History Author Show

   May 11, 2024 - What happens when a celebrated author — Muhammad Ali's official biographer, no less — turns his talents to putting his mother's century-long life down on paper? In this episode, our time machine welcomes aboard Thomas Hauser, author of “My Mother and Me: A Memoir.” Eleanor Nordlinger Hauser, who passed away last year at 96, experienced a life of success and failures, meeting the march of years with resilience and grace until she made her peace with the fact that — as we all do someday— she had run out of tomorrows. Thomas Hauser is the author of fiction and non-fiction books that are best-sellers the world over. They include “Final Warning: The Legacy of Chernobyl” and “Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times.” As you might expect for the official biographer of The Greatest, he has been inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame. For more on Ali and boxing, check out these previous interviews: Todd D. Snyder – Bundini: Don't Believe the Hype Todd D. Snyder – Beatboxing: How Hip-Hop Changed the Fight Game Jerry Izenberg — Baseball, Nazis & Nedick's Hot Dogs: Growing up Jewish in the 1930s in Newark

   April 1, 2024 - Where would an enslaved man who escaped the South find the courage to return to the Confederacy as a Union Spy? In this episode, we meet such a man thanks to Robert Hilliard, author of “In Freedom's Shadow.” The novel is based on the heroic true story of John Scobell, an enslaved African American who escaped early in the Civil War. Recruited by the Union to return south and gather intelligence, Scobell found new purpose as a spy. These was no ritzy James Bond missions, but daring border crossings, nerve-wracking dead drops, and a man at risk every moment of exposure, which would mean torture and death. Rob has written about sports, history, and the outdoors for over two decades. He last joined us to discuss his book, “A Season on the Allegheny.” You can listen to that interview in our archives wherever you enjoy the show and find Rob on Twitter and Facebook.

 October 11, 2023 - In this episode, our time machine welcomes aboard Brent Butt, who those of you in the Great White North know as the creator and star of the sitcom "Corner Gas," so beloved by Canadians that it has spawned an animated version and a movie. He's also host of the Butt Pod, which — since you probably have your phone out right now — I suggest you swipe over and subscribe to for some really insightful interviews. Brent Butt puts his talents to work on the thriller genre in "Huge: A Novel." The story hits the circuit of nameless clubs in Western Canda where two comedians — one, a veteran in the business from America; the other, a lady newcomer from Ireland — meet the aspiring headliner who'll change their lives, and perhaps end them. You can read more at HugeTheNovel.com and — speaking of our guest always growing, refusing to be pigeonholed by one genre — these days, Brent Butt is transitioning to publishing more content on Substack as he transitions away from @BrentButt on Twitter.    

   September 4, 2023 - How did airship R101 — embodying the British Empire's global ambitions — die in fireball of dreams, romance, and hubris and turn to ashes in the pages of history? S.C. Gwynne brings us this story of reaching for the sky in “His Majesty's Airship: The Life and Tragic Death of the World's Largest Flying Machine.” S.C. Gwynne previously joined us to discuss his books, “Hymns of the Republic: The Story of the Final Year of the American Civil War,” and “The Perfect Pass: American Genius and the Reinvention of Football.” His 2010 book, “Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History,” was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Visit our guest at SCGwynne.com or @SCGwynne on Twitter and @S.C.Gwynne on Facebook.  

   July 30, 2023 - What did service in the World Wars mean to women who found new opportunities to enter the workforce and join the fight as never before? We'll go on a fictional ride with one of those service members with today's novelist, Jenni Walsh. Her novel is “The Call of the Wrens,” the third she joined us to discuss after her debut, “Becoming Bonnie,” and its sequel, “Side By Side,” about “the crash of the century,” when Bonnie Parker met Clyde Barrow. You can find those conversations in our archives wherever you enjoy the show or via the links above. In “The Call of the Wrens,” Jenni introduces us to the women of Britain's Women's Royal Naval Service who are shaped by service in the Great War and twenty years later in World War Two, when they're confronted by a life-changing moment that they meet head on at 70 miles an hour. It's a vivid, emotional saga of love, secrets, resilience—and the knowledge that the future will always belong to the brave souls who fight for it. Visit our guest at JenniLWalsh.com, follow her @JenniLWalsh on Twitter and Instagram, and like her page on Facebook. Special thanks to Shannon Hargreaves of @the_reel_bookery on Instagram for submitting a video question for this interview.    

   The New York Sun - ‘Baseball, Nazis & Nedick's Hot Dogs' Is a Story of Fathers, Sons, and a Lost America - Dean Karayanis June 17, 2023 - Reading about history is one thing, but what happens when a legendary sportswriter looks back nearly a century to recall his upbringing in Newark, New Jersey, during the trying decades of the ‘30s and ‘40s – as a Jewish kid, mind you — while Wall Street crashed and Hitler made war on the world? In this episode, our time machine welcomes aboard a real time-traveler — at least, that's how I like to think of people who bring us their memories from days few of us lived. His name is Jerry Izenberg, and his memoir — the most personal of his many books — is titled, “Baseball, Nazis & Nedick's Hot Dogs: Growing up Jewish in the 1930s in Newark.” Jerry Izenberg is one of just two daily newspaper columnists to have covered the first 53 Super Bowls. He's also been there for 54 consecutive Kentucky Derbies and the last five Triple Crown-winning horses. He earned the Red Smith Award for sports writing, has been named the New Jersey Sportswriter of the Year five times – oh, and is an inductee in in 17 Halls of Fame. In his memoir, Mr. Izenberg – now in his 90s – casts his keen eye back on his first two decades of life, the ones that made him who he is today, as he faced antisemitism, the Great Depression, and World War II to find love, community, and purpose. It's a life well lived, and it ain't over yet. Thanks to David Pietrusza, author of the upcoming book, “Gangsterland: A Tour Through the Dark Heart of Jazz-Age New York City,” for submitting a video question for his fellow baseball writer. You can enjoy my previous interviews with David here: Roosevelt Sweeps Nation: FDR's 1936 Landslide and the Triumph of the Liberal Ideal 1920: The Year of the Six Presidents 1932: The Rise of Hitler and FDR ― Two Tales of Politics, Betrayal, and Unlikely Destiny TR's Last War: Theodore Roosevelt, the Great War, and a Journey of Triumph and Tragedy Rothstein: The Life, Times, and Murder of the Criminal Genius Who Fixed the 1919 World Series Too Long Ago: A Childhood Memory. A Vanished World

   May 11, 2023 - Who was the greatest Major League Baseball catcher of all time? If the name Lawrence Peter "Yogi" Berra doesn't spring to mind, have I got the movie for you. It's the story of a kid from St. Louis and D-Day veteran whose life story has the power to uplift not just fans, but people from all walks of life. In this episode, our time machine welcomes aboard sports journalist Lindsay Berra, whose here to talk about the new documentary made about the life of her grandfather, New York Yankees legend Yogi Berra. The film is called “It Ain't Over,” and if you grew up with Berra as just a pitchman, if you know him only from his Yogisims or the Hanna-Barbera rip-off cartoon Bear Who Shall Not Be Named, you are missing out on a chance to be inspired. For more on Yogi Berra's service in World War II, check out the event I emceed at the at the Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center in Little Falls, New Jersey, conducted in partnership with the Bob Feller Act of Valor Foundation. It was titled: Sacrifice & Courage — A Tribute to D-Day.  

   May 1, 2023 - When a president of the United States dies, what does how we memorialize his life and service say about the republic? Our time machine welcomes back Dr. Lindsay M. Chervinsky to give her insights as we discuss “Mourning the Presidents: Loss and Legacy in American Culture,” co-written with Matthew R. Costello. The book includes observation of several scholars, bringing to life a vision shared by the White House Historical Association and the Southern Methodist University Center for Presidential History where Dr. Chervinsky is a senior fellow in addition to her responsibilities teaching about the presidency at the School of Media and Public Affairs at George Washington University. Dr. Chervinsky last joined us for an interview about her debut book, “The Cabinet: George Washington and the Creation of an American Institution,” which earned the Daughters of the American Revolution's Excellence in American History Book Award and the Thomas J. Wilson Memorial Prize. Visit LindsayChervinsky.com for more or find our guest on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. You can also subscribe to her email newsletter, Imperfect Union, which sends valuable and interesting observations straight to your inbox. Thanks to presidential historian Louis Picone for submitting a video question for this interview. You can enjoy our three conversations about his special books in our archives. Grant's Tomb: The Epic Death of Ulysses S. Grant and the Making of an American Pantheon Where the Presidents Were Born: The History & Preservation of the Presidential Birthplaces The President is Dead! The Extraordinary Stories of the Presidential Deaths, Final Days, Burials, and Beyond

   March 21, 2023 - How did a man who worked at the JFK Presidential Library grapple with the 35th president's legacy over his own lifetime to deliver portrait of the real man behind the myths of Camelot? In this episode, our time machine welcomes back Stephen F. Knott, author of “Coming to Terms with John F. Kennedy.” We previously welcomed Mr. Knott onto the show way back in 2015 to discuss the book he co-authored with Tony Williams: “Washington & Hamilton: The Alliance that Forged America.” Mr. Knott is a professor of national security affairs at the U.S. Naval War College and worked on Senator Ted Kennedy's campaign in 1976. Find him at StephenFKnott.com or on Twitter and Facebook.

    January 23, 2023 - How did the relationships of two pairs of U.S. presidents — Theodore Roosevelt with William Howard Taft and Franklin Delano Roosevelt with freshman Congressman Lyndon Baines Johnson — change the course of history, and the world we live in today? In this episode, presidential historian Mike Purdy brings us Presidential Friendships: How They Changed History. Mike is an opinion contributor to The Hill and founder of PresidentialHistory.com, where you can find his award-winning presidential history blog. He joined us last to chat about his previous book, 101 Presidential Insults: What They Really Thought About Each Other — and What It Means to Us. Visit Mike @PresidentialHistorian on Instagram, on Twitter @PREShistory or follow his Facebook page Mike Purdy Presidential History. Thanks to Mike's fellow presidential historians who supplied questions for his interview. They are Feather Schwartz Foster, who joined us to discuss Mary Lincoln's Flannel Pajamas: And Other Stories from the First Ladies' Closet, and David Pietrusza, whose conversations you'll find below. Roosevelt Sweeps Nation: FDR's 1936 Landslide and the Triumph of the Liberal Ideal 1920: The Year of the Six Presidents 1932: The Rise of Hitler and FDR ― Two Tales of Politics, Betrayal, and Unlikely Destiny TR's Last War: Theodore Roosevelt, the Great War, and a Journey of Triumph and Tragedy Rothstein: The Life, Times, and Murder of the Criminal Genius Who Fixed the 1919 World Series Too Long Ago: A Childhood Memory. A Vanished World

   December 19, 2022 - How did Kermit the Frog, Big Bird, and the rest of the Sesame Street expand their neighborhood to Moscow after the collapse of the USSR? In this episode, we meet the woman who adapted a beloved American TV show for an audience newly freed from behind the Iron Curtain. TV producer and filmmaker Natasha Lance Rogoff who brings us, “Muppets in Moscow: The Unexpected Crazy True Story of Making Sesame Street in Russia.” It's the true story of the Soviet Union tearing down its walls and a reborn Russia opening its doors to the best the West had to offer -- despite assassinations, armed attacks, and even the kidnapping of Elmo at the barrel of AK-47s. Visit her at NatashaLanceRogoff.com, where you can navigate through to her social media accounts on all the major platforms, including @LanceRogoff on Twitter.

   November 21, 2022 - If you could ride along in a Humvee with one of the most admired American combat leaders of the last half century, what would you hope to learn? In this episode, our time machine welcomes back internationally acclaimed military historian and U.S. Army veteran Mike Guardia. We last caught up with Mike to discuss his book, Skybreak: The 58th Fighter Squadron in Desert Storm. Mike returns to discuss his acclaimed biography of Lt. Gen. Hal Moore, titled, Hal Moore: A Soldier Once...and Always. Mike Guardia served six years on active duty as an Armor Officer and got to know his subject, whose leadership you may recall from the Mel Gibson's portrayal in the film We Were Soldiers. Visit our guest at MikeGuardia.com, or on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

  October 24, 2022 - Something special this week for the season of pumpkins, ghosts, and Candy Corn: A YouTube feature on what Hollywood gets right and wrong about yesterday called History Author Showtime. It's a video breakdown of the 1975 movie, “The Legend of Lizzie Borden,” starring Elizabeth Montgomery, who you may remember as Samantha Stevens from “Bewitched.” I often ask authors what they think of the film or TV portrayals of the past, and for this week, I pulled some soundbites from Cara Robertson, who I interviewed about her book, “The Trial of Lizzie Borden.” “The Legend of Lizzie Borden” was her favorite portrayal of the tried-but-not-convicted alleged murderess. I've previously published Showtime breakdowns of AMC's “The Americans,” which featured former KGB agent Jack Barsky, who I interviewed about his book, “Deep Under Cover. My Secret Life & tangled Allegiances as a KGB Spy in America.”   I also covered “The Dummy,” a 1962 episode of The Twilight Zone. Anne Serling, author of “As I Knew Him: My Dad Rod Serling” had a surprising and amusing recollection of the infamous ventriloquist dummy used in show that I just felt deserved to be highlighted.    Thank you for subscribing at YouTube.com/@historyauthorshow to support more time travel adventures.

  October 10, 2022 - What if historical fiction could give someone the courage that saves their life? In this episode, Judith F. Brenner shares her debut novel The Moments Between Dreams, which has the power to do just that, as we mark Domestic Violence and Polio Awareness Months. The book has been described as "edutaining,' both educational and entertaining, as we return to the 1940s and ‘50s for a story set during the polio epidemic wrapped around housewife Carol's carefully concealed abusive marriage. Judith F. Brenner is a journalist by training and runs Creative Lakes Media, LLC, a freelance writing and editing services company. Her personal essays have been published in Writers in the Know literary magazine and Minnesota Parent magazine. Find our guest at JudithFBrenner.com, where you can navigate through from there to all her social media accounts, on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.  

   September 26, 2022 - How did Franklin Delano Roosevelt win reelection with 46 of the 48 states in 1936, despite America being in the throes of the Great Depression? In this episode, legendary historian David Pietrusza to discuss his new book, Roosevelt Sweeps Nation: FDR's 1936 Landslide and the Triumph of the Liberal Ideal. Enjoy his previous appearances in our archives where we discuss his books: TR's Last War: Theodore Roosevelt, the Great War, and a Journey of Triumph and Tragedy Rothstein: The Life, Times, and Murder of the Criminal Genius Who Fixed the 1919 World Series 1920: The Year of the Six Presidents 1932: The Rise of Hitler and FDR ― Two Tales of Politics, Betrayal, and Unlikely Destiny Too Long Ago: A Childhood Memory. A Vanished World Find our guest @DPietrusza on Twitter or DavidPietrusza.com. Special thanks to Mike Purdy for submitting a video question for this interview. He appeared on the History Author Show to discuss his book 101 Presidential Insults: What They Really Thought About Each Other and What It Means to Us. He'll be back to talk Presidential Friendships: How They Changed History.

   September 3, 2022 - On the morning of September 8th, 1900, disaster struck the vibrant, prosperous island of Galveston, Texas, tearing out its heart. In this episode, our time machine travels back to the turn of the last century to meet sixteen-year-old Clara and the Gladys family, against the backdrop of the worst natural disaster to ever strike the United States -- that killed between 6,000 and 8,000 on the island of Galveston. Our guide on this journey is international award-winning author Anna J. Walner who brings us Saltwater and Driftwood: A Historical Novel. Anna is a native Texan and began her career as a fantasy novelist, delivering the Enrovia Series and the four-volume Uluru Legacy, a story of vampires and werewolves. Visit our guest at AnnaJWalner.com, or on social media through Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

   August 22, 2022 - What if you were a Midwestern haberdasher-turned-senator, who served just three months as vice president, before finding yourself thrust into the Big Chair, charged with winning World War II? In this episode, our time machine welcomes aboard journalist Jeffrey Frank who brings us, The Trials of Harry S. Truman: The Extraordinary Presidency of An Ordinary Man, 1945-1953. Jeffrey Frank is the best-selling author Ike and Dick: Portrait of a Strange Political Marriage. He has published four novels, among them the Washington Trilogy — The Columnist, Bad Publicity, and Trudy Hopedale — and is the coauthor, with Diana Crone Frank, of The Stories of Hans Christian Andersen: A New Translation from the Danish, which won the 2014 Hans Christian Andersen Prize. He was a senior editor at the New Yorker, the deputy editor of The Washington Post's Outlook section and is now a contributor to major publications nationwide. Visit him at JeffreyFrank.com, or on Facebook and @JeffreyAFrank on Twitter. Special thanks to Sally Mott Freeman for offering her insights in a video question for this interview. You can check out our conversation about her excellent book, The Jersey Brothers: A Missing Naval Officer in the Pacific and His Family's Quest to Bring Him Home.

   August 8, 2022 - In the late summer of 1942, the First Marine Division sought to wrest Guadalcanal from the Japanese Empire. We'll meet one of only two reporters on hand to record the carnage, as the spot in the Pacific earned its nickname, the Island of Death. In this episode, our time machine travels back war zones to meet in intrepid journalist who told soldiers' stories to the folks back home. Our guide on this journey is Ray E. Boomhower, a senior editor at the Indiana Historical Society Press, biographer, and former reporter, who brings us Richard Tregaskis: Reporting under Fire from Guadalcanal to Vietnam. For more, visit RayBoomhower.Blogspot.com and @RayBoomhower on Twitter. Special thanks to Deborah A. Cohen for submitting a video question for this interview. In the History Author Show archives, you can watch or listen to our conversation about her book Last Call at the Hotel Imperial: The Reporters Who Took on a World at War.

   July 25, 2022 - How did the worlds of hip-hop and boxing unite, blending together music, race, sports, and politics? In this episode our time machine welcomes back Dr. Todd D. Snyder who brings us Beatboxing: How Hip-Hop Changed the Fight Game. We previously caught up to discuss his previous book: Bundini: Don't Believe the Hype. Meeting Mohammed Ali's hype man, Drew "Bundini" Brown, was an experience that really stuck with me, in a way that made me scared to think I might never have known a thing about him, if not for today's guest. Todd D. Snyder, an Associate Professor of Rhetoric and Writing at Siena College in Albany, New York, who grew up in West Virginia as the son of a boxing trainer. He's excellent at divining the poetry in rap and how it developed this symbiotic relationship with the sweet science. His previous books include 12 Rounds in Lo's Gym: Boxing and Manhood in Appalachia. Visit him at HillbillySpeaks.com, or on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

   July 2, 2022 - Who were the citizen spies who risked their lives to bring General George Washington the intelligence he needed to win the War for Independence? In this episode, we take a fictional trip back to the American Revolution, to meet the people who fought for liberty with their wits and secrecy, not muskets and cannon. Our guide on this journey is S.W. O'Connell who brings us, The Patriot Spy, Book One of the Yankee Doodle Spies Series, followed by Book 2, The Cavalier Spy, and Book 3, The Winter Spy. S.W. O'Connell is a retired U.S. Army intelligence officer who has served in a wide variety of counterintelligence assignments around the world. Upon retirement, he decided to mix his love and study of history with his military experiences to craft historical novels. Visit him at Yankee Doodle Spies Dot Blog Spot Dot Com, on Facebook, or @SWOconnell on Twitter. Special thanks to Thomas J. Howley for submitting a video question for this interview. Watch or listen to the History Show interview about his novel Wolf of Clontarf: The Irish, the Vikings and the Foreigners of the World.    

   June 27, 2022 - How did revolutions in the two great English-speaking nations -- the United States and the United Kingdom -- give birth to the American Constitution, and what does its creation have to tell us about the challenges we face over 200 years since its ratification? In this episode, we dig into those questions, traveling back to when it all started with James D. R. Philips, a lawyer and visiting lecturer at the University of Sydney's Law School in Australia. His book is Two Revolutions and the Constitution: How the English and American Revolutions Produced the American Constitution. In the interview we discussed the dispersion of power that makes the U.S. government almost coup-proof, as well as the New York Sun column where I quoted James Philips: It's Dangerous for January 6th Hearings To Portray Our Republic as a Fabergé Egg. Visit our guest at JamesPhilips.net, or on Twitter and Facebook.

   June 13, 2022 - Before he won ten World Series titles with the New York Yankees, Lawrence Peter "Yogi" Berra answered a higher team's calling, to serve his country in World War Two -- a role in the Navy that ultimately led him to a rocket ship supporting the Normandy landings. For June 6, 2022, the 78th anniversary of the 1944 D-Day landings, my column in the New York Sun was titled: “Yogi Berra's War: ‘Deja Vu All Over Again.'”  It looked at the famed catcher's service during the Normandy invasion, and spread the word about an event you'll be enjoying in this week's episode. It's a roundtable discussion held at the Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center, conducted in partnership with the Bob Feller Act of Valor Foundation. It was titled: Sacrifice & Courage, A Tribute to D-Day. I was honored to act as moderator for the conversation, which was streamed live to military personnel at posts all around the world and all the ships at sea. Our panel in Little Ferry, New Jersey, on the campus of Montclair State University featured former governor of Mississippi and Secretary of the Navy Raymond Mabus Jr., Rear Admiral Edward “Sonny” Masso (retired), Luke Epplin -- author of Our Team: The Epic Story of Four Men and the World Series That Changed Baseball -- and Larry Berra, the son and namesake of Yogi. In this interview, I also recommend a few books that I've had the pleasure of interviewing authors about, that have covered the service of ballplayers and the Normandy Landings. One is about the son of the 26th president, the oldest man and highest-ranking officer to go ashore that day. That book is His Father's Son: The Life of General Ted Roosevelt, Jr., by Tim Brady. The others are by baseball historian Jim Leeke: The Best Team Over There: The Untold Story of Grover Cleveland Alexander and the Great War From the Dugouts to the Trenches: Baseball During the Great War Nine Innings for the King: The Day Wartime London Stopped for Baseball – July 4, 1918

   May 16, 2022 - Today, mapping the source of the Nile River is as easy as a Google search, but the mystery intrigued humanity for centuries.  In this episode, best-selling author Candice Millard introduces us to the men who won a race worthy of Indiana Jones in River of the Gods: Genius, Courage, and Betrayal in the Search for the Source of the Nile. We last met up with Candice Millard to discuss her book, Hero of the Empire: The Boer War, a Daring Escape and the Making of Winston Churchill. Regular listeners have also heard me praise Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine & the Murder of a President as well as The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey. For more, visit CandiceMillard.com or follow her @Candice_Millard on Twitter and like her at Facebook. Thanks to Todd Arrington, who we met up with to chat about his book, The Last Lincoln Republican: The Presidential Election of 1880.  Todd is site manager at James A. Garfield National Historic Site in Mentor, Ohio. Music credit: "Temple of Endless Sands" by Darren Curtis.

   May 2, 2022 - Imagine you're struggling to feed your family during the Great Depression, and you cause a tragic accident at work. Do you risk your precious job at a time of sky-high unemployment and breadlines, or let someone else take the fall for what you did wrong? We'll meet a young man who faced that dilemma with award-winning novelist Sheila Myers who brings us The Truth of Who You Are. In this based-on-a-true-story work of historical fiction, we meet Ben Taylor, whose decision stateside with the New Deal's Civilian Conservation Corps follows him from Great Smoky Mountains all way to the France during the Battle of the Bulge and back. Sheila Myers is a college professor of ecology in Upstate New York. Her previous work of historical fiction earned the 2017 Best Book of Fiction by the Adirondack Center for Writing. Sheila's Durant Family Saga followed Union Pacific Railroad tycoon Dr. Thomas C. Durant, and his children, from the 1870s throughout their boom-and-bust lives. We interviewed her about each book in the trilogy. Book 1: Imaginary Brightness Book 2: Castles in the Air Book 3: The Night Is Done Visit our guest at SheilaMyers.com, or on Twitter and Facebook. Special thanks to Rob Hilliard for submitting a question for the interview. You can hear my conversation with Rob about his book, A Season on the Allegheny, in our archives wherever you enjoy the show.

   April 18, 2022 - If a group of World War Two-era journalists invited you out for drinks, ready to open up about their interviews with everyone from Gandhi and Neru to Mussolini and Hitler, what would say? Readers get that opportunity with Deborah Cohen who brings us Last Call at the Hotel Imperial: The Reporters Who Took on a World at War. In this episode, our time machine welcomes aboard journalists John Gunther, H. R. Knickerbocker, Vincent Sheean, and Dorothy Thompson, who have do their job before and during the war, confronting the likes of Hitler and Mussolini, but also isolationist forces who think dictators might not be so bad. Deborah Cohen is the author of The War Come Home: Disabled Veterans in Britain and Germany, 1914-1939, Household Gods: The British and Their Possessions, and Family Secrets. She is also the Richard W. Leopold Professor of History at Northwestern University, focusing on modern Europe. Visit her at DeborahCohen.com or @DeborahACohen on Twitter. Special thanks to Cara Robertson for sending this great book our way. In our archives, you can listen to Cara chatting about her book The Trial of Lizzie Borden: A True Story.

   April 4, 2022 - What would you do if your estranged father died, leaving behind piles of Nazi-era documents related to the fate of your family's café in the world wars? In this episode, our time machine travels back to the inter-war years, to meet a Jewish family rocked by the turmoil of Austria-Hungary and them Germany coming out on the losing side. Our guide on this journey is Meriel Schindler who brings us The Lost Café Schindler: One Family, Two Wars, and the Search for Truth. After her father Kurt's death, Meriel was left to confront their broken relationship, and untangle the truth behind the tales he spun -- stories of an extraordinary family tree featuring Franz Kafka, Oskar Schindler, the Jewish doctor who treated Hitler's and his mother, and others. Only one thing was concrete: The café that the Nazis stole when her family was forced to flee. Find our guest at MerielSchindler.com, or at @MerielSchindler on Twitter. Special thanks investigative journalist Gerald Posner for submitting a video question on anti-Semitism for The Lost Café Schindler, and also providing a blurb for the book. Gerald has done three previous interviews about his books: God's Bankers: A History of Money and Power at the Vatican Pharma: Greed, Lies, and the Poisoning of America Case Closed: Lee Harvey Oswald and the Assassination of JFK We also cite my conversation with Gerald's wife and writing partner, Trisha, and her book The Pharmacist of Auschwitz: The Untold Story .

   March 21, 2022 - Who were the young American pilots who launched their fighter jets into the wild blue yonder during the first Gulf Wear, aiming to pry tiny Kuwait from Saddam Hussein's fist? In this episode, we'll travel back to January 17, 1991, as Desert Shield transforms into Desert Storm high in the skies over Iraq. Once there, we'll meet those American airmen -- and the teams on the ground that kept their F-15C's flying against Soviet MiG-29 Fulcrums -- with internationally acclaimed military historian and U.S. Army veteran Mike Guardia who brings us Skybreak: The 58th Fighter Squadron in Desert Storm. Mike Guardia served six years on active duty as an Armor Officer and is widely praised for his acclaimed biography Hal Moore: A Soldier Once…and Always, chronicling the life of LTG Harold G. Moore, whose leadership you may recall from the Mel Gibson's portrayal in the film We Were Soldiers. Mike has been nominated for the Army Historical Foundation's Distinguished Book Award not once but twice. In 2021, he was named Author of the Year by the Military Writers Society of America. Visit our guest at MikeGuardia.com, or on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

   March 7, 2022 - Best-selling author Eva Stachniak joins us to discuss her latest novel, The School of Mirrors. "During the reign of Louis XV, impoverished but lovely teenage girls from all over France are sent to a discreet villa in the town of Versailles. Overseen by the King's favorite mistress, Madame de Pompadour, they will be trained as potential courtesans for the King. ... The students at this 'School of Mirrors' rarely ask questions, and when Louis tires of them, they are married off to minor aristocrats or allowed to retire to one of the more luxurious nunneries." It's a rich and enjoyable story, focusing not just on the ribald details, but on the relationship between a mother and her daughter, who succeeds despite the many obstacles to women at the time, but longs to know the truth about her father's identity. Eva Stachniak was born in Wrocław, Poland, moved to Canada in 1981, and has worked for Radio Canada International and Sheridan College, where she taught English and Humanities. She is the bestselling author of The Winter Palace, Empress of the Night, Necessary Lies, and  Garden of Venus, in addition to The Chosen Maiden. You can find our interview on The Chosen Maiden in our archives. I was also honored that Eva asked me to MC an event and Q&A at the Kosciuszko Center in Manhattan some years back. You should absolutely check them out if you're interested in preserving the history of this dual American and Polish hero. Visit our guest at EvaStachniak.com or find her at Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

   February 21, 2022 - It was once an unattainable dream, kept out of reach by lynch mobs, police dogs and firehoses. But in 2008, Barack Obama fulfilled the promise of that all men are created equal. In this episode, we take a look back at the man who changed the face of the Oval Office forever, just in time for Presidents' Day and Black History Month. Our guide on this journey is Professor Claude A. Clegg III who brings us The Black President: Hope and Fury in the Age of Obama. He is the Lyle V. Jones Distinguished Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, with a joint appointment in the Department of African, African American, and Diaspora Studies and the Department of History. Visit him at ClaudeClegg.com and @ClaudeClegg on Twitter. Special thanks to Bijan C. Bayne who offering up a question for Professor Clegg. I previously interviewed Bijan for his books Elgin Baylor: The Man Who Changed Basketball and Martha's Vineyard Basketball: How a Resort League Defied Notions of Race and Class. He's also the writer-producer of the docuseries, "Six Degrees of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar."

   February 7, 2022 -  Theodore Roosevelt's life is the stuff of myths and legends, a persona he carefully cultivated over his decades charging through public life. But what did those who shared his private moments think of the Rough Rider? We'll get freshly uncovered insights from those who knew him best, meeting the 26th president through the eyes of friends, families and confidants, through 14 lost oral histories from the 1950s. Our guide on this journey is Michael Patrick Cullinane who brings us these never-before-heard stories in Remembering Theodore Roosevelt: Reminiscences of his Contemporaries. We previously caught up with Michael when we compared our busts -- our TR busts, that is -- to discuss his book, Theodore Roosevelt's Ghost: The History and Memory of an American Icon, which earned the TR Book Prize. (Watch or listen here.) Michael Patrick Cullinane is Professor of U.S. History at the University of Roehampton, London, and host of The Gilded Age and Progressive Era podcast. Find him at MichaelPatrickCullinane.com, or on his Twitter and LinkedIn.

   January 24, 2022 - What happens when an acclaimed author on figures from George Washington and James Madison to Aaron Burr and Andrew Johnson, turns his historical searchlight inward to his own family's American story?  David O. Stewart does just that in his novel The New Land, Book One of the Overstreet Saga. This is attorney-turned-author David O. Stewart's fifth appearance on the show. I previously caught up with him to chat about his non-fiction books George Washington: The Political Rise of America's Founding Father, Madison's Gift: Five Partnerships that Built America, and the epic, American Emperor: Aaron Burr's Challenge to Jefferson's America. We also discussed The Lincoln Deception, a novel in his Fraser and Cook Historical Mysteries. David's new trilogy lands on the rocky shore of Broad Bay, Maine, in 1753, where we meet Johann Oberstrasse, a Hessian mercenary who's had enough of war after being hired out to the King of England. Johann's wife, Christiane, resolves that their son will never march in his father's footsteps. But the New World brings old problems, challenging the rebranded Overstreet family's longing for a peaceful life. Find our guests at DavidOStewart.com, or on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. Special thanks to Lindsay M. Chervinsky, Ph.D, who submitted a question for David about Washington's biggest regrets. Watch or listen to our conversation about her book, The Cabinet: George Washington and the Creation of an American Institution.

   January 10, 2022 - Surrounded, low on supplies, and on the verge of surrender, the soldiers of Argentina -- many young, barely trained conscripts -- wrote home in the waning days of the Falkland War, telling tales of hardship that bore no resemblance to the propaganda woven by the military junta back in Buenos Ares. Ricky D. Phillips brings us these up-close accounts for the first time in Last Letters from Stanley: The Unpublished Argentine Battle for the Falklands, who we previously chatted with about his book The First Casualty: The Untold Story of the Falklands War. Visit Ricky at his military history blog, Making History, or find him on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn.

   November 13, 2021 - How did a college dropout from Missouri, grow up to win five Marconi awards and rescue AM radio -- to have one U.S. president carry his bags into the Lincoln bedroom, and another award him the Medal of Freedom? It's the amazing life story of radio's greatest of all time, Rush Limbaugh, from his long-time friend James Golden, known better to tens of millions of listeners as Bo Snerdley. The book is Rush on the Radio: A Tribute from His Sidekick for 30 Years, an intimate portrait of someone who strove for excellence every day, even as he battled terminal lung cancer. This is a unique and special episode for host and guest, since Dean joined Rush's TV show in 1995 and rejoined the website in 2000, having been part of the EIB Network team ever since. The result is a unique and heartfelt interview. His most recent Washington Times column cites some of the parallels between Rush opening up talk radio to all voices and upstart Rumble's efforts to take on YouTube. The piece is titled, "All Americans should join Rumble's free speech fight." James Golden is a long-time radio producer, call screener, and the host. You can catch him on 77 WABC New York at 4-5PM Weekdays and 8-10AM Saturday mornings, or via his show podcast. You can also listen to his iHeartRadio series, Rush Limbaugh: The Man Behind the Golden EIB Microphone. Visit him at JamesGolden.com, or find him on social media at Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn, where you can find me as well.

   November 29, 2021 - How did a high school hockey team go from being the very worst in the country to the top 5%, and what lessons can we apply to our own lives from that historic turnaround? In this episode, our time machine steps onto the ice twenty years ago with the lowly Ann Arbor Huron High School River Rats. Our player-turned-coach is best-selling author John U. Bacon, who rescued a team with a tradition of losing so engrained, they hadn't won a game in a year and a half, going 0-22-3. He brings us Let Them Lead: Unexpected Lessons in Leadership from America's Worst High School Hockey Team. John U. Bacon teaches at Northwestern and the University of Michigan, and has written several New York Times bestsellers, including Three and Out: Rich Rodriguez and the Michigan Wolverines, Fourth and Long: The Fight for the Soul of College Football, and, Endzone: The Rise, Fall, and Return of Michigan Football. For history beyond sports, enjoy our archived conversation about The Great Halifax Explosion: A World War I Story of Treachery, Tragedy, and Extraordinary Heroism. Visit LetThemLeadByBacon.com for more or find him on social media at Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.

   November 15, 2021 - On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. Was it a lone gunman or something more sinister? In this episode, we debunk the conspiracy theories with renowned investigative journalist and attorney Gerald Posner, author of the Pulitzer Prize finalist, Case Closed: Lee Harvey Oswald and the Assassination of JFK. Gerald previously appeared on the History Author Show to discuss his 2015 book, God's Bankers: A History of Money and Power at the Vatican, and his eerily prescient book that hit shelves on the eve of the pandemic ... Pharma: Greed, Lies, and the Poisoning of America. His wife and research partner, Trisha Posner, also shared her chilling biography The Pharmacist of Auschwitz: The Untold Story.  Visit Posner.com for more on today's guest, and follow him on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube. You can also check out his columns in Forbes magazine.

   November 1, 2021 - Adolf Hitler infamously told his naval commander-in-chief, Admiral Karl Dönitz, "On land, I am a hero. At sea, I am a coward." But those battles on, under and over the Atlantic decided the fate of the world every bit as much as action in Europe and North Africa. In this episode, our time machine welcomes back Simon Read who brings us his wildly enjoyable new book The Iron Sea: How the Allies Hunted and Destroyed Hitler's Warships. In our archives, you can find my previous conversation with Simon, that's about 2015's Winston Churchill Reporting: Adventures of a Young War Correspondent. Simon Read is a former journalist and the author of eight previous nonfiction books. His work has appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, Publishers Weekly, and TIME magazine. Three of his previous books, including Winston Churchill Reporting and Human Game: The True Story of the "Great Escape" Murders and the Hunt for the Gestapo Gunmen, have been optioned for film and TV adaptations. Visit our guest at SimonReadWriting.com, or on social media at Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn.

  October 18, 2021 - America's only bachelor president has had whispers about his relationship with a certain vice president for almost two centuries. But were they more than friends, and why does the answer matter in 2021? Our time machine travels back to the pre-Civil War period, to delve into the personal lives of our 15th president, James Buchanan, and his roommate William Rufus King, the 13th vice president -- a pair that has long been the target of snickering, insults -- and more recently, of celebration. Our guide on this journey is a historian, not a gossip columnist. Thomas Balcerski and he brings us Bosom Friends: The Intimate World of James Buchanan and William Rufus King. Tom is a presidential and political historian at Eastern Connecticut State University, as well as a contributor for CNN, NBC Connecticut, and Made by History, the Washington Post's history blog. Find him on social media at Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn. Special thanks to presidential historian Louis Picone for submitting a video question for this interview. Louis has appeared on the History Author Show three times for his books Grant's Tomb: The Epic Death of Ulysses S. Grant and the Making of an American Pantheon, as well as the bookenders Where the Presidents Were Born: The History & Preservation of the Presidential Birthplaces and The President is Dead! The Extraordinary Stories of the Presidential Deaths, Final Days, Burials, and Beyond.

   October 4, 2021 - Theodore Roosevelt is invoked in contemporary politics so often, it's easy to forget that he died in his bed 100 years ago. So who was the real flesh-and-blood man, and what would he think of his evolution into a mythical folk hero? Our time machine travels back, to meet the real TR with Michael Patrick Cullinane, author of Theodore Roosevelt's Ghost: The History and Memory of an American Icon, winner of the coveted TR Book Prize. Michael Patrick Cullinane is professor of U.S. history at Roehampton University in London, and the author of previous books, as well as the upcoming title Remembering Theodore Roosevelt: Reminiscences of his Contemporaries. He also hosts The Gilded Age & Progressive Era podcast. Find him on Twitter and LinkedIn.

   September 20, 2021 - In 2020, we saw one what was long called impossible: Peace deal after another between Arab states and Israel in the Abraham Accords. What do the leaders of these nations see for the future, and how can we foster it by better understanding the past? Joel C. Rosenberg has seen history unfold firsthand and spoken personally to the men changing their corner of world by beating swords into plowshares. Joel's latest book after a string of New York Times bestselling novels and non-fiction books is Enemies and Allies: An Unforgettable Journey inside the Fast-Moving & Immensely Turbulent Modern Middle East. In it, Joel shares exclusive, never-before-published quotes, insights, and analysis from his conversations with some of the most complex and controversial leaders in the world including Benjamin Netanyahu (who he worked for as a strategist), Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Egypt's President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Jordan's King Abdullah II and many others. Visit JoelRosenberg.com or check out Joel's Fast Traffic Blog where he track "events and trends in Israel, the U.S., Russia and throughout the Epicenter (the Middle East & North Africa)." He's also editor-in-chief at All Arab News and All Israel News. His social media accounts are at Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

  Sep 6, 2021 - Our time machine travels back to a bright morning that turned dark, when ships of all sizes answered cries for help to evacuate Lower Manhattan after terrorists flew planes into the Twin Towers. Our guide on this journey is Jessica DuLong who bring us, Saved at the Seawall: Stories from the September 11 Boat Lift. Jessica DuLong is an award-winning author, journalist, historian, ghostwriter, book collaborator, proposal doctor, editor, writing coach, and a marine engineer as well. Her previous book is My River Chronicles: Rediscovering the Work that Built America; A Personal and Historical Journey. Visit JessicaDuLong.com for more, or follower her on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. For more on 9/11, check out the History Author Show interview with Governor George Pataki about his book, Beyond the Great Divide: How a Nation Became a Neighborhood.

  August 23, 2021 - Everyone has heard the timeless music of George Gershwin, but we may never have heard it in quite the same way without the love of Gershwin's life, Katharine Faulkner Swift, who he nicknamed "Kay." Mitchell James Kaplan brings us their Jazz Age romance in his novel, Rhapsody. In it, we meet a restless society wife who attends a concert that changes her life and the face of musical theater. The song is Rhapsody in Blue, composed by the young genius, Gershwin. Mitchell James Kaplan earned his BA with Honors in English Literature at Yale, where he won the prestigious Paine Memorial Prize. His previous novels are Into the Unbounded Night, and, By Fire, By Water. Visit him at MitchellJamesKaplan.com, and on the major social media platforms where you can find me as well: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn.

   August 9, 2021 - In this episode, we toss the keys to our time machine into the hands of Lincoln historian Jason Emerson, who I welcomed for Q&A about his book Mary Lincoln for the Ages and several other titles related to the 16th president and the First Lady. Jason's guest hosting our interview with Michael Burlingame about An American Marriage: The Untold Story of Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd. James McPherson of the New York Review of Books says that Dr. Burlingame "knows more about Abraham Lincoln than any other living person." He holds of the Chancellor Naomi B. Lynn Distinguished Chair in Lincoln Studies at the University of Illinois-Springfield, and is the author of several books on Honest Abe, including the two-volume Abraham Lincoln: A Life.

   July 26, 2021 - You may not have heard the name Wolf the Quarrelsome. But once you meet this bold, Irish warrior -- and the woman who risked her life to build his spy ring -- you'll never look at Ireland quite the same way. In this episode, our way-back machine travels ten centuries into the past, as Viking invaders storm his island, and Wolf mounts a 15-year resistance campaign, climaxing in arguably the most decisive battle of the Middle Ages: The Battle of Clontarf. Our guide on this journey is novelist Lt. Col. Thomas J. Howley who brings us Wolf of Clontarf: The Irish, the Vikings and the Foreigners of the World. Howley is a retired U.S. Army officer-turned-civilian operational intelligence analyst supporting U.S. government Defense and Federal Law Enforcement agencies. Meet him and his Irish wolfhound at TJHowleyBooks.com.

   July 12, 2021 - Imagine you're Jewish during the Second World War, but safely in bed an ocean away from Nazi Germany, secure in the vastness of Canada. Would you march into the heart of the Third Reich, risking your life to stare down Hitler's war machine, for a country that didn't consider you a fully loyal and equal citizen? In this episode, we meet the heroes that Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King said faced a "double threat" from Axis evil: Not just Fascism, but their survival as a people. Our guide on this journey is Ellin Bessner, a professor of journalism at Centennial College in Toronto and the author of Double Threat: Canadian Jews, the Military, and World War II. Although Canada had turned away European Jews desperate to escape the rising tide of anti-Semitism -- and while those already in Canada found doors to many jobs and universities slammed in their faces -- when war came, an huge numbers answered the call to fight, defying bigotry and earning valor that has been shamefully forgotten. Ellin also hosts the CJN Daily, a podcast from The Canadian Jewish News. Visit her at EllinBessner.com or on social media at Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

  June 28, 2021 - We all know the name of John Henry “Doc” Holliday, but who was he in that lifetime beyond the fences of the O.K. Corral, standing guns drawn with Wyatt Earp? Our time machine travels back to meet this icon of the Old West, before and after his moment of destiny in Tombstone, Arizona, at the O.K. Corral. Our guide on this journey is Victoria Wilcox, who brings us The World of Doc Holliday: History and Historic Images. Victoria Wilcox is founding director of Georgia's Holliday-Dorsey-Fife Museum and the brains behind the documentary In Search of Doc Holliday. She also authored The Saga of Doc Holliday trilogy, featuring the historical fiction novels Southern Son, Dance with the Devil, and Dead Man's Hand. True West Magazine named her the Best Historical Western Novelist and her debut novel earned Georgia's Author of the Year Award. Visit our guest at VictoriaWilcoxBooks.com, or on the social media outlets Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn.

June 14, 2021 - In 1982, the military junta in Buenos Aires had an idea to boost its sagging popularity: Invade the Falkland Islands, a British territory that Argentines called Las Malvinas. Only 60 Royal Marines stood in the way, 8,000 miles from home and cut off from support. In this week's episode, we bring you "the book they said couldn't be written about the battle that they say never happened," debunking the conventional wisdom that those Marines surrendered without a fight. That narrative does injustice their heroic defense as well as the price paid by the Argentines thrown into a war by leaders who cared little for its soldiers, and sailors on ships such as the doomed ARA Belgrano. Our guide on this journey is Ricky D. Phillips, who brings us The First Casualty: The Untold Story of the Falklands War. His second book invokes the capital of the Falkland Islands and the soldiers of Argentina writing home, telling a very different story than their government's sunny propaganda tales of victory. That's Last Letters from Stanley: The Unpublished Argentine Battle for the Falklands. Visit Ricky Phillips at his military history blog, Making History, or find him on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn.

   May 31, 2021 - The United States of America goes to great lengths to recover the remains of those who fall in battle, to offer a headstone, a finally resting place that loved ones can visit to honor their sacrifice. But what about those who fall and cannot be identified? In this episode, our time machine welcomes aboard readers ages 7 to 97, with a book that's perfect for Memorial Day. Since 1937, an elite body of guards began the round-the-clock vigil that continues to this day, steeped in tradition, and dedicated to honoring our nameless war dead. Our guide into one of the most sacred places in the United States, within Arlington National Cemetery, is Jeff Gottesfeld who brings us the illustrated history, Twenty-One Steps: Guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. You can find him at JeffGottesfeldWriter.com, as well as on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn. Gottesfeld is a novelist, playwright, screen-and-TV writer whose work (including The Tree in the Courtyard: Looking Through Anne Frank's Window) has earned awards from the American Library Association, the Writers Guild of America, and the National Council for the Social Studies. Matt Tavares is the author-illustrator, who has brought his talents to many previous books including Henry Aaron's Dream, There Goes Ted Williams, Becoming Babe Ruth, and the New York Times bestseller Dasher. Find him at MattTavares.com, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Google+.

    May 17, 2021 - When we think of George Washington, we see him carved onto Mount Rushmore -- above all of us and certainly above anything as oily as politics. But how did he get up there? Joining us to shine new light on the warrior-statesman's career from a mere state legislator to the single most dominant force in the creation of the United States, is David O. Stewart, who bring us  George Washington: The Political Rise of America's Founding Father. Special thanks to Lindsay M. Chervinsky, Ph.D, who submitted a question for David about Washington's biggest regrets. Watch or listen to our conversation about her book, The Cabinet: George Washington and the Creation of an American Institution. We previously caught up with David O. Stewart to chat about his books: Madison’s Gift: Five Partnerships that Built America American Emperor – Aaron Burr: The Man Who Shot Alexander Hamilton The Lincoln Deception (A Fraser and Cook Historical Mystery) Also check out: Impeached: The Trial of President Andrew Johnson and the Fight for Lincoln's Legacy and the documentary Going to the Devil: The Impeachment of 1868, presented by The Great Courses at Hunter College.

  May 3, 2021- Who was the Roman general Marc Antony before he became a legend, before he rose as a man in full, forever linked in history with Cleopatra? We'll meet a boy struggling to redeem his disgraced family name in this week's novel, Antonius: Son of Rome. It's book one in Brook Allen's Antonius Trilogy, followed by Antonius: Second in Command and the conclusion, Antonius: Soldier of Fate. Brook Allen introduces us to this historic figure before sculptors and Shakespeare got their hands on him, sharing her passion for ancient history, and redeeming a man whose enemies have had their say for 2,000 years. Brook Allen earned a B.A. from Asbury University and a Master's at Hollins University with an emphasis in Ancient Roman studies, so she has the grounding in facts to really bring this story to life. Visit her at BrookAllenAuthor.com and find her on Twitter or Facebook. Special thanks to Tonya Mitchell for recommending The Antonius Trilogy. You can find that interview in the archives, where we discuss her Nelly Bly novel, A Feigned Madness.

  April 19, 2021 - How did the trauma of the First World War follow a baseball legend home, sending both his game and his life into downward spirals? Returning to introduce us to this tragic Hall of Famer is Jim Leeke, who brings us The Best Team Over There: The Untold Story of Grover Cleveland Alexander and the Great War. Grover Cleveland "Pete" Alexander is a legendary name in baseball, but a key factor in his career -- months of service as an artillery sergeant in the Great War -- has been overlooked.  Jim is a contributor to the Society for American Baseball Research Baseball Biography Project, as well as the writer or editor of several books on U.S. and military history. Visit our archives wherever you're watching or listening now for my previous conversations with Jim Leeke. Howell's Storm: New York City's Official Rainmaker and the 1950 Drought Nine Innings for the King: The Day Wartime London Stopped for Baseball, July 4, 1918 From the Dugouts to the Trenches: Baseball During the Great War Matty Boy: A Civil War Novel for Young Readers Follow Jim on Twitter at the handles @JimLeeke and @WW1Baseball.

  April 5, 2021 - How did the general who saved the Union and served two terms as president, earn so much love from the nation that they memorialized him with what's the largest mausoleum in the Western Hemisphere? We explore this story with Louis Picone in Grant's Tomb: The Epic Death of Ulysses S. Grant and the Making of an American Pantheon. Louis and I previously caught up to discuss his books Where the Presidents Were Born: The History & Preservation of the Presidential Birthplaces and The President is Dead! The Extraordinary Stories of the Presidential Deaths, Final Days, Burials, and Beyond. In Grant's Tomb, he examines how Americans memorialized one of the most significant leaders in history, and how that man defied a death sentence from cancer to write his epic memoir and provide for his wife and family. Learn more about our guest at LouisPicone.com, or connect with him across social media platforms LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.