In the Houses of Their Dead: The Lincolns, the Booths, and the Spirits
In the Houses of Their Dead: The Lincolns, the Booths, and the Spirits
Alford, Terry
product information
Condition: New, UPC: 9781324093589, Publication Date: Sat, July 1, 2023, Type: Paperback ,
join & start selling
description
wn to each other, worked on farms in the American wilderness. It seemed unlikely that the families would ever meet--and yet, they did. The son of one family, the famed actor John Wilkes Booth, killed the son of the other, President Abraham Lincoln, in the most significant assassination in American history. The murder, however, did not come without warning--in fact, it had been foretold.

In the Houses of Their Dead is the first book of the many thousands written about Lincoln to focus on the president's fascination with Spiritualism, and to demonstrate how it linked him, uncannily, to the man who would kill him. Abraham Lincoln is usually seen as a rational, empirically-minded man, yet as acclaimed scholar and biographer Terry Alford reveals, he was also deeply superstitious and drawn to the irrational. Like millions of other Americans, including the Booths, Lincoln and his wife, Mary, suffered repeated personal tragedies, and turned for solace to Spiritualism, a new practice sweeping the nation that held that the dead were nearby and could be contacted by the living. Remarkably, the Lincolns and the Booths even used the same mediums, including Charles Colchester, a specialist in "blood writing" whom Mary first brought to her husband, and who warned the president after listening to the ravings of another of his clients, John Wilkes Booth.

Alford's expansive, richly-textured chronicle follows the two families across the nineteenth century, uncovering new facts and stories about Abraham and Mary while drawing indelible portraits of the Booths--from patriarch Julius, a famous actor in his own right, to brother Edwin, the most talented member of the family and a man who feared peacock feathers, to their confidant Adam Badeau, who would become, strangely, the ghostwriter for President Ulysses S. Grant. At every turn, Alford shows that despite the progress of the age--the glass hypodermic syringe, electromagnetic induction, and much more--death remained ever-present, and thus it was only rational for millions of Americans, from the president on down, to cling to beliefs that seem anything but. A novelistic narrative of two exceptional American families set against the convulsions their times, In the Houses of Their Dead ultimately leads us to consider how ghost stories helped shape the nation.

reviews

Be the first to write a review

member goods

No member items were found under this heading.

notems store

The Eleventh Trade

by Hollingsworth, Alyssa

Hardcover /Hardcover

$12.74

I am Wonderfully Unique: Positive ...

by Anz, Joana

Paperback /Paperback

$6.12

Crossroads of Change, Volume 4: ...

by Knudten, Cori

Paperback /Paperback

$14.96

listens & views

RISE & SHINE

by LAWSON,ROBBIE

COMPACT DISC

out of stock

$8.99

CHIQUILIN

by CHALCHALEROS

COMPACT DISC

out of stock

$12.99

SWOON

by DOTT

VINYL LP

$17.75

MORE THAN PRETTY

by LIGGITT,ANDREW

COMPACT DISC

out of stock

$16.99

Return Policy

All sales are final

Shipping

No special shipping considerations available.
Shipping fees determined at checkout.
promoting relevance through notable postings ]
share it, buy it, sell it ]

A notem is a post that highlights an experience, idea, topic of interest, an event ... whatever a member believes worthy of discussion. Each notem becomes a pathway by which to make meaningful connections.

notems is a free, global social network that rewards members by the number and quality of notems they post.

notemote® © . Privacy Policy. Developed by Hartmann Software Group