Fortune's fool : the life of John Wilkes Booth

Resource Information

The work Fortune's fool : the life of John Wilkes Booth represents a distinct intellectual or artistic creation found in Worthington Jefferson Township Public Library. This resource is a combination of several types including: Work, Language Material, Books.

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Label

Fortune's fool : the life of John Wilkes Booth

Title remainder

the life of John Wilkes Booth

Statement of responsibility

Terry Alford

Title variation

• Life of John Wilkes Booth
• Fortunes fool

Title variation remainder

the life of John Wilkes Booth

Creator

• Alford, Terry
• true Unknown Label

Author

• Alford, Terry
• true Unknown Label

Subject

• Assassins -- United States -- Biography
• Actors -- United States -- Biography
• Booth, John Wilkes, 1838-1865 -- Political and social views
• BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / General
• trueLife stories -- Law and order | Criminals and law-breakers
• Booth, John Wilkes, 1838-1865
• trueBooth, John Wilkes, 1838-1865
• trueBiographies
• Booth, John Wilkes, 1838-1865 -- Psychology
• HISTORY / United States / General
• trueTrue Crime -- Historical Crime
• trueLincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865 -- Assassination
• trueTrue Crime -- Murder
• Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865 -- Assassination
• BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Historical

Genre

• trueBiographies
• trueBiography
• trueTrue Crime
• trueLife stories

Language

eng

Summary

"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"--

Assigning source

Provided by publisher

Biography type

individual biography

Cataloging source

BT

Dewey number

• 973.7092
• B

Illustrations

• illustrations
• maps
• plates

Index

index present

Literary form

non fiction

Nature of contents

bibliography

Target audience

adult