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Washington City, 1862: The United States lies in tatters, and there seems no end to the war. Abraham Lincoln, the legitimate President of the United States, is using all his will to keep his beloved land together. But Lincoln's will and soul are tested when tragedy strikes the White House as Willie Lincoln, the love and shining light in the president's heart, is taken by typhoid fever.But was this really the cause of his death? A message arrives, suggesting otherwise. Lincoln asks John Hay, his trusted aide -- and almost a son -- to investigate Willie's death. Some see Hay as a gadfly--adventurous, incisive, lusty, reflective, skeptical, even cynical -- but he loves the president and so seeks the truth behind the boy's death. And so, as we follow Hay in his investigation, we are shown the loftiest and lowest corners of Washington City, from the president's office and the gentleman's dining room at Willard's Hotel to the alley hovels, wartime hospitals, and the dome-less Capitol's vermin-infested subbasement.
About the Author
Burt Solomon is a contributing editor at The Atlantic and the author of the acclaimed Where They Ain't, a history of baseball in the 1890s. At National Journal, where he covered the White House and other aspects of Washington life, he was awarded the Gerald R. Ford Prize for Distinguished Reporting on the Presidency.
