Every month, we’re bringing you a unique selection of our books chosen by one of our SIU Press staff members. This month, we’re featuring picks from Mandi Jourdan, Marketing Associate and Acquisitions Editor for Repubs. Mandi had this to say about her selections:
The Dark Days of Abraham Lincoln’s Widow, as Revealed by Her Own Letters
By Myra Helmer Pritchard, Edited and annotated by Jason Emerson
This is such a cool book! It was written by the granddaughter of one of Mary Lincoln’s close friends, based on letters sent between the two women. The Lincoln family barred it from publication at the time, and then Jason Emerson found it in a trunk in 2005 and contributed his own introduction and annotations for the final version.
They Both Reached for the Gun: Beulah Annan, Maurine Watkins, and the Trial that Became Chicago
By Charles H. Cosgrove
As a huge fan of the musical Chicago, I had read a little about the real people the play was based on, but I didn’t know the full story until learning about it from this book. If you enjoy true crime or are a fan of any of the play’s adaptations, you should check this one out!
Sudden Deaths in St. Louis: Coroner Bias in the Gilded Age
By Sarah E. Lirley
I’m from the part of Illinois that considers St. Louis its nearest big city, so this feels like “local” history while still being set far enough away that I haven’t grown up hearing these stories and could experience them for the first time with Lirley’s book. It’s a fascinating record of what people in St. Louis went through in the late 1800s.
Son of Southern Illinois: Glenn Poshard’s Life in Politics and Education
By Carl Walworth with Glenn Poshard
This book brings the reader up close and personal with someone who has served the SIU community, the state of Illinois, the U.S. as a whole, and children who have suffered from abuse. It’s a remarkable look at Dr. Poshard’s life with an endearingly personal touch.
Use code MANDI25 at checkout to save 25% off of Mandi’s picks.
The Dark Days of Abraham Lincoln's Widow, as Revealed by Her Own Letters
They Both Reached for the Gun
Sudden Deaths in St. Louis
Son of Southern Illinois