Our next book for discussion is Destiny of the Republic: Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President, Candice Millard (2011); Nonfiction; 352 pages; 4.7/5 stars on Amazon.com; 3 copies and one large print copy at WPL – all checked out; 13 copies in Café system; available in paperback. Available for 30% off at Martha Merrell's - on the New York Times Bestsellers list.
We will meet on Wednesday, September 12, 2012; 6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.; Martha Merrell’s/Cuddles. David Brostrom, former Waukesha Public Library Deputy Director, will lead the discussion. We might possibly Skype with the author, Candice Millard!
Book Description: A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK of 2011. 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 happened subsequently is a powerful story of a nation in turmoil. 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 condition 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. http://www.amazon.com/Destiny-Republic-Madness-Medicine-President/dp/0767929713/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1344481326&sr=1-1&keywords=destiny+of+the+republic
Candice Millard has a great web site with book reviews, a video book preview, author inteviews and more at: http://www.candicemillard.com/index.html
There is a reading group guide at: http://www.litlovers.com/reading-guides/14-non-fiction/8301-destiny-of-the-republic-millard
Looking forward!
