This October, I will be exploring a new way to share history, as the featured lecturer on a Chesapeake Bay cruise of the Yorktown.  The journey will start in Philadelphia, head to Annapolis and Maryland’s Eastern Shore, then the James River and Richmond, and finally finishing up at Mount Vernon and Alexandria.  The full itinerary, which will take eight days (from October 22d to the 29th) is here.

The Yorktown, for your cruising enjoyment

It’s startling how easily my three books fit in with the itinerary, especially since the sponsors want me to give three lectures.

• Starting in Philadelphia, we can contemplate The Summer of 1787 and the writing of the Constitution.
• Then Richmond conjures up visions on Aaron Burr’s treason trial in 1807, which took place at the State House; you can still stand in the same room where he argued for his life, as described in American Emperor.
• And we finish across the Potomac from Washington, where President Andrew Johnson’s impeachment trial, covered in Impeached, threatened to plunge the nation into a second civil war.

This will be my first turn as an onboard resource.  I’m hoping the passengers don’t grow weary of the act too quickly, and also am hoping for some spirited historical conversations over meals.  Since cruises tend to have 8 or 10 meals a day, that sounds like a lot of conversation.  As long as there’s wi-fi, I should be able to find out the answers to any tough questions if they give me a little time . . . .