Destiny of the Republic; A Tale of Madness, Medicine, and the Murder of a President

New York: Anchor Books [A Division of Random House, Inc.], 2011. First Anchor Books Edition [stated]. Later printing. Trade paperback. Good. Paul Versluis [author photograph]. [16], 398, [2] pages. Illustrations. Notes. Bibliography. Index. Signed by author at top of title page. Cover creased. Candice Sue Millard (born 1967/1968) is an American writer and journalist. She is a former writer and editor for National Geographic and authored three books: The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey, a history of the Roosevelt-Rondon Scientific Expedition of the Amazon rainforest in 1913-14; Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President, about the assassination of James A. Garfield; and Hero of the Empire: The Boer War, a Daring Escape, and the Making of Winston Churchill, about his activities during the Boer War. Destiny of the Republic was New York Times Best Seller. In April 2012, Millard won the Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime Book for Destiny of the Republic. The book received a PEN Center USA Award and the 34th Thorpe Menn Award for Literary Excellence. Derived from a Kirkus review: The shocking shooting and the painful, lingering death of the 20th president. As she builds to the president's fatal encounter with his assassin, she details the intra-party struggle among Republicans that led to Garfield's surprise 1880 nomination. The Stalwarts, defenders of the notorious spoils system, battled the Half-Breeds, reformers led by Senators Sherman and Blaine. The delusional Charles J. Guiteau, failed author, lawyer and evangelist, felt he was instrumental in Garfield's election and deserving of the consulship to Paris. During the months Garfield lay dying, Alexander Graham Bell desperately scrambled to perfect his induction balance to locate the lead bullet lodged in the stricken president's back. Moving set pieces-the 1876 U.S. Centennial Exhibition which Garfield attended and where both Lister and Bell presented, the deadlocked Republican Convention, the steamship explosion that almost killed Guiteau, the White House death watch-and sharply etched sketches of Blaine, the overwhelmed Arthur and portraits of the impressive Garfield and the insane Guiteau make for compulsive reading.