Most people don’t know much about James Garfield; I know I didn’t until I read this fascinating book about his life and death. First of all, he was a true American hero who overcame poverty by working hard to become a college president at an absurdly young age; he even later became a General in the Civil War. But the strength of this book is the way the author brings together so many different subjects; she explores late 19th Century politics as she looks at how Garfield rose to power and then examines the state of technology and medicine at the time after he is cut down by an assassin’s bullet. Destiny of the Republic is a gripping story about a little known but fascinating era in American history.