HistoryAuthorShow

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.

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.”

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.

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.

Episode Page: https://historyauthor.com/ricky-d-phillips-last-letters-from-stanley-the-unpublished-argentine-battle-for-the-falklands/ 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.

A clip from my interview with Bo Snerdley, 77WABC's James Golden, on guest host Mark Steyn and the late, great Walter E. Williams. Everyone appears in Rush on the Radio: A Tribute from His Sidekick for 30 Years.

Episode page: https://historyauthor.com/james-golden-rush-on-the-radio-a-tribute-from-his-sidekick-for-30-years/ 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.

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 ingrained, 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.

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.

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.

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 fellow Democrat politicians and rommates, 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 14th 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.

Theodore Roosevelt is invoked in contemporary politics so often, it's easy to forget that he died quietly in his sleep 100 years ago. So who was the flesh-and-blood man, and what would he think of his evolution into a mythical folk hero of the Gilded Age? 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, and fellow Jersey boy. If you've read other biographies of "Teddy Roosevelt" (a nickname he didn't like and said proved the person using it didn't know him), or picked up stories here and there through pop culture, you haven't come close to getting to know him. He was complicated and full of contradictions, like any of us. First president to win the Nobel Peace Prize, and citizen who called for war and military preparation. Conservationist and our greenest president; hunter who shot thousands of animals. Widower who stood against second marriages, who remarried after his first wife died. Bombastic showman who didn't want his birthplace preserved and didn't ever want to be depicted in a statue -- especially on horseback, such as the controversial one outside New York City's Museum of Natural History, featuring Native American and African guides at his side. In all presidential history, the 26th POTUS continues to fascinate and compel us. See him here in this documentary-style interview, full of rarely seen footage from the Library of Congress, depicting TR speaking, riding, rowing off his beloved Sagamore Hill in Oyster Bay, Long Island, and enjoying one of his favorite pastimes: Chopping down trees. Over the years, Theodore Roosevelt's legacy has risen and fallen, co-oped -- really stolen -- by his distant cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Democrat FDR adopted many of TR's mannerisms and quirks, obliterating "the Republican Roosevelt." Bad biographers later cast him as an adolescent child, culminating in the caricature of him in "Arsenic and Old Lace." Mike Cullinane is professor of U.S. history at London's Roehampton University, and the author or editor of several previous books, as well as the upcoming title on the Rough Rider, "Remembering Theodore Roosevelt: Reminiscences of his Contemporaries." He also hosts The Gilded Age & Progressive Era podcast. Find him at MichaelPatrickCullinane.com or on Twitter and LinkedIn.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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+. https://historyauthor.com/jeff-gottesfeld-twenty-one-steps-guarding-the-tomb-of-the-unknown-soldier/

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.

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. https://historyauthor.com/brook-allen-antonius-son-of-rome/

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. https://historyauthor.com/jim-leeke-the-best-team-over-there-the-untold-story-of-grover-cleveland-alexander-and-the-great-war/

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. https://historyauthor.com/louis-picone-grants-tomb-the-epic-death-of-ulysses-s-grant-and-the-making-of-an-american-pantheon/