Watermark Books and Cafe

Wichita, Kans.—Candice Millard, author of The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey, will be at the Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum (204 S. Main) on Thursday, September 29 at 7:00 p.m. for a book talk and signing of her new historical biography, Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine & the Murder of a President. The event is sponsored by Watermark Books & Café.

Just as she did with Theodore Roosevelt in River of Doubt, Millard meticulously researched James A. Garfield, his murder, and all of the extraordinary events leading up to and following his shooting. The result is a riveting piece of creative non-fiction. Here’s a summary of Destiny of the Republic:

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.

Candice Millard is a former writer and editor for National Geographic magazine. Her first book, The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey, was a New York Times bestseller and was named one of the best books of the year by, among others, the New York Times, Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, Christian Science Monitor, and Kansas City Star. The River of Doubt was a Book Sense Pick, was a finalist for the Quill Awards, and won the William Rockhill Nelson Award. It has been printed in Portugese, Mandarin, and Korean, as well as a British edition. Millard's work has also appeared in Time magazine, Washington Post Book World, and the New York Times Book Review. Her second book, The Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine & the Murder of a President, will be released on September 20, 2011. Millard lives in Kansas City with her husband and three children.

Book information:

Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine & the Murder of a Present (Doubleday, ISBN 9780385526265, $28.95)

The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey (Anchor, ISBN 9780767913737, $15.00)

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For more information about this event, please contact:

Beth Golay
Marketing Manager
Watermark Books & Cafe
4701 E. Douglas
Wichita, KS 67218
(316) 682-1181
www.watermarkbooks.com