''Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President'' is a 2011 book by

Candice Millard Candice Sue Millard (born 1967) is an American writer and journalist. She is a former writer and editor for ''National Geographic'' and the author of four books: '' The River of Doubt'', a history of the Roosevelt–Rondon Scientific Expediti ...

covering the life and assassination of

James A. Garfield James Abram Garfield (November 19, 1831 – September 19, 1881) was the 20th president of the United States, serving from March 4, 1881 until his death six months latertwo months after he was shot by an assassin. A lawyer and Civil War gene ...

, the 20th

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...

. Published by Doubleday (an imprint of

Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...

, owned by

Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...

) on 20 September 2011, it later went on to win the

Edgar Award The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America, based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards honor the bes ...

for Best Fact Crime in 2012.

Critical reception

Millard's book received positive reviews upon publishing by organizations such as ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', ''

The Washington Times ''The Washington Times'' is an American conservative daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., that covers general interest topics with a particular emphasis on national politics. Its broadsheet daily edition is distributed throughout ...

'', and ''

The Seattle Times ''The Seattle Times'' is a daily newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded in 1891 and has been owned by the Blethen family since 1896. ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Washington (s ...

''.

Del Quentin Wilber Del Quentin Wilber is an American journalist who writes for the ''Los Angeles Times''. He rejoined the paper in August 2018 as an enterprise and investigative reporter focusing on criminal justice and national security matters. He previously cove ...

of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' said of the book, "Millard has crafted a fresh narrative that plumbs some of the most dramatic days in U.S. presidential history."

Awards

The book went on to win the following awards: *

for Best Fact Crime (2012) * Andrew Carnegie Medal Nominee for Nonfiction (2012) *

PEN Center USA PEN Center USA was a branch of PEN, an international literary and human rights organization. It was one of two PEN International Centers in the United States, the other being the PEN America in New York City. On March 1, 2018, PEN Center USA unifi ...

award for Research Nonfiction * One Book – One Lincoln Award

References

External links

Destiny of the Republic
- on

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.
Destiny of the Republic
- excerpt from NPR. 2011 non-fiction books Edgar Award-winning works American history books Books by Candice Millard Doubleday (publisher) books {{US-hist-book-stub