Destiny of the Republic by Candice Millard
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
A really amazing tale of the technology and times of Garfield's presidency and assassination. As it look like the GOP heads to their Tampa convention and a state as indecisive as they were in Garfield's time, the convention portion of the book that tells the story of how the office was thrust upon Garfield is relevant. (It is also interesting how the office was then thrust upoin Chester Arthur who was reviled as Garfield was loved, but apparently rose to the occasion. On love, the respect and adoration given by the press and people to Garfield is hard to believe in these days and recalls what I have about how FDR was treated and to a certain extent JFK.)
Millard weaves in two important subtexts: how American surgeons and particularly Garfield's attending doctors ignored Lister's sterilization techniques to Garfield's peril. Another story is that of Alexander Graham Bell. The Scottish inventory went to great trouble to invent the metal detector just to find Garfield's bullet only to frustrated at every turn.
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