Monday, May 18, 2015

Author Spotlight: David McCullough

By Jeff Burns

David McCullough is one of the leading historians in America today, a multiple times winner of the Pulitzer Prize in history and the National Book Award.  He was also awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest award that a civilian can receive.  He is also an accomplished narrator and lecturer.

His work includes highly acclaimed Presidential biographies Truman and John Adams, both Pulitzer Prize winners and both adapted into TV productions by HBO.  Mornings on Horseback is a fascinating account of seventeen years in the early life of Theodore Roosevelt.  1776 focuses on that pivotal year of independence and revolution, especially the life and leadership of George Washington.



However, he’s not just a presidential historian.  His most current book, just released recently, is   The Wright Brothers, which tells the story of the first flight with the same attention to detail that one expects from a McCullough book.   HBO and Tom Hanks just acquired the rights to produce a film based The Wright Brothers.   Other McCullough works include The Great Bridge, about the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge, and The Path Between the Seas, about the building of the Panama Canal. The Greater Journey is the story of prominent 19th century Americans who spent time in Paris and how that time affected and influenced their later achievements in life.   His first book is about one of the greatest natural disasters in American history, The Johnstown Flood.


 

For more information about McCullough’s books and short interview clips go to this site http://authors.simonandschuster.com/David-McCullough/938 .

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