Book review: "Destiny of the Republic" by Candice Mallard.

You don't have to be interested in history to love this story of the assassination of President James A. Garfield in 1881, sixteen years after Lincoln was shot.

If you're interested in all kinds of people--love or hate--you'll be riveted by the dramatic events following the shooting of Garfield, who hung on to life for months in the White House.

First, you follow the trail of his nutcase assasin, Charles Giteau--basically a case of human waste--then you meet a bunch of political rogues and end with a gallery of heroes trying to save the president's life, including Garfield's wife, Lucretia, Alexander Graham Bell, and the original champion of antiseptic surgery, Joseph Lister, whose name is famous on the bottle of Listerine on your drugstore shelf.

It's a portrait of humanity and a lovable man who was briefly President of the United States.
Great writing.