The Madman and the Assassin
The Strange Life of Boston Corbett, the Man Who Killed John Wilkes Booth
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Chicago Review Press
Published:1st Apr '15
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Union cavalryman Boston Corbett became a national celebrity after killing John Wilkes Booth, but as details of his odd personality became known, he also became the object of derision. Over time, he was largely forgotten to history, a minor character in the final act of Booth's tumultuous life. And yet Corbett led a fascinating life of his own, a tragic saga that weaved through the monumental events of nineteenth-century America. Corbett was an English immigrant and devout Christian who long struggled not only with poverty but also with mental illness, which was likely caused by the mercury he used in his job as a silk hat finisher. He was one of the first volunteers to join the US Army at the outbreak of the Civil War, a path that would in time land him in the notorious Andersonville prison camp. Eventually released, he ended up in the squadron that cornered Lincoln's assassin in a Virginia barn. After the war, he headed west as a homesteader to the plains of Kansas, where his shaky mental health led to his undoing. The Madman and the Assassin is the first full-length biography of Boston Corbett, a man thrust into the spotlight during a national news event and into an unwelcome transformation from anonymity to fame, and back to obscurity.
"A curious portrait of a celebrity nonentity caught up in the throes of history." Kirkus
"History buffs will enjoy this fast-paced, well-told addition to the literature on Lincoln and the Civil War." Library Journal
"With the journalist's eye for a telling detail, a historian's ability to unearth an untold tale, and a writer's keen sense of drama, Scott Martelle renders a fascinating portrait of one of the oddest figures to walk across the pages of Civil War history. To the reader's good fortune, Martelle separates myth from the man and provides a sympathetic, engaging, and authentic portrait of the soldier who killed one of America's most famous assassins." James McGrath Morris, author of Pulitzer and The Rose Man of Sing Sing
"A fascinating look at Boston Corbett, an eccentric who appears at one of the critical junctures in American history. Scott Martelle deftly brings Corbett's nineteenth-century world back to life in his compelling tale of murder and madness." Julia Flynn Siler, author of The House of Mondavi and Lost Kingdom
"Perhaps Martelle's biggest contribution to Lincoln lore is his detailed examination of Corbett's post-Booth life." Cannonball!!
"Mr. Martelle has done an admirable job of researching Corbett's life. Serious students of the Civil War may be happy to learn more about the obscure oddball who killed the assassin." The Wall Street Journal
ISBN: 9781613730188
Dimensions: 228mm x 6mm x 152mm
Weight: 450g
240 pages