U.S. History
The Wit and Wisdom of Aaron Burr
In my current work on the conspiracy of former Vice President Aaron Burr in 1805-07, I am constantly coming across epigrams that flowed from the pen of Burr. I will cram as many as I can in the book. Until then, I have resolved to share them in this forum. So, for our first entry,…
Read MoreNovember 19: Can we handle the truth?
Next Thursday at lunchtime, I try something entirely new: a joint public appearance with my wife, Nancy Floreen, member at-large of the Montgomery County Council! We’ll be at the Literary Luncheon series of the Friends of the Library of Montgomery County, at Strathmore Hall Mansion in North Bethesda, MD. The fun starts at 11:30 a.m.…
Read MoreC-SPAN Posts National Archives Talk on Impeached
On September 23, I spoke about Impeached to a terrific audience at the National Archives, which C-SPAN taped and then broadcast last weekend on C-SPAN 3. The video is now posted on the web, for your viewing pleasure.
Read MoreOn the Road Again . . .
Summer’s over when it’s time to go out and hustle books. So this Thursday (Constitution Day!) I’ll be at St. Mary’s College in southern Maryland at 4:30, speaking on The Summer of 1787. Then it’s back to Impeached, which will be my topic next Wednesday, September 23, at the National Archives in DC, at noon. …
Read MoreImpeachment Season
We started this year of impeachment with Governor Blago in Illinois. Then federal Judge Sam Kent in Houston went down. And now Gov. Mark Sanford of South Caroline — he of the Appalachian Trail euphemism — may be next up on the impeachment hit parade. My musings on this impeachment surfeit are at Huffington Post.
Read MoreReconstruction, Andrew Johnson and the South
In the last several weeks, I have talked about my book, Impeached, before several groups in the South: Altanta, Lexington (KY), Nashville, Memphis. I was somewhat anxious about these appearances. After all, The book (and my talks) are highly critical of Southern policies towards the freed slaves.immediately after the Civil War. I also take a…
Read MoreBook TV, Saturday, July 11
On Saturday, July 11, at 1 p.m., C-SPAN’s Book TV will air a panel discussion on the Civil War that I participated in last month at the Printers Row Book Festival in Chicago. I was talkiing, naturally enough, about Impeached. The other panelists were Tom Campbell, who has done an interesting book about abolitionists in…
Read MoreStranger than Fiction
I caught a remarkable movie last night on Turner Classic Movies: “The Baron of Arizona.” It tells the tale of James Addison Reavis, a swindler in the class of Bernie Madoff. In the late nineteenth century, Reavis claimed much of the state of Arizona under a bogus Spanish land grant. Several points in the story…
Read MoreForgetting History, California Style
Sure, he was scrawny and not real good-looking, but Thomas Starr King was a giant in California in the turbulent 1860s. And he’s about to be thrown out of the U.S. Capitol — my objection is at Huffington Post.
Read MoreRiding Two Horses at Once
It’s fairly sweet to have my book mentioned in a review of someone else’s book — even if I’m not entirely sure what to think of the description of The Summer of 1787 as a “novelistic narrative. ” It happened in this morning’s NYT Book Review, and even in the second paragraph of the review,…
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