Advanced
Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.
Title details for In the Houses of Their Dead by Terry Alford - Available

In the Houses of Their Dead

The Lincolns, the Booths, and the Spirits

by Terry Alford
Danny Campbell
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
Borrow Listen to a sample Listen to a sample
1 of 1 copy available
In the 1820s, two families, unknown 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 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.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    June 14, 2022

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781696608350
      • File size: 266093 KB
      • Duration: 09:14:21

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Library Journal

      September 1, 2022

      Historian Alford (Fortune's Fool) brings an ingenious twist to the well-known tale of Abraham Lincoln and John Wilkes Booth. Alford adds details and corrects common misconceptions about their lives as the story works toward its inevitable conclusion. With the six degrees of separation theory in hand, the author points out every point where the lives of these two families intersected in the young and divided United States. Narrator Danny Campbell puts his experience and expertise to good use. His even, authoritative tone delivers the facts clearly, aiding in their absorption. This is especially important given the multitude of time lines being followed from beginning to end. One of the main themes throughout the book is the abundance and popularity of spiritualists and the spiritualism movement of this era. The Booths and Lincolns consulted many and had some in common. Life was precarious even without a civil war, and the living wanted to maintain their connections to their dearly departed. VERDICT Listeners will appreciate the clarity of voice Campbell executes, helping them keep it all straight and enhancing those moments they may not have known about before.--Laura Trombley

      Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

    • Publisher's Weekly

      April 25, 2022
      In this intriguing if meandering study, historian Alford (Fortune’s Fool) views the “common experiences” of the Lincoln and Booth families through the lens of spiritualism. He details how Mary Todd Lincoln became interested in spiritualism after the death of the couple’s second child, Eddie, in 1850. When another son, Willie, died in 1862, Mary’s interest intensified, and the Lincolns sat for about a dozen seances with medium Nettie Colburn in a two-year period at the White House. Though Abraham Lincoln was “embarrassingly superstitious,” according to Alford, he viewed spiritualism largely as “entertainment,” whereas Mary “seemed to summon , bringing herself into a trance state just like a medium.” Elsewhere, Alford links the Booth family’s interest in spiritualism and the occult to patriarch Junius Brutus Booth, a talented but alcoholic and mentally unstable actor given to periodic breakdowns. During the Civil War, the Lincolns and Booths consulted the same mediums, including Englishman Charles Colchester (real name Jackson Sealby), who grew so alarmed by John Wilkes Booth’s threats against the president that he gave Lincoln “vague but repeated warnings to take care.” Though Alford occasionally wanders far afield from the book’s central theme, he packs the narrative with intriguing if little-known historical figures and strange coincidences. This unusual portrait of two famously intertwined families fascinates.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

Loading