The Carmack-Cooper Shooting - by James Summerville (Paperback)

About the Book

Late on the afternoon of November 9, 1908, five shots rang out from the corner of Seventh and Union in downtown Nashville. As the echoes faded, former U.S. Senator Edward W. Carmack lay dead and Robin J. Cooper, son of prominent businessman Colonel Duncan B. Cooper, reeled from the impact of a bullet intended for his father.

Book Synopsis

Late on the afternoon of November 9, 1908, five shots rang out from the corner of Seventh and Union in downtown Nashville. As the echoes faded, former U.S. Senator Edward W. Carmack lay dead and Robin J. Cooper, son of prominent businessman Colonel Duncan B. Cooper, reeled from the impact of a bullet intended for his father.

Was it a planned assassination or just an unfortunate incident in an old friendship that politics had turned into bitter enmity?

Through extensive research, including a study of actual trial documents and the papers of both Cooper and Carmack, this account explores the events leading up to this deadly encounter and the resulting murder trial that has gone down in history as one of the South's most famous.

Review Quotes

"examines the shooting, trial, and appeals in intricate and well-documented detail...a good read, well researched"-Tennessee Historical Quarterly; "the story is carefully researched and well told...the attention to detail alone makes the book worthwhile"-The Journal of East Tennessee History; "thoroughly researched...valuable"-Tennessee Librarian; "fascinating"-Commercial Appeal (Memphis); "this is no sanitized or romanticized story, it's a straight ahead, unflinching rendition"-Nashville Banner; "a Tennessee historical classic"-Tennessee Bar Journal.

About the Author

James Summerville serves as a State Senator in the Tennessee legislature and is the author of several books.