History Author Show

By Dean KarayanisArts Books History

History Author Show episodes

October 22, 2018 Bob Drury and Tom Clavin – Valley Forge
October 22, 2018 - Our time machine travels back to "the times that try men’s souls," when Thomas Payne wrote that phrase to embody the struggles of Gen. George Washington's beaten-but-not-broken army and the precarious cause of American independence.
In their new book, Valley Forge, #1 New York Times best-selling team Bob Drury and Tom Clavin provide a fresh look at the winter of 1777. In it, they introduce us to a very human George Washington who's beset on all sides by an almost comical array of existential threats -- disease, desertion, traitors, spies, bickering bureaucrats, and incompetent skinflints in a dissolving Continental Congress. Not to mention the combined military might of the British Empire.
Drury and Clavin show case not only the indispensable commander-in-chief, but the common soldiers as well as men like Baron Von Stuben, Alexander Hamilton, the Marquis de Lafayette, and infamous characters like General Charles Lee. It's a fight that culminates on the sandy plain of New Jersey, when the men who survived the privations of Pennsylvania, stand toe to toe with Great Britain's best and turn them back.
Our guests have previously co-written titles including The Heart of Everything That Is -- The Untold Story of Red Cloud, an American Legend, and, Lucky 666: The Impossible Mission That Changed the War in the Pacific. You've seen Bob Drury's work in the nine books he's authored, co-authored or edited, and in places such as the New York Times, Vanity Fair, GQ and Men’s Journal where he's a contributing editor and foreign correspondent. Tom Clavin is the author or coauthor of sixteen books, a fifteen-year veteran of the New York Times and contributor to top periodicals including Manhattan Magazine, where he's the investigative features correspondent.
1 hr 13 min
October 08, 2018 David Pietrusza – TR’s Last War: Theodore Roosevelt, the Great War, and a Journey of Triumph and Tragedy
October 8, 2018 - Our time machine travels back to America's experience in the Great War through the eyes of former president and hero of the Spanish-American War Theodore Roosevelt, whose four sons suited up to fight over there. Leading us through basic training is David Pietrusza, author of TR's Last War: Theodore Roosevelt, The Great War, and a Journey of Triumph and Tragedy.
In David Pietrusza's book, we get a fleshed-out picture of the former Rough Rider -- older, suffering in the aftermath of his ill-fated Brazilian expedition, and blind in one eye, but still scrapping for a fight and taking on President Woodrow Wilson.
You have seen David Pietrusza's work everywhere great history is found. He has written or edited a footlocker full of best-selling, award-winning books, including those on the pivotal presidential election years 1920, 1932, 1948, 1960. He's been called one "of the best historians in the United States," "one of the great political historians of all time," and "the undisputed champion of chronicling American Presidential campaigns."
Visit him online @DPietrusza on Twitter and DavidPietrusza.com.

If you're into the Roosevelts, enjoy these features from our archives:
Tim Brady - His Father's Son: The Life of General Ted Roosevelt, Jr.
John J. Miller - The Big Scrum: How Theodore Roosevelt Saved Football.
Kermit Roosevelt - Allegiance
1 hr 28 min
September 24, 2018 Jenni L. Walsh – Side by Side: A Novel of Bonnie and Clyde
September 24, 2018 - Our time machine welcomes aboard infamous bank robbing-legends Bonnie and Clyde, as they tear a gash across 1930s America at the height of the Great Depression. Returning to ride shotgun with us on this crime spree is Jenni L. Walsh, who we chatted with about her debut novel, the stand-alone origin story Becoming Bonnie.
Jenni's sophomore book isn't a sequel, but the edge-of-your-seat crime spree work of fiction Side by Side: A Novel of Bonnie and Clyde. In it, we meet a very different couple in a crippled America. Instead of basking in Bonnie's love, snug in her arms, Clyde is suffering the abuse that helps harden his heart in a Texas prison.
Visit our guest at JenniLWalsh.com and follow her @JenniLWalsh on Twitter.
53 min
September 10, 2018 Dow Phumiruk – Counting on Katherine: How Katherine Johnson Saved Apollo 13
September 10, 2018 – Our time machine rockets to the moon — and misses — aboard the ill-fated Apollo 13. Saving the day is the African-American woman whose mathematical know-how guided the trio of Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert, and Fred Haise safely back home.
As a child, Katherine Johnson loved math, and triumphed with her family’s support to learn despite segregated schools of the day. Bringing an out-of-this-word story to life for readers 5 to 9 years of age, is Dow Phumiruk, whose vivid illustrations blast off in Counting on Katherine: How Katherine Johnson Saved Apollo 13, written by Helaine Becker.
Dow Phumiruk is a pediatrician with a passion for art who enjoys adventures at home, hiking on the trails of Colorado. Visit her online at ArtByDow.com or follow her @DowPhumiruk. We previously discussed Dow’s illustrations when we chatted with Jeanne Walker Harvey about their book, Maya Lin: Artist – Architect of Light and Lines.
A special Happy Birthday to Katherine Johnson, who turned 100 years old just a couple of weeks before this episode’s air-date!
45 min
August 27, 2018 Theodore P. Savas – The War Outside My Window: The Civil War Diary of LeRoy Wiley Gresham, 1860-1865
August 27, 2018 - Our time machine whirls us back to the Civil War sickbed of 12-year-old LeRoy Wiley Gresham. This young voice of the Old South in Macon, Georgia -- rendered an invalid after a mysterious accident, and ignorant of the tuberculosis marching him towards an early grave -- left us the only diary of a male, teenage non-combatant.
Savas Beatie LLC, "Publisher of Historical Titles of Distinction," brings us this poignant, insightful and witty diary for the very first time, edited by Janet E. Croon. The book is The War Outside My Window: The Civil War Diary of LeRoy Wiley Gresham, 1860-1865. Our guest is Theodore P. Savas -- attorney, author, publishing consultant, agent, and the managing director of Savas Beatie. Ted acquired the diaries and did what historians thought impossible: Added a fresh new voice to our understanding of the Civil War.
On top of The War Outside My Window, LeRoy's first-person description of spinal tuberculosis is also the only record of its kind in the world. You can deliver into that story in the companion book, I Am Perhaps Dying: The Medical Backstory of Spinal Tuberculosis Hidden in the Civil War Diary of Leroy Wiley Gresham, by Dennis A. Rasbach MD FACS and Janet Croon. You can also visit the Gresham home where LeRoy lived, wrote, and died at The 1842 Inn.
Visit SavasBeatie.com for details, follow them on Twitter at SavasBeattieLLC, and find Janet Croon's reflections at TheWarOutsideMyWindow.blogspot.com or Facebook.com/LeRoyWileyGresham.

Check out our interviews with these other fine Savas Beatie authors:
· Gene Barr -- A Civil War Captain and His Lady: Love, Courtship, and Combat from Fort Donelson through the Vicksburg Campaign.
· Noah Andre Trudeau -- Lincoln’s Greatest Journey: Sixteen Days that Changed a Presidency, March 24 – April 8, 1865.
· Stephen Davis -- A Long and Bloody Task: The Atlanta Campaign from Dalton through Kennesaw to the Chattahoochee, May 5-July 18, 1864, and its companion paperback, All the Fighting They Want: The Atlanta Campaign from Peach Tree Creek to the City’s Surrender, July 18-September 2, 1864.
1 hr 3 min
August 13, 2018 Fiona Davis – The Masterpiece: A Novel
August 13, 2018 - We welcome Fiona Davis back into our time machine, where she'll be painting a fresh story of art, mystery, intrigue, lies and love. The book is . If you enjoyed Fiona Davis's previous works -- The Dollhouse, about the famed Barbizon Hotel for Women, and The Address, which stars the legendary Dakota apartment complex -- you'll want to hop a train for The Masterpiece: A Novel.
It's set in the Grand Central Depot of its 1920's heyday and the 1970s, In those dark days, wrecking balls threatened obliteration, a fate avoided through the efforts of Jackie Kennedy and a group of dedicated New Yorkers.
You can enjoy my chat with Fiona about that sophomore novel, The Address, in our archives at HistoryAuthor.com or wherever you're listening. Visit Fiona online at FionaDavis.net, Facebook.com/FionaDavisAuthor or @FionaJDavis on Twitter.
49 min
July 30, 2018 Richard Pyves – Courage, Sacrifice and Betrayal: The Story of the Victoria Rifles of Canada, 60th Battalion, in the First World War
July 30, 2018 - Our time machine travels back to the Western Front of the Great War, and enlists with the 60th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force, which captured the villages of Vimy and Petit Vimy, in the pivotal battle for Vimy Ridge.
Author Rick Pyves contacted 2,500 living relatives of the soldiers through Ancestry, uncovering 86 personal recollections and letters as well as over 200 photos for Courage, Sacrifice and Betrayal - The Story of the Victoria Rifles of Canada, 60th Battalion in the First World War. One of those relatives is our own resident genealogist, Catherine, who offers her research services through HistoryAuthor.com/FamilyHistory. Her grandfather's first cousin, Private Charles Henry Mainwaring, gave his life in the 60th Battalion at only 20 years old.
Rick Pyves is an avid historian and a genealogist who, like Catherine, also hails from Canada. His first book -- Night Madness: A Rear Gunner’s Story of Love, Courage, and Hope in World War II -- weaves his father’s tale into a touching love story in one man’s very personal war.
Visit RichardPyves.com or follow @RichardPyves on Twitter for more on this view of the First World War War from the nation Winston Churchill called "The Great Dominion."
59 min
July 16, 2018 Helen Rappaport – The Race to Save the Romanovs
July 16, 2018 - In this episode, we witnesses a pivotal moment in world history and the evolution of European monarchies: The massacre of the Romanov family, ending the family's 400-year reign at Czar Nicholas II. Our guide on this journey is Helen Rappaport who brings us The Race to Save the Romanovs: The Truth Behind the Secret Plans to Rescue the Russian Imperial Family.
Amidst the carnage of the Great War and Russian Revolution, myths and out-right lies about the family have clouded the popular view of the Czar's end. But here for the first time -- thanks in part to the opening of post-Soviet archives and DNA testing -- we have the true story of what happened to the Czar, Czarina and their children, closing the book at last.
Helen F. Rappaport is a British historian, best-selling author, and former actress who studied Russian at Leeds University. Her previous books include The Romanov Sisters, Victoria, The Last Days of the Romanovs, and Conspirator: Lenin in Exile. Visit her at HelenRappaport.Com or at Helen Rappaport ‏on Twitter.
1 hr 1 min
July 02, 2018 Gregory Crouch – The Bonanza King: John Mackay and the Battle over the Greatest Riches in the American West
July 2, 2018 - Our time machine strikes gold in Nevada’s Comstock Lode — a world-record vein so immensely valuable that it changed the destiny of the United States as the Civil War loomed. Our guide on this journey is Gregory Crouch who brings us: The Bonanza King: John Mackay and the Battle over the Greatest Riches in the American West.
It's the history-making, rags-to-riches story of an Irish immigrant who made his fortune, won the love of his adopted country -- and then fell from the national memory in part because nobody had a bad word to say about him. Gregory Crouch's previous books include the World War II flying adventure China's Wings and the alpine memoir Enduring Patagonia. He studied history at the United States Military Academy at West Point, completed U.S. Army Airborne and Ranger schools, and led two infantry platoons.
Visit him at GregCrouch.com, Facebook.com/GregoryCrouchAuthor, @GregoryCrouch on Twitter, or Gregory.Crouch on Instagram.
57 min
June 18, 2018 Amber Brock – Lady Be Good: A Novel
June 18, 2018 - Our time machine travels back to the days of poodle skirts, I Like Ike and I Love Lucy. Once there, we'll meet Kitty Tessler -- a saucy, scheming socialite out to settle scores with snobs.
Our guide on this whirlwind tour of Manhattan, Miami, and parts of Havana brewing with an anti-Batista revolution, is Amber Brock, author of Lady Be Good: A Novel.
Amber Brock teaches British literature at an all-girls' school in Atlanta, and Publishers Weekly described her debut novel, 2016's A Fine Imitation, as "An absorbing tale of art, deception, romance, and forbidden desire." She holds an MA from the University of Georgia and lives in Smyrna with her husband, also an English teacher, and their three rescue dogs.
Visit her at AmberBrock.net or at AmBrockWrites on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Also referenced in this episode: This 2002 C-Span interview with Tom Clancy.
52 min

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We’ve all been transported into the past by a special book, place or person. On the History Author Show, host Dean Karayanis and a team of correspondents bring you the people who build the time…