CWW: American Founding Fathers and the Classics

07/06/16 • 7 min

History Author Show

Previous Episode

Jim Leeke – Nine Innings for the King: The Day Wartime London Stopped for Baseball – July 4, 1918

July 4, 2016 - On this Independence Day, our time machine takes us out to the ball game, on a July 4th neither side of the Revolutionary War could possibly have envisioned during the conflict. The place is Chelsea, England. The time: The Great War. The book is titled, Nine Innings for the King: The Day Wartime London Stopped for Baseball, July 4, 1918. We've chatted previously with today's author, Jim Leeke, about his Civil War novel for young adults: Matty Boy. Jim is a contributor to the Society for American Baseball Research Baseball (SABR) Biography Project, the writer or editor of several books on U.S. and military history, and the creative director of Taillight Communications. We'll also be hearing about the Anglo-American Baseball Project. It's an ambitious plan to recreate the King's Game for its centennial: July 4, 2018. Pitch in to help at AABaseball.org, or by following Jim @9Innings4King on Twitter. For more on baseball players in the Great War, enjoy our interview with Charles Leerhsen, author of the award-winning, Ty Cobb: A Terrible Beauty. Cobb -- the victim of malicious slander falsely depicting him as a selfish, belligerent racist -- not only signed up to serve his country, he enlisted in the dangerous chemical warfare unit rather than a cushy behind-the-lines job. In the aftermath of the Brexit vote, the special relationship between the United States and Britain as trading partners will have real-world impacts on millions of people around the globe. In a small, early way, the King's Game started us off then, to where we stand now, shoulder to shoulder in good times and bad, with George Washington honored with a statue in London, gazing straight at the Parliament against which he rebelled.

Next Episode

David O. Stewart on American Emperor – Aaron Burr: The Man Who Shot Alexander Hamilton

July 8, 2016 - On Monday, July 11, 2016, we'll commemorate the tragic death of one Founding Father -- Alexander Hamilton -- at the hands of another, Vice President Aaron Burr. With "Hamilton: An American Musical" racking up Tonys on Broadway, the face on the $10 bill is more popular than he has been in 200 years. But in this episode, David O. Stewart introduces us to the man who pulled the trigger. Mr. Stewart is president of the Washington Independent Review of Books and author of American Emperor: Aaron Burr's Challenge to Jefferson's America. And since we are looking ahead to the 212th anniversary of the Burr-Hamilton Duel, those of us in the Greater New York City area won't want to miss the annual gathering at the Hamilton Memorial overlooking the Weehawken Dueling Grounds in New Jersey, just across the Hudson from Manhattan. The Alexander Hamilton Awareness Society (AHA!) will commemorate the event at 6PM, with the theme of Celebrating the New Generation of U.S. Currency. Douglas Hamilton, 5th great-grandson of Alexander, will speak at the Hamilton Memorial Bust, a year after his successful call to preserve Alexander's place of honor on the $10 bill. If you can't get enough of our charismatic first Treasury Secretary, enjoy our previous interview with Stephen F. Knott, co-author with Tony Williams of Washington & Hamilton: The Alliance that Forged America. You can also find the man of the hour in our previous chat with David O. Stewart about Madison's Gift: Five Partnerships that Built America. We also sat down with Daniel L. Mallock on his book, Agony and Eloquence: John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and a World of Revolution. And if you're still hungry for more, visit the Old '76 House with us in Tappan, New York, the oldest bar and restaurant in the U.S. where Alexander Hamilton lived upstairs and Benedict Arnold's British conspirator was held before his execution. We also shared history news of our own: Amanda has earned a James Madison Memorial Fellowship. The scholarship that will enable her to complete a master's degree in history with a focus on Constitutional studies. She's also been noodling with producing a film series on visiting the key year of 1787. You can book your ticket at Facebook.com/PastimeSeries, and visit the period in print through David O. Stewart's: The Summer of 1787: The Men Who Invented the Constitution. Hamilton was so much more than the man who "wound up on the wrong end of a gun," as the Allman Brothers Band sang it, and Aaron Burr was so much more than man who pulled the trigger. Thanks to David O. Stewart for joining to paint the full picture of the man who would be American Emperor.