MARC record from Internet Archive

LEADER: 03571cam a22003978i 4500
001 2014040917
003 DLC
005 20150805081928.0
008 150213s2015 enka b 001 0beng
010 $a 2014040917
020 $a9780195054125 (hardcover : acid-free paper)
040 $aDLC$beng$cDLC$erda$dDLC
042 $apcc
043 $an-us---
050 00 $aE457.5$b.A44 2015
082 00 $a973.7092$aB$223
084 $aBIO006000$aBIO000000$aHIS036000$2bisacsh
100 1 $aAlford, Terry.
245 10 $aFortune's fool :$bthe life of John Wilkes Booth /$cTerry Alford.
264 1 $aOxford :$bOxford University Press,$c2015.
300 $a454 pages :$billustrations ;$c24 cm
336 $atext$btxt$2rdacontent
337 $aunmediated$bn$2rdamedia
338 $avolume$bnc$2rdacarrier
520 2 $a"With a single shot from a pistol small enough to conceal in his hand, John Wilkes Booth catapulted into history on the night of April 14, 1865. The assassination of President Abraham Lincoln stunned a nation that was just emerging from the chaos and calamity of the Civil War, and the president's untimely death altered the trajectory of postwar history. But to those who knew Booth, the event was even more shocking--for no one could have imagined that this fantastically gifted actor and well-liked man could commit such an atrocity. In Fortune's Fool, Terry Alford provides the first comprehensive look at the life of an enigmatic figure whose life has been overshadowed by his final, infamous act. Tracing Booth's story from his uncertain childhood in Maryland, characterized by a difficult relationship with his famous actor father, to his successful acting career on stages across the country, Alford offers a nuanced picture of Booth as a public figure, performer, and deeply troubled man. Despite the fame and success that attended Booth's career--he was billed at one point as 'the youngest star in the world'--he found himself consumed by the Confederate cause and the desire to help the South win its independence. Alford reveals the tormented path that led Booth to conclude, as the Confederacy collapsed in April 1865, that the only way to revive the South and punish the North for the war would be to murder Lincoln--whatever the cost to himself or others. The textured and compelling narrative gives new depth to the familiar events at Ford's Theatre and the aftermath that followed, culminating in Booth's capture and death at the hands of Union soldiers 150 years ago. Based on original research into government archives, historical libraries, and family records, Fortune's Fool offers the definitive portrait of John Wilkes Booth"--$cProvided by publisher.
504 $aIncludes bibliographical references and index.
505 0 $aBright Boy Absalom -- The Muffin -- Lions and Foxes -- The Union as It Was -- Shining in the Rough -- Life's Fitful Fever -- Mischief, Thou Art Afoot -- The Fiery Furnace -- Come Weal or Woe -- This One Mad Act -- Exit Booth -- The Last Ditch -- Epilogue: A Green and Narrow Bed.
600 10 $aBooth, John Wilkes,$d1838-1865.
600 10 $aBooth, John Wilkes,$d1838-1865$xPsychology.
600 10 $aBooth, John Wilkes,$d1838-1865$xPolitical and social views.
600 10 $aLincoln, Abraham,$d1809-1865$xAssassination.
650 0 $aAssassins$zUnited States$vBiography.
650 0 $aActors$zUnited States$vBiography.
650 7 $aBIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Historical.$2bisacsh
650 7 $aBIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / General.$2bisacsh
650 7 $aHISTORY / United States / General.$2bisacsh