Washington’s Secret War; The Worst Hard Time; Manhunt; Lincoln’s Melancholy
Washington’s Secret War
In his new book, Washington’s Secret War: The Hidden History of Valley Forge, historian Thomas Fleming explores the private battles George Washington fought while leading the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War. Larry talks with Fleming about the struggles that define the battle at Valley Forge as a pivotal moment in the war as well as a turning point for General Washington.
The Worst Hard Time
In his new book, The Worst Hard Time, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Timothy Egan captures the untold story of the Dust Bowl; the brutal dust storms that ravaged the American High Plains during the Depression. Larry talks with Egan about the decade when more than a quarter million Americans were forced to flee their ruined homes because of these blinding black blizzards.
Manhunt
At 10:13pm on April 14th 1865, John Wilkes Booth burst into Abraham Lincoln’s box at Fords Theatre, and shot the President with a single bullet. Many of us remember that much about the American history we were taught in school. But what happened after Booth leapt from Lincoln’s box onto the stage proclaiming “Sic semper tyrannis” and “The South is avenged” and raced through the streets of Washington? Larry talks with James Swanson about his new book, Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer, which details the days following the tragedy.
Lincoln’s Melancholy
President Lincoln suffered two breakdowns before his fortieth birthday. A recent book establishes that Lincoln in fact suffered from clinical depression (called “melancholy” in those days), and tried medical treatments for it, including drugs. However, the book’s author argues that the struggles the President went through to weather his own suffering gave him strength in the face of adversity, as well as several other qualities that served him as he led the nation though one of its greatest crises, the Civil War. In honor of President’s Day, Larry speaks with Joshua Wolf Shenk, author of Lincoln’s Melancholy: How Depression Challenged a President and Fueled His Greatness.