History Mystery Book Club: James Garfield

Join us at Wright Library each quarter to discuss a curated nonfiction title that features unexplained events and mysteries that have occurred throughout history.

Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President by Candice Millard, is about James Abram Garfield - one of the most extraordinary men ever elected president. Born into abject poverty, he rose to become a wunderkind scholar, a Civil War hero, a renowned congressman, and a reluctant presidential candidate who took on the nation's corrupt political establishment.

Four months after Garfield's inauguration in 1881, he was shot in the back by a deranged office-seeker named Charles Guiteau. Garfield survived the attack, but became the object of bitter, behind-the-scenes struggles for power—over his administration, over the nation's future, and, hauntingly, over his medical care.

Meticulously researched, epic in scope, and pulsating with an intimate human focus and high-velocity narrative drive, The Destiny of the Republic brings alive a forgotten chapter of U.S. history.

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Wright Memorial Public Library

History Mystery Book Club: James Garfield is taking place at Wright Memorial Public Library, which is located at 1776 Far Hills Avenue in Oakwood. Wright Memorial Public Library - Books are only the beginning at Wright Memorial Public Library. So much to see, so much to do!