James A. Garfield

biography
Title: Garfield: A Biography
Author: Allan Peskin
Publisher: Kent State University Press, 1978
ISBN: 0873382102, 9780873382106
Length: 716 page
*Allan Peskin's biography Garfield remains the preeminent work on the subject.
 
Dark Horse by Ackerman
Title: Dark Horse: The Surprise Election and Political Murder of President James A. Garfield
Author: Kenneth D. Ackerman
Publisher: Kenneth Ackerman, 2012
ISBN: 1619450100, 9781619450103
*Sheds light on the politics of the time. Well researched. Interesting read.
 
by Candace Millard
Title: Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President
Author: Candice MIllard
Publisher: Random House, Inc. 2011
ISBN: 0385526261, 9780385526265
Length: 339 pages
*National Bestseller. Great deal of focus on Garfield's assassination and medical care.
 
book about James A. Garfield
Title: The Road to Respectability: James A. Garfeild and His World, 1844-1852
Author: Hendrik Booraem
Publisher: Bucknell University Press, 1988
Original from: The University of Michigan
ISBN: 0838751350, 9780838751350
Length: 339 pages
*Insightful account of Garfield's early life. The culture and society of Ohio's Western Reserve at the start of industralization is vividly recreated.

OUT OF PRINT
 
Title: The Garfield Orbit
Authors: Margaret Leech and Harry James Brown
Edition: Illustrated
Publisher: Harper anf Row, 1978
Original from: The University of Michigan
ISBN: 0060125519, 9780060125516
Length: 369 pages
*Focuses on Garfield's personal life and his relationships revealing the complex and sometimes contradictory character.

OUT OF PRINT
 
volume set
Title: The Diary of James A. Garfield Four Volume Set
Authors: James Abram Garfield, Harry James Brown, Frederick D. Williams
Editors: Harry James Brown, Frederick D. Williams
Publisher: Michigan State University, 1967-1983
Original from: The University of Michigan
*James A. Garfield kept a diary from the age of sixteen up until the time of the assassination with some gaps.

OUT OF PRINT
 
personal letters between the president and his wife
Title: Crete and James: Personal Letters of Lucretia and James Garfield
Author: John Shaw
Editor: John Shaw
Publisher: Michigan State University Press, 1994
Original from: The University of Michigan
ISBN: 0870133381, 9780870133381
Length: 397 pages
*Selected letters chronicle the couple's relationship

OUT OF PRINT
 
Garfield Civil War Letters
Title: The Wild Life of the Army: Civil War Letters of James A. Garfeild
Authors: James Abram Garfield and Frederick D. Williams
Editor: Frederick D. Williams
Publisher: Michigan State University Press, 1964
Original from: Pennsylvania State University
Length: 325 pages
*The 20th President's wartime thoughts and activities while serving in the western Union Armies from 1861-63.

OUT OF PRINT
 
biography
Title: James A. Garfield: The American Presidents Series: The 20th President, 1881
Volume 20 of The American Presidents
Author: Ira Rutkow
Edition: Illustrated
Publisher: Macmillan, 2006
ISBN: 080506950X, 9780805069501
Length: 181 pages
*Focuses on assassination and medical care.

OUT OF PRINT
 
1st biography
Title: The Life and Letters of James Abram Garfield Two Volume Set
Author: Theodore Clarke Smith
Publisher: Yale University Press, 1925
Length: 1283 pages
*First authorized biography of the 20th President

OUT OF PRINT
 
President James A. Garfield's papers were digitalized last year by the Library of Congress. You can now view those papers online.

Last updated: April 3, 2020

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