{"product_id":"stealing-george-washington","title":"Stealing George Washington","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eIn 1897\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e, George Washington's diary and other irreplaceable artifacts from the American Revolution were stolen from the Library of Congress, setting off an inquisition by the Secret Service and a sensational trial that threatened to unravel America's national library.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn the late nineteenth century, the Congressional Library in the Capitol is bursting at the seams. Its chief librarian, Ainsworth Spofford, presides over a chaotic collection of books and documents spilling into alcoves and piled on desks, precariously illuminated by gaslight. For years, Spofford has been campaigning for a grand new building to house the nation's rapidly growing collection. Now, as he fights to make that vision a reality, he is distracted from a crime unfolding in his own private office.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTwo young clerks have been running a monthslong heist, quietly stockpiling and selling stolen pieces of American history. Then they come for the most treasured item of all: George Washington's diary, handwritten during the creation of the Constitution. Its disappearance sets off a chase led by the Secret Service and exposes a shadowy world of collectors, dealers, and thieves trafficking in the nation's most valuable historical documents. What follows is a headline-making trial that humiliates some of America's most prominent collectors and threatens the reputation of a young institution still struggling to establish itself as the guardian of the nation's history.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eStealing George Washington\u003c\/i\u003e, bestselling author and award-winning historian Daniel Stone brings this meticulously researched, propulsive story to life, revealing the extraordinary lengths people will go to possess a piece of a nation's past.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"William Morrow \u0026 Company","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48845273956557,"sku":"9780063458666","price":32.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0557\/1529\/9533\/files\/imageloader_d039a94d-6972-4208-96f8-e3201841b34e.jpg?v=1792714224","url":"https:\/\/booksatmidnight.com\/products\/stealing-george-washington","provider":"Books At Midnight","version":"1.0","type":"link"}