American Scoundrel: Love, War and Politics in Civil War America (Audiobook)

from JBD1

A perfectly serviceable biography of Dan Sickles, with significant attention also given to Sickles' wife Teresa, whose affair with Philip Barton Key precipitated one of the major events recounted here: Sickles' murder of Key just yards from the White House. The affair and ensuing trial make up a ...

from EllenH

Notorious is right. He was a womanizer, politician ( some would say crooked), murderer, a general and later ambassador. If we think politics are rough and full of $$$ this reminds one that it isn't new.

from Bob1438

Slow and disjointed in the beginning, but a fascinating read after that. Why didn't the author include a few photographs?

from SquireMike

The first half of this book thoroughly explores Dan Sickles' life and that of his first wife, Teresa. Great care is taken to provide a detailed account of Teresa's affair with Phillip Barton Key, Sickles' killing of Key, and the sensational trial that followed. After that point, the rest of the b...

from whirled

Though the book is called American Scoundrel, Thomas Keneally can't quite bring himself to condemn murdering politician and soldier Dan Sickles. As an Australian, I wondered if this was due to our national tendency to revere a 'rogue' (like the infamous bushranger Ned Kelly). The book does lay ba...