History Author Show

April 18, 2016 - Today, we're traveling back in time by rappelling down the steep face of New Jersey's Palisades Cliffs, and down to the Alpine Boat Basin, just north of the George Washington Bridge. Our destination is the historic The Kearney House, formerly called the Cornwallis Headquarters, based on the local legend that the British general stopped here for a night during the American Revolution.

The Kearney House dates back to the mid-1700s, and in the centuries since has been a home, a riverfront tavern, a police station, and a shrine to history itself -- surviving not only time and development, but Superstorm Sandy. You can tour The Kearney House, but also enjoy special events such as Punch & Pie Tavern Nights (April 23 and April 30, 2016) and Tales of the Macabre with readings from local fellow, Edgar Alan Poe. With music, mirth and libations, this is hardly your typical velvet-rope historical experience.

Our guide on this visit is Eric Nelsen, historic interpreter for the Palisades Interstate Park and co-author of the book about this 100,000 acres of open space: New Jersey's Palisades Interstate Park.

You can check out what's happening at The Kearney House and the park's many other attractions by visiting NJPalisades.org, liking their Facebook page, or following @PalisadesParks on Twitter.

April 15, 2016 - It’s History in Five Friday, presented by Simon & Schuster. Our guest is Fergus Bordewich , and his book is, The First Congress: How James Madison, George Washington, and a Group of Extraordinary Men Invented the Government. It’s the monumental story of the most productive Congress in US history, in 1789–1791, which we first explored with Fergus in our recent interview, which you can still find at HistoryAuthor.com, iTunes, iHeartRadio, or wherever you're listening.

Mr. Fergus Bordewich is the author of six previous books including, America’s Great Debate — Henry Clay, Stephen A. Douglas, and The Compromise that Preserved the Union, Washington: The Making of the American Capital, and Bound for Canaan: The Underground Railroad and the War for the Soul of America. You learn more about these and his other titles at FergusBordewich.com.

Simon & Schuster’s History in Five Friday.

It’s the perfect way to kick off your modern weekend…with people from the past.

April 13, 2016 - It’s Classical Wisdom Wednesday, presented by Classical Wisdom Weekly — bringing ancient wisdom to modern minds, every Wednesday morning before your first cup of coffee.

Cicero is remembered for posterity as a great orator and an influential philosopher. However, he was also a cunning politician and perhaps the staunchest defender of the Roman Republic. Today we look at Cicero’s time as Roman Consul, the highest elected office of the Roman world.

Your guide through the classical landscape is Van Bryan, Associate Editor of Classical Wisdom Weekly. You can catch Classical Wisdom Wednesday every week before your first cup of coffee, right here on the History Author Show.

 

 

 

 

April 11, 2016 - Today, our time machine will wend its way through the tight mountain passes of Southern France, and across the blue seas of the Mediterranean to the principality of Monaco. Yes, Monaco. The name itself conjures up images of glamour and gambling, of royalty and race cars. But how did it get that way? It's about half the size of Central Park, the second-tiniest nation in the world. Yet it's played a big role as a destination of gambling and vice for the world's rich and famous.

Dealing the cards today is Mark Braude, who sends us on our way with his debut book: Making Monte Carlo: A History of Speculation and Spectacle. Mark is a lecturer in history at Stanford University, having earned a Ph. D. in Modern European History from the University of Southern California, as well as a Masters in French Studies from our own New York University.

Visit him at MarkBraude.com.

April 8, 2016 - It's History in Five Friday, presented by Simon & Schuster --- kicking off your modern weekend, with people from the past. Since tomorrow is the 151st anniversary of Robert E. Lee's surrender to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, it's fitting that today's history author, former White House speech writer Jonathan Horn, introduces us to a family connection in Lee's life that might be overlooked: President George Washington. Horn's book is titled The Man Who Would Not Be Washington: Robert E. Lee's Civil War and His Decision That Changed American History. This interesting story is a reminder of how close the Revolutionary War and Civil War generations were to each other. Keep up with Horn's work at JonathanHornAuthor.com, and follow him on Twitter @JonathanDHorn.

Simon & Schuster's History in Five Friday.

It's the perfect way to kick off your modern weekend...with people from the past.

April 6, 2016 - It’s Classical Wisdom Wednesday, presented by Classical Wisdom Weekly — bringing ancient wisdom to modern minds, every Wednesday morning before your first cup of coffee.

Enter the labyrinth! But beware the Minotaur. Today we relive the epic legend of Theseus, one of the classical age’s most celebrated heroes.

Your guide through the classical landscape is Van Bryan, Associate Editor of Classical Wisdom Weekly. You can catch Classical Wisdom Wednesday every week before your first cup of coffee, right here on the History Author Show.

April 4, 2016 - Today, our time machine is whisking us back to the very earliest days of America's republic. Our guest is Fergus Bordewich , and his book is, The First Congress: How James Madison, George Washington, and a Group of Extraordinary Men Invented the Government. It's the untold story of the most productive Congress in US history, in 1789–1791.

Mr. Fergus Bordewich is the author of six previous books including, America's Great Debate -- Henry Clay, Stephen A. Douglas, and The Compromise that Preserved the Union, Washington: The Making of the American Capital, and Bound for Canaan: The Underground Railroad and the War for the Soul of America. You learn more about these and his other titles at FergusBordewich.com.

April 1, 2016 - Today on History in Five Friday, presented by Simon & Schuster, we’re going to hear from Bob Drury and Tom Clavin, co-authors who bring us: The Heart of Everything That Is -- The Untold Story of Red Cloud, An American Legend. Red Cloud was the only American Indian in history to defeat the United States Army. At the peak of Red Cloud’s reign, the Sioux held dominion over one-fifth of what are now the lower 48 states.

Men's Health Contributing Editor and Military Correspondent Bob Drury has been nominated for three National Magazine Awards and a Pulitzer Prize. He has reported from such global hot spots as including Iraq, Afghanistan, Liberia, Bosnia, Northern Ireland, and Darfur. He is also the author, co-author, or editor of nine nonfiction books. Tom Clavin is a best-selling author and has worked as a newspaper and web site editor, magazine writer, TV and radio commentator, and a reporter for The New York Times.

Simon & Schuster’s History in Five Friday.

It’s the perfect way to kick off your modern weekend… with people from the past.

March 30, 2016 - It’s Classical Wisdom Wednesday, presented by Classical Wisdom Weekly — bringing ancient wisdom to modern minds, every Wednesday morning before your first cup of coffee.

Do we have any say in our lives? Or are we all just going along with fate? This has been bothering philosophers for millennia, and nobody explained the conundrum better than our old friend Aristotle.

Your guide through the classical landscape is Van Bryan, Associate Editor of Classical Wisdom Weekly. You can catch Classical Wisdom Wednesday every week before your first cup of coffee, right here on the History Author Show.

March 28, 2016 - Step through the Guardian of Forever and back in time to colonial North America, in the heat of King William's War. Our guide on this journey is Jay Atkinson, called "the bard of New England toughness" by Men’s Health magazine for his approach to writing and his topics. He shares the story of another tough New Englander in his new book, Massacre on the Merrimack: Hannah Duston's Captivity and Revenge in Colonial America.

Early on March 15, 1697, a band of Abenaki warriors in service to the Catholic French, raided the Puritan English frontier village of Haverhill, Massachusetts, killing twenty-seven men, women and children, and taking thirteen survivors captive. Hannah Duston and her one-week-old daughter, Martha, were among these survivors -- and it is there that our story begins.

Jay Atkinson teaches journalism at Boston University, as well as a critic, essayist, investigative journalist, and itinerant amateur athlete up in Methuen, Massachusetts. He is also the author of the author of two novels, a collection of short fiction, and five nonfiction narrative books including Ice Time and Legends of Winter Hill. You can visit his website, JayAtkinson.com, follow him @Atkinson_Jay on Twitter, or drop him a like at Facebook.com/WriterJayAtkinson.