History Author Show

July 25, 1016 - This week, Hildegarde Mahoney shares her memoir, Journey Interrupted: A Family Without a Country in a World at War. In 1941, seven-year-old Hillie and her family left home in New York City and set off for their native Germany. They planned to take the safe and scenic route: Across the U.S., the Pacific, and Eurasia via the Trans-Siberian Railway. But then Hitler betrayed his allian...

July 22, 2016 - It’s History in Five Friday, presented by Simon & Schuster — kicking off your modern weekend, with people from the past. Today, we meet lifelong Shakespeare fan, industrialist Henry Clay Folger, who founded the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington D.C. to serve as the leading western research and education center on the famous playwright. We have a familiar passenger in our tim...

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. Have you ever wondered just how all those ancient Roman buildings are still standing even after thousands of years of wars, earthquakes, erosion, and encroaching modernity? Well, the secret to the durability of ancient Roman archit...

July 18, 2016 - This week, we strapping our time machine to a canal boat, and sail down the modern marvel of early American commerce: The Erie Canal. The 360-mile slash between Lake Erie to Albany, and down the Hudson River to New York Harbor isn't just one of engineers and back-breaking, dangerous manual labor, but of fascinating human drama and America itself. The book is Heaven's Ditch: God, Go...

July 15, 2016 - It’s History in Five Friday, presented by Simon & Schuster. Check them out at Facebook.com/HistoryInFive. Today, author Timothy H. Breen hits the road to trace the route of our first president. His book is George Washington’s Journey: The President Forges a New Nation. Aware of the fragile and fractured nature of the new republic after independence, Washington resolves — in a day w...

July 13, 2016 - Classical Wisdom Weekly -- bringing you ancient wisdom for modern minds -- joins us for this special episode. Van Bryan, Associate Editor of CWW, sits down with David Beardsley, author of The Journey Back To Where You Are: Homer’s Odyssey as a Spiritual Quest. It’s a unique book that seeks to reclaim the allegorical power of Homer’s masterpiece that was so important to the Classica...

July 11, 2016 - Today, we travel back in time to World War Two, and hear from a veteran who served on the front lines. Our guest is Roger Boas, and his book is Battle Rattle: A Last Memoir of World War II. It focuses not only on the fighting, but the scars it left on the inside. Roger Boas was born in San Francisco, 1921, so he's just five years from celebrating his centennial. That long life -- d...

July 8, 2016 - On Monday, July 11, 2016, we'll commemorate the tragic death of one Founding Father -- Alexander Hamilton -- at the hands of another, Vice President Aaron Burr. With "Hamilton: An American Musical" racking up Tonys on Broadway, the face on the $10 bill is more popular than he has been in 200 years. But in this episode, David O. Stewart introduces us to the man who pulled the trigger...

July 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. You might not believe it, but if it weren’t for Cicero, the United States might never have broken away from England. And if it weren’t for the philosopher, Epicurus,  it is possible that Thomas Jefferson might never...

July 4, 2016 - On this Independence Day, our time machine takes us out to the ball game, on a July 4th neither side of the Revolutionary War could possibly have envisioned during the conflict. The place is Chelsea, England. The time: The Great War. The book is titled, Nine Innings for the King: The Day Wartime London Stopped for Baseball, July 4, 1918. We've chatted previously with today's author,...

July 1, 2016 - It’s History in Five Friday, presented by Simon & Schuster. Check them out at Facebook.com/HistoryInFive. Today, author Stephen Coss discusses the first disease mankind wiped off the face of the earth: The scourge of Smallpox. Stephen’s debut book is The Fever of 1721: The Epidemic that Revolutionized Medicine and American Politics. In it, we meet historical figures including the yo...

June 29, 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. Palmyra is an ancient city in the Syrian desert, about 100 miles north of Damascus, which was snatched up by ISIS in late 2015.  On this episode, we look at the history of Palmyra.  Palmyra was, in the words of the...

June 27, 2016 - Today, we jump through the Guardian of Forever and into New York City during the American Revolution -- just in time for Independence Day 2016. Once there, we meet twelve-year-old Gabriel Cooper, an orphaned patriot who sets out to join the Continental Army. Our guest is Chris Stevenson, and his book is The Drum of Destiny, historical fiction for readers 9-12 years of age. You can...

June 24, 2016 – It’s History in Five Friday, presented by Simon & Schuster — check them out at Facebook.com/HistoryInFive. Today’s guest — journalist and political aide Sidney Blumenthal — casts a look back at the marriage of the Great Emancipator, and the woman who stood at his side. Through sickness, breakdowns, the Civil War, and loss, how did this couple endure? Blumenthal is the author of the...

June 22, 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. Let me ask you something. Are you happy? Do you feel happy? Is there a difference? Today we discuss some classical wisdom that gives us a rather unusual take on human happiness. You see, at least according to the A...

June 17, 2016 - It’s History in Five Friday, presented by Simon & Schuster. Today, author Clint Hill shares his eyewitness accounts and recollections during his time on the Secret Service detail of our commanders-in-chief. The book is titled, Five Presidents My Extraordinary Journey with Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, and Ford. Mr. Hill previously joined us to discuss his time as the Secret...

June 15, 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. What’s Greek for realpolitik? The best answer might be “Thucydides”. The man who has been given the title “Father of Political Realism” saw the greatest war of the classical age as a foregone conclusion, and endles...

June 20, 2016 - Our Monday, June 20th interview is with award-winning author Neal Bascomb. We're airing our conversation a few days early because his book -- The Winter Fortress: The Epic Mission to Sabotage Hitler's Atomic Bomb -- is a perfect gift for Father's Day. If you think the book might be right for Dad, History Author Show listeners can enjoy a free sample chapter of The Winter Fortress r...

June 13, 2016 - Today, we're spinning back in time to the days when America tore itself apart: The Civil War. But we'll be talking about a different sort of union, exploring the bond between the men who led the northern armies, and the women by their sides in Lincoln's Generals' Wives: Four Women Who Influenced the Civil War -- for Better and for Worse. With 70,000 books on the war produced since...

June 10, 2016 - It’s History in Five Friday, presented by Simon & Schuster. Check them out at Facebook.com/HistoryInFive. Today, award-winning journalist and author Andrew Nagorski casts a fresh look back at the great evil of Nazi Germany, in his critically acclaimed Hitlerland, and now on shelves: The Nazi Hunters. How do we deal with the legacy of everyday Germans, who turned to monstrous acts?...

June 8, 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. It’s the trial of the century, perhaps the millennium! Socrates is on trial for his life. His accusers would seem him dead, but the father of Western philosophy won’t go down without a fight. Your guide through the...

June 6, 2016 - Today, our time machine heads back to our show's past, serving up a special, all-new paperback interview with a familiar voice. Back in August of 2015, we kicked off the show with the words, "Three mules, two brothers, and a Jack Russell terrier named Olive Oyl." Our guest was Rinker Buck, and his book -- The Oregon Trail: A New American Journey -- recounted the trek he made with hi...

Jun 3, 2016 - It’s History in Five Friday, presented by Simon & Schuster -- check them out at Facebook.com/HistoryInFive. ` This coming Sunday, June 5th, America will mark the anniversary of Ronald Reagan's death in 2004 at the age of 93. Rick Perlstein -- best-selling author of Nixonland -- looks at how the destruction of the Watergate scandal shook America to its foundations, and seemed to creat...

June 1, 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. You might be familiar with the Trojan war and how the Trojan Horse swiftly put an end to the city of Troy. But what you might not know is what happened next. The Roman poet Virgil, picks up where Homer leaves off....

May 30, 2016 - In this episode, we're going to cast our eyes back at how we memorialize those we lose in wars, tragedies, terrorist attacks and public outrages. It's a delicate topic, but we owe it to people who've lost their lives to get it right. Our guest is Harriet F. Senie, author of Memorials to Shattered Myths: Vietnam to 9/11. Professor Senie is Director of the M.A. Program in Art History...