New Books in Biography

Interviews with Biographers about their New Books

Society & Culture
History
1651
Tim Brady, “His Father’s Son: The Life of Gener...
Tim Brady’s book His Father’s Son: The Life of General Ted Roosevelt, Jr. (NAL, 2017) is not just the biography of the eldest son and namesake of America’s 26th president, but an account of a life that was adventurous and consequential in its own right...
73 min
1652
Helen Rappaport, “Victoria: The Heart and Mind ...
The term historical fiction covers a wide range from what the mystery writer Josephine Tey once dubbed “history with conversation” to outright invention shading into fantasy. But behind every story set in the past lies the past itself,
55 min
1653
Paul McKenzie-Jones, “Clyde Warrior: Tradition,...
Clyde Warrior was a Ponca Indian who in the 1960s was one of the founders of the “Red Power” movement for the rights of Native Americans. While his name may not be as well-known as that of other civil rights leaders of that decade,
60 min
1654
Melissa Sweet, “Some Writer! The Story of E.B. ...
Readers of all ages know E. B. White’s work. Charlotte’s Web is the first book many children are read aloud. Elements of Style remains an essential reference book. Almost everyone has a favorite writing by White: his legendary essays; his humorous New ...
46 min
1655
David Shafer, “Antonin Artaud” (Reaktion/U Chic...
“Artaud lived with his neck placed firmly in the noose.” -Bauhaus* David Shafer’s new biography, Antonin Artaud (Reaktion Books and the University of Chicago Press, 2016), situates the life of this enigmatic and fascinating figure in historical context...
59 min
1656
Owen McGee, “Arthur Griffith” (Merrion Press, 2...
As the founder of Sinn Fin and a leading architect of Irish independence, Arthur Griffith ranks as one of the founding fathers of modern Ireland. In his book Arthur Griffith (Merrion Press, 2015), Owen McGee offers a biography of the writer and patriot...
67 min
1657
Matt Houlbrook, “Prince of Tricksters: The Incr...
How should we understand the interwar years in Britain? In Prince of Tricksters: The Incredible True Story of Netley Lucas, Gentleman Crook (University of Chicago Press, 2016) Matt Houlbrook, Professor of Cultural History at the University of Birmingha...
40 min
1658
Bill V. Mullen, “W.E.B. Du Bois: Revolutionary ...
Born just five years after the abolition of slavery, W. E. B. Du Bois died the night before Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his I Have a Dream speech at the March on Washington in 1963. In the many decades between, W. E. B.
50 min
1659
Jane Eppinga, “Henry Ossian Flipper: West Point...
The remarkable story of Henry Ossian Flipper, a young man born into slavery on the eve of the Civil War, and his struggle for recognition left its mark on our nations history. Through extensive research of military documents, court records, appeals,
34 min
1660
Jeremy Adelman, “Worldly Philosopher: The Odyss...
Although defined throughout his professional career as a development economist, Albert O. Hirschman’s intellectual scope defied classification. In Worldly Philosopher: The Odyssey of Albert O. Hirschman (Princeton University Press,
66 min
1661
Colin Holmes, “Searching for Lord Haw-Haw: The ...
During the Second World War millions of Britons tuned in nightly to hear the broadcasts of Lord Haw-Haw coming from Nazi Germany. Though the label was broadly applied to a number of English-speaking broadcasters,
50 min
1662
Scott Donaldson, “The Impossible Craft” Literar...
Admiring books that appeal to our hearts and souls, rather often we want to know more about the writers who create them. If a book is a dialogical and communal entity–as readers we also participate in interpreting what we read,
55 min
1663
Michelle Markel, “Hillary Rodham Clinton: Some ...
Michelle Markel, an award-winning author and former journalist who has written for The Wall Street Journal and Los Angeles Times, talks about books she’s written about two strong and brave women Clara Lemlich and Hillary Rodham Clinton.
37 min
1664
Daniel Moran,”Creating Flannery O’Connor: Her C...
Daniel Moran’s Creating Flannery O’Connor: Her Critics, Her Publishers, Her Readers (University of Georgia Press, 2016) provides a compelling investigation of how O’Connor’s initial reputation of a Southern female writer over the years evolved into her...
43 min
1665
James D. Boys, “Hillary Rising: The Politics, P...
James D. Boys is the author of Hillary Rising: The Politics, Persona, and Policies of a New American Dynasty (Biteback Publishing, 2016). Boys is an associate professor of international political studies at Richmond University.
18 min
1666
John Bew, “Clement Attlee: The Man Who Made Mod...
As Labour Party leader, member of Winston Churchill’s governing coalition during the Second World War, and prime minister of the epochal postwar government that established the welfare state, Clement Attlee played a decisive role in the history of mode...
74 min
1667
Claudia Kalb, “Andy Warhol was a Hoarder: Insid...
All humans endure their private struggles, but rarely do we know what troubles our most famous public figures until now. In her recent book, Andy Warhol was a Hoarder: Inside the Mind of History’s Great Personalities (National Geographic, 2016),
56 min
1668
Robert Matzen, “Mission: Jimmy Stewart and the ...
Jimmy Stewart has a well-deserved reputation as one of the major stars of the classic film era. Yet his life was greatly affected by his experiences as a bomber pilot in World War II. Robert Matzen, author of the book,
65 min
1669
April Dammann, “Corita Kent: Art and Soul: The ...
Sister Mary Corita, IHM (1918-1986), was a beloved artist and teacher whose role as the rebel nun continues to inspire contemporary audiences. Corita joined the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in 1936 when she was just eighteen years old,
41 min
1670
Debbie Levy, “I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Ma...
Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has spent a lifetime disagreeing with inequality, arguing against unfair treatment, and standing up for what’s right for people everywhere. I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Makes Her Mark (Simon and Schuster,
41 min
1671
Thomas Aiello, “The Battle for the Souls of Bla...
Thomas Aiello is associate professor of history and African American studies at Valdosta State University. In The Battle for the Souls of Black Folk: W.E.B. Du Bois, Booker T. Washington, and the Debate that Shaped the Course of Civil Rights (ABC-CLIO,...
42 min
1672
Gail Hornstein, “To Redeem One Person Is to Red...
The life of the German-born, pioneering American psychoanalyst, Frieda Fromm-Reichmann, is intriguing enough in itself, but in the biography, To Redeem One Person Is to Redeem the World: The Life of Frieda Fromm-Reichmann (Other Books, 2005),
57 min
1673
Richard Bourke, “Empire and Revolution: The Pol...
Richard Bourke, Professor in the History of Political Thought in the School of History at Queen Mary University of London, began developing his history of Edmund Burke’s political thought in 1991. Empire and Revolution: The Political Life of Edmund Bur...
46 min
1674
Marc Raboy, “Marconi: The Man Who Networked the...
Our modern networked world owes an oftentimes unacknowledged debt to Guglielmo Marconi. As Marc Raboy demonstrates in Marconi: The Man Who Networked the World (Oxford University Press, 2016), it was he who pioneered the concept of wireless global commu...
65 min
1675
James Carl Nelson, “I Will Hold: The Story of U...
Best remembered as the nineteenth commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps, Clifton B. Cates began his long and distinguished military career as a second lieutenant in World War I. In I Will Hold: The Story of USMC Legend Clifton B. Cates,
41 min