History Author Show

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Jim Foley – Church of the Presidents in Long Branch, N.J. May 22, 2017

Show notes

May 22, 2017 - This week, our time machine visits a small Jersey Shore town with big White House history. The spot is The Church of the Presidents in Long Branch, a spot where seven commanders-in-chief vacationed in the Gilded Age. They started coming to the beach with the man who crushed the Confederacy, General Ulysses S. Grant, and continued through five of the next six -- Rutherford B. Hayes, James Garfield, Chester A. Arthur, Benjamin Harrison, and William McKinley. The last man to attend services, also served as New Jersey governor: Thomas Woodrow Wilson. In the Victorian Era, the sea air was believed to have such rejuvenating powers, that President Garfield was brought to a cottage across from the Church of the Presidents, after being shot by the unhinged Charlie Guiteau. Unfortunately, the cure failed, and Garfield died nearby on September 19, 1881. Presiding over this week's journey is Jim Foley, president of the Long Branch Historical Museum Association, headquartered at the Church of the Presidents. You can read more about their work to preserve the history of this New Jersey history gem, at ChurchOfThePresidents.org, and keep tabs on their historical events such as their cocktail party fundraiser in August 2017, by liking their Facebook page.

Gene Barr – A Civil War Captain and His Lady: Love, Courtship, and Combat from Fort Donelson through the Vicksburg Campaign May 15, 2017

Show notes

May 15, 2017 - This week, for our 100th interview, our time machine visits some of the most heated fighting -- political and on the battlefield -- during the American Civil War. We'll experience the great conflagration through the eyes of a soldier and his young love, whose father just happens to be a Democratic state senator, who begins to doubt Lincoln's war effort as it drags on year after year. Letters aren't rare from the American Civil War. But what is rare -- very rare -- is to have both sides of a correspondence preserved. Into this historical void steps today's guest, Gene Barr, who benefited from the chance discovery of love letters from young Jennie Lindsay and her soldier in Union blue, Irish immigrant Josiah Moore. This treasure-trove also included pictures, and gives us a full picture of a romance that adds tremendously to the historical record. Gene Barr's book is, A Civil War Captain and His Lady: Love, Courtship, and Combat From Fort Donelson through the Vicksburg Campaign. You can find him on Twitter @GeneBarr_55, or at Facebook.com/JosiahAndJennie.

Greg Flemming – At the Point of a Cutlass: The Pirate Capture, Bold Escape, and Lonely Exile of Philip Ashton May 08, 2017

Show notes

May 8, 2017 - This week, our time machine hoists the Jolly Roger, that notorious black flag with a skull and crossbones that sent shivers down the spine of God-fearing men and woman on the high seas. Shortly after we set sail, we'll meet Massachusetts fisherman Philip Ashton, whose capture and escape from pirates, earned him status as America’s real-life Robinson Crusoe. We'll also cross swords with Ashton's nemesis, the pirate Edward Low. He's forgotten today, but in the 1720's, Low surpassed even the infamous Blackbeard, capturing more plunder and killing more people -- often after horrifically torturing them first. Our captain on these treacherous seas is Greg Flemming, author of Boston Globe bestseller, At the Point of a Cutlass: The Pirate Capture, Bold Escape, and Lonely Exile of Philip Ashton. You can get to know him by paying a visit to GregFlemming.com, @Flemming_Greg, or Facebook.com/Point of the Cutlass.

David A. Nichols – Ike and McCarthy: Dwight Eisenhower’s Secret Campaign against Joseph McCarthy May 01, 2017

Show notes

May 1, 2017 - This week, our time machine touches down at the height of the Red Scare, in the Oval Office of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, whose public stance of ignoring Senator Joseph McCarthy's descent into demagoguery -- refusing even to mention his name -- has long been cited by historians as proof that the old World War Two general just didn't care. Some even dared call the former Supreme Allied commander, a coward. After his death, Ike's strategy would be revealed and dubbed "the hidden hand." He felt that to attack McCarthy straight-on would raise his statue within the Republican party and the nation, and ultimately be counterproductive. The book that sets the record straight is Ike and McCarthy: Dwight Eisenhower's Secret Campaign against Joseph McCarthy, by David A. Nichols, a leading expert on the Eisenhower presidency. You can dig into our guest's other works and thoughts on history, on Twitter @DavidANichols8.

Barbara Stark-Nemon – Even in Darkness: A Novel Apr 24, 2017

Show notes

April 24, 2017 - This week's episode airs on Holocaust Remembrance Day, and features debut novelist Barbara Stark-Nemon's ambitious novel, Even in Darkness. Spanning a century and three continents, Barbara tells the story of her real-life great-aunt, Kläre Kohler, from early years in a prosperous German-Jewish family, through an adulthood of love, two World Wars, a concentration camp, and an unconventional life in post-war Germany. Barbara earned an undergraduate degree in English literature and Art History -- and a Masters in Speech-language Pathology -- from the University of Michigan, which led to a teaching and clinical career. But all along, she's wanted to tell a story -- and readers are fortunate that she did, as evidenced by the stack of awards Even in Darkness has racked up since publication. You can find our guest at BarbaraStarkNemon.com, @BStarkNemon on Twitter, and Facebook.com/StarkNemon.

Richard Schwartz – The Man Who Lit Lady Liberty Apr 17, 2017

Show notes

April 17, 2017 - This week, our time machine attends the Gilded Age performances of a man who heralded the Borscht Belt, Vaudeville, and paved the way for performers from Mel Brooks to Barbra Streisand and Jerry Seinfeld. He did so by performing Jewish characters -- for the first time -- with dignity, humor, and emotional depth. Born in 1849, M.B. Curtis gained worldwide fame -- and as an immigrant himself, reached into his own pocket to illuminate the Statue of Liberty when the U.S. government wouldn't foot the bill. Our guide on this journey is Richard Schwartz, author of the previous works Earthquake Exodus, 1906; Eccentrics, Heroes, and Cutthroats of Old Berkeley; The Circle of Stones: An Investigation of the Circle of Stones in Stampede Valley, Sierra County, and, Berkeley 1900. Visit him at RichardSchwartz.info. Thanks to singer-songwriter Val Hovik for supplying the original song Liberty Shine off his Listen to Me Now Album. If you dig the tune, pick up the single or the Album on Amazon, visit ValHovik.com.

Robert Lloyd George – A Modern Plutarch: Comparisons of the Greatest Western Thinkers Apr 03, 2017

Show notes

April 3, 2017 - This week, our time machine compares some of the Western world's big thinkers. Centuries ago Plutarch, the Father of Biography, wrote Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans to reveal new insights about their careers by making comparisons. Robert Lloyd George applies this method to our time in A Modern Plutarch: Comparisons of the Greatest Western Thinkers, using the United States and United Kingdom, in place of Greece and Rome. Mr. Lloyd George is the great-grandson of David Lloyd George, who served as Britain's prime minister during the Great War, was the architect of its social welfare system, and led the redrawing of maps after the Armistice. Modern listeners may have seen our guest's extensive writings on global economics across the East-West divide, and may have read his previous books including David and Winston, contrasting his great-grandfather with Churchill.

Timothy Boyce – From Day to Day: One Man’s Diary of Survival in Nazi Concentration Camps Mar 27, 2017

Show notes

March 27, 2017 - This week, our time machine goes inside a succession of Nazi Concentration camps, and views them through the great Norwegian statesman, Odd Nansen. Editing Nansen's diaries -- written painstakingly and smuggled out of the camps -- is Timothy J. Boyce, and the resulting book is From Day to Day: One Man's Diary of Survival in Nazi Concentration Camps. As a friend of Norway's royal family and son of a prominent anti-Quisling voice, the Gestapo snatched Odd as a hostage in an effort to keep patriot insurgents in check. If you heard my interview with Neal Bascomb, author of The Winter Fortress: The Epic Mission to Sabotage Hitler’s Atomic Bomb, you know that Norway holds a special place in our hearts, especially as it relates to their valiant resistance during the war.

Jack Barsky – Deep Undercover: My Secret Life and Tangled Allegiances as a KGB Spy in America Mar 20, 2017

Show notes

March 20, 2017 - This week, we meet a man born Albrecht Dittrich in East Germany, who infiltrated the U.S. as a KGB agent at the height of the Cold War -- and in the decades since, Barsky's life has taken all the twists and turns you'd expect from a fictional spy thriller. From ardent communist to patriotic American citizen. From unquestioning atheist, to agnostic, to the witnessing Christian he is today. Jack's book is literally like no other. It's titled, Deep Undercover: My Secret Life and Tangled Allegiances as a KGB Spy in America. Learn more about his story at JackBarsky.com.

Dr. Anna Keay – The Last Royal Rebel: The Life & Death of James, Duke of Monmouth Mar 13, 2017

Show notes

March 13, 2017 - This week, we step into the Tardis, and travel back in time to a United Kingdom facing a rebellion in the late 1600s. The leader of this uprising to seize the crown is Charles II's illegitimate son, James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth. He's the sort of figure we love: One wronged by generations of falsehoods, until a dedicated historian tells the true story. That author is Dr. Anna Keay, and the book that sets the record straight is The Last Royal Rebel - The Life & Death of James, Duke of Monmouth. Dr. Keay earned her PhD on court ceremonial in the reign of Charles II at the University of London, and is director of the Landmark Trust, a charity that rescues historic buildings and turns them into places for all of us to holiday among the memories of our past. You can find her at AnnaKeay.co.uk or @AnnaLandmark on Twitter, and plan your next holiday in the past, at the Landmark Trust.

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