This book’s been done already — “American Brutus”.
And Wilkes wasn’t nearly as popular in the day as his brother Edwin. He always resented being in his brother’s shadow. Edwin was a colossus on the stage. Wilkes was more the Danny Baldwin of the bunch, without the drugs.
Actually Booth was up and coming and breathing down Edwin’s neck. At the time of Lincoln’s assassination, Edwin was no where near the legend he would become. Very famous, no doubt, but nothing like the international star he would later become. And their career trajectories were very different: Edwin the thoughtful, modernizing actor, John the romantic, swashbuckling lead.