Behind the Scenes Or, Thirty Years a Slave, and Four Years in the White House

Originally published in 1868when it was attacked as an indecent book authored by a traitorous eavesdropper"Behind the Scenes" is the story of Elizabeth Keckley, who began her life as a slave and became a privileged witness to the presidency of Abraham Lincoln. Keckley bought her freedom at the age of thirty-seven and set up a successful dressmaking business in Washington, D.C. She became modiste to Mary Todd Lincoln and in time her friend and confidante, a relationship that continued after Lincolns assassination. In documenting that friendshipoften using the First Ladys own letters"Behind the Scenes" fuses the slave narrative with the political memoir. It remains extraordinary for its poignancy, candor, and historical perspective.