{"product_id":"book-cjq6","title":"The Apparitionists","description":"A story of faith and fraud in post-Civil War America, told through the lens of a photographer who claimed he could capture images of the dead In the early days of photography, in the death-strewn wake of the Civil War, one man seized America's imagination. A \"spirit photographer,\" William Mumler took portrait photographs that featured the ghostly presence of a lost loved one alongside the living subject. Mumler was a sensation: The affluent and influential came calling, including Mary Todd Lincoln, who arrived at his studio in disguise amidst rumors of seances in the White House. Peter Manseau brilliantly captures a nation wracked with grief and hungry for proof of the existence of ghosts and for contact with their dead husbands and sons. It took a circus-like trial of Mumler on fraud charges, starring P. T. Barnum for the prosecution, to expose a fault line of doubt and manipulation. And even then, the judge sided with the defense-nobody ever solved the mystery of his spirit photography. This forgotten puzzle offers a vivid snapshot of America at a crossroads in its history, a nation in thrall to new technology while clinging desperately to belief","brand":"Recorded Books, Inc.","offers":[{"title":"Audiobook","offer_id":49383138918704,"sku":"BDcjq6","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Audio CD","offer_id":49383138951472,"sku":"ZEcjq6","price":42.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Audio MP3-CD","offer_id":49383139017008,"sku":"ZMcjq6","price":29.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0879\/2784\/9264\/files\/159970-cjq6-Square.jpg?v=1735067053","url":"https:\/\/downpour.com\/products\/book-cjq6","provider":"Downpour","version":"1.0","type":"link"}