The Partisans: James G. Blaine, Roscoe Conkling, and the Politics of Rivalry and Revenge in the Gilded Age

The Partisans tells the story of the bitter feud that dominated American politics after the Civil War. Blaine and Conkling fought on Capitol Hill, at political conventions, and in the behind-the-scenes struggle for power that consumed the presidency of James A. Garfield and stoked the madness that led to his assassination. Their struggle for power charts the course of the Republican Party after the Civil War and highlights the challenges faced by politicians in an era of extreme partisanship. Author Robert B. Mitchell "masterfully brings alive two forgotten characters who defined the politics of the post-Civil War era" -- James Hohmann, the Washington Post.