On April 14, 1865 John Wilkes Booth changed the world with a single bullet. The assassination of Abraham Lincoln had many repercussions and for Henry Rathbone they were profound. Henry was the only man to confront Booth and attempt to apprehend the assassin. Henry was also the man that let Booth escape. While Henry wasn't officially blamed for allowing John Wilkes Booth to kill Abraham Lincoln, he blamed himself. After the assassination the vivid memories of Lincoln's death and failure to capture Booth caused Henry's mind to unravel. He traveled the world with his young family looking for an escape from his past. In 1883, eighteen years after the assassination, Henry's tortured mind reached its limit. In the early hours of Christmas Eve Henry murdered his wife, shooting and stabbing her multiple times in a fashion reminiscent of Lincoln's assassination. In Worst Seat in the House follow the life of Henry Rathbone from his childhood through the Civil War, the assassination and his final years in a German insane asylum. In this biography and case study of a man dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder, see how the events of Henry's life created the man he finally became. Place yourself into the mind of Henry Rathbone and ask yourself how you would cope with failing the world?

What happens when bad criticism happens to good people? Annoying the Victorians sets the tradition of critical discourse and literary criticism on its ear, as well as a few other areas. James Kincaid brings his witty, erudite and thoroughly cynical self to the Victorians, and they will never read (or be read) quite the same.

Chronicling the sometimes outlandish, often tragic history of the environs of the White House, this book covers two centuries of assassinations, slave escapes, deadly duels, sex scandals, battles, brawls and spy intrigues that took place in the presidential neighborhood, Lafayette Square. The author recounts the triumphs and catastrophes of heroes and villains both famous and unsung, placing them in the context of contemporary world events of the day.

Best known for her culinary and domestic guides and the award-winning short story “Mrs. Washington Potts,” Eliza Leslie deserves a much more prominent place in contemporary literary discussions of the nineteenth century. Her writing, known for its overtly moralistic and didactic tones—though often presented with wit and humor—also provides contemporary readers with a nuanced perspective for understanding the diversity among American women in Leslie’s time. Leslie’s writing serves as a commentary on gender ideals and consumerism; presents complicated constructions of racial, national, and class-based identities; and critiques literary genres such as the Gothic romance and the love letter. These criticisms are exposed through the juxtaposition of her fiction and nonfiction instructive texts, which range from lessons on literary conduct to needlework; from recipes for American and French culinary dishes to travel sketches; from songs to educational games. Demonstrating the complexity of choices available to women at the time, this volume enables readers to see how Leslie’s rhetoric and audience awareness facilitated her ability to appeal to a broad swath of the nineteenth-century reading public.