About this item
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.
About the Author
Terry Alford is an author, historian, and Professor Emeritus at Northern Virginia Community College. He received a Ph.D. in history from Mississippi State University and did post-doctoral work in family history at the University of California, Davis.
His interest in the history of race relations led to his writing Prince Among Slaves. This book tells the story of Abdul Rahman, an 18th Century Muslim prince from modern-day Guinea who was captured and forced into slavery in the Old South. Prince Among Slaves was made into an award-winning documentary shown on public television in the United Stated in 2008 to an audience of over four million viewers. The book, republished in 2007 to mark its 30th anniversary in print, was recently translated into Turkish.
Dr. Alford is a founding board member of the Abraham Lincoln Institute of Washington, D.C., and is an internationally recognized authority on John Wilkes Booth and the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. Dr. Alford makes frequent appearances on television programs and networks such as "20/20," ABC News, the History Channel, the Discovery Network, the Smithsonian Channel,CSPAN, BBC, and PBS. Fortune's Fool, Dr. Alford's biography of Booth, was published in 2015 by Oxford University Press and has received exceptional reviews. His research endeavors have been supported by four grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities. He has been an historical consultant on a number of films and documentaries, most recently Stephen Spielberg's "Lincoln," starring Daniel Day-Lewis. He also serves as a member of the Advisory Council for Ford's Theatre in Washington, DC.
In 2010, Dr. Alford received the Outstanding Faculty of Virginia Award from the State Council on Higher Education. This is the highest teaching honor given to college and university faculty in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
