Awards

• Winner of ALA Notable Books (Nonfiction) 2012
• Winner of Edgar Allan Poe Awards (Fact Crime) 2012

Overview

James A. Garfield was one of the most extraordinary men ever elected president. Born into abject poverty, he rose to become a wunderkind scholar, a Civil War hero, and a renowned and admired reformist congressman. Nominated for president against his will, he engaged in a fierce battle with the corrupt political establishment. But four months after his inauguration, a deranged office seeker tracked Garfield down and shot him in the back. But the shot didn't kill Garfield. The drama of what hap-pened subsequently is a powerful story of a nation in tur-moil. The unhinged assassin's half-delivered strike shattered the fragile national mood of a country so recently fractured by civil war, and left the wounded president as the object of a bitter behind-the-scenes struggle for power--over his administration, over the nation's future, and, hauntingly, over his medical care. A team of physicians administered shockingly archaic treatments, to disastrous effect. As his con-dition worsened, Garfield received help: Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, worked around the clock to invent a new device capable of finding the bullet. Meticulously researched, epic in scope, and pulsating with an intimate human focus and high-velocity narrative drive, The Destiny of the Republic will stand alongside The Devil in the White City and The Professor and the Madman as a classic of narrative history.

Full Product Details

9780385526265

Table of Contents

Reviews

[Millard demonstrates] the power of expert storytelling to wonderfully animate even the simplest facts....make[s] for compulsive reading. Superb American history -- Kirkus, starred review <br> Sparklingly alive...[Millard] brings to life a moment in the nation's history when access to the president was easy, politics bitter, and medical knowledge slight. Under Millard's pen, it's hard to imagine its being better told. -- Publishers Weekly <br>Praise for DESTINY OF THE REPUBLIC<br> Historian Candice Millard's Destiny of the Republic is first-rate history, political intrigue, and a true-crime story all rolled into one. Millard is masterful at capturing the zeitgeist of America during the 1880s, when President James Garfield was assassinated. An epic must-read! <br>--Douglas Brinkley, author of The Wilderness Warrior <br> In this brilliant and riveting work, Candice Millard demonstrates the power of narrative nonfiction. Through exhaustive research and flawless storytelli

[Millard demonstrates] the power of expert storytelling to wonderfully animate even the simplest facts....make[s] for compulsive reading. Superb American history <br>-- Kirkus, starred review <br> Splendidly insightful....stands securely at the crossroads of popular and professional history <br>-- Booklist, starred review <br> Sparklingly alive...[Millard] brings to life a moment in the nation's history when access to the president was easy, politics bitter, and medical knowledge slight. Under Millard's pen, it's hard to imagine its being better told. <br>-- Publishers Weekly <br>Praise for DESTINY OF THE REPUBLIC<br> Historian Candice Millard's Destiny of the Republic is first-rate history, political intrigue, and a true-crime story all rolled into one. Millard is masterful at capturing the zeitgeist of America during the 1880s, when President James Garfield was assassinated. An epic must-read! <br>--Douglas Brinkley, author of The Wilderness Warrior <br> In thise

[Millard demonstrates] the power of expert storytelling to wonderfully animate even the simplest facts....make[s] for compulsive reading. Superb American history <br>-- Kirkus, starred review <br> Splendidly insightful....stands securely at the crossroads of popular and professional history <br>-- Booklist, starred review <br> Sparklingly alive...[Millard] brings to life a moment in the nation's history when access to the president was easy, politics bitter, and medical knowledge slight. Under Millard's pen, it's hard to imagine its being better told. <br>-- Publishers Weekly <br>Praise for DESTINY OF THE REPUBLIC<br> Historian Candice Millard's Destiny of the Republic is first-rate history, political intrigue, and a true-crime story all rolled into one. Millard is masterful at capturing the zeitgeist of America during the 1880s, when President James Garfield was assassinated. An epic must-read! <br>--Douglas Brinkley, author of The Wilderness Warrior <br> In thism

A New York Times Notable Book of 2011 <br> A staggering tale....Millard digs deeply into the turmoil that got James A. Garfield elected, the lunacy that got him shot and the medical malfeasance that turned a minor wound into a mortal one. --Janet Maslin, Top 10 Recommendations for 2011 <p> One of the many pleasures of Candice Millard's new book, Destiny of the Republic, [is] that she brings poor Garfield to life--and a remarkable life it was.....Fascinating... Outstanding....Millard has written us a penetrating human tragedy. <br>-- The New York Times Book Review <br> A spirited tale that intertwines murder, politics and medical mystery, Candice Millard leaves us feeling that Garfield's assassination deprived the nation not only of a remarkably humble and intellectually gifted man but one who perhaps bore the seeds of greatness.... splendidly drawn portraits.... Alexander Graham Bell makes a bravura appearance -- The Wall Street Journal <br> Fascinating......Grippi

Praise for DESTINY OF THE REPUBLIC<br> Historian Candice Millard's Destiny of the Republic is first-rate history, political intrigue, and a true-crime story all rolled into one. Millard is masterful at capturing the zeitgeist of America during the 1880s, when President James Garfield was assassinated. An epic must-read! <br>--Douglas Brinkley, author of The Wilderness Warrior <br> In this brilliant and riveting work, Candice Millard demonstrates the power of narrative nonfiction. Through exhaustive research and flawless storytelling, she has brought to life one of the most harrowing and fascinating sagas in American history--a saga filled with political intrigue, a mad assassin, and a frantic scientific struggle to save the life of a noble president. This is a book that is impossible to put down. <br>--David Grann, author of The Lost City of Z<br> <br> Candice Millard has done it again: She's turned the sometimes stodgy realm of presidential history on its head with a gripping

Author Information

CANDICE MILLARD is the New York Times bestselling author of The River of Doubt. She lives in Kansas City with her husband and children.

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