed him and his family. Overrun with refugees, soldiers of fortune, spies, assassins, bankers and smugglers, Montreal was a pro "Secesh" town. From the city's grand hotels, plots of all sorts were hatched, including the infamous St. Albans raid and the Lincoln kidnapping, which mutated into an assassination. Influential British-Canadian bankers joined Confederates as they launched a successful assault on the new "Greenback." When John Wilkes Booth was shot, a bank draft signed by Montreal banker and future mayor Henry Starnes was found in his coat pocket. Surprises are not limited to the Confederacy. The level of corruption in the Northern war effort, as suggested by the names registered at the St. Lawrence Hall-Montreal's finest hotel-is breathtaking. Opposition to Lincoln from both parties ran deeper than is generally acknowledged. Based on original archival research and his previous books on the Civil War, Barry Sheehy challenges core tenets of the American Civil War narrative. Moreover, his case is greatly reinforced by the many photos taken by internationally celebrated photographer William Notman. A number of these photos have never been published before. "Barry Sheehy lays out the case for the involvement of the Confederates in a concise and convincing manner showing once and for all that Booth could not have carried out his plot without their direct help. It is about time." - Edward Steers "Well-researched, with detailed endnotes and ample black-and-white period photography, the book is a real eye-opener for those who think Canada sat idly by during America's bloodiest conflict." Canada's History "Sheehy has made an important contribution to our understanding of the American Civil War and how Canada was both involved in and shaped by it." John Boyko, author of the bestseller Blood and Daring: How Canada Fought the American Civil War and Forged a Nation