larson. i've read all of his works. this is a great book, sort of almost a minute-by-minute description of what happened to the lucetania. and it's very dramatic and it goes back and forth between, you know what's happening in europe and what's happening in washington with president wilson and what's happening to the passengers on the ship. their stories. it's really a great read, well, well written and i think really brings that piece of history in 1915 back to life. really and really makes it very human. it's not cold history. these are real human beings we can relate to who often lost their lives sadly, on the lucetania. great story. the illustrious dead is all about how typhus actually really was responsible for destroying napoleon's army in the invasion of russia. a lot of people thought it was the cold or it was the russian

army. all of those things didn't help, but the real killer was typhus. the sanitary conditions of the day simply didn't allow them to protect themselves against this bacterium, and it was devastating. really devastating. napoleon lost more than 90% of his army in the invasion of russia, and a lesson -- by the way -- that, obviously, a century later, a scenery and a half later adolf hitler did not attend to to his regret. a friend of mine elizabeth barron, actually grew up across the street from me, dr. elizabeth barron, and she wrote a great book on appomattox. and it's sort of a revisionist history of what really the outcome of ap mat docks how robert event lee used and misused the agreement at ap

maddox to foster sort of resegregation, resuppression of black americans after the union won civil war and slavery was supposed to be over. they essentially invoked the free spite of ap -- free spirit of appomattox. robert e. lee had been indicted after the war, and he invoked appomattox and insisted that u.s. grant invoke the agreement they had had to protect robert e. lee. he remained to his death, very reprobate on the issue of slavery in the south. this is a pretty, you know, penetrating and compelling reassessment of how appomattox and what the meaning of appomattox was intercepted by the south -- interpreted by the south and ultimately, by the north, really did damage for the

next 09 years in terms -- 90 years in terms of race. this book is a look at the reign of henry viii. those who are fans of st. thomas moore who had been the chancellor of englander under henry 6:00 and was -- henry viii thomas caronwall is the instrument of both securing the divorce and arguing for the separation of the church in england from the church in this rome and, ultimate hi, for thomas moore's demise as well. ultimately ironically, thomas cromwell lost his head as well. but it's a maybe more sympathetic portrayal of a very skilled statesman a very skilled manager who managed the kingdom of england for henry viii but who also is responsible for the destruction of the

monasteries, the break up of church holdingsing and property and, ultimately, the severance of the relationship between england and the church of rome. and some of the real depravations occurred under the reign of henry viii. great read and this is the single best biography i've ever read of napoleon by andrew roberts, and in one volume it is a stupendous read and very accessible read about who napoleon was and his triumphs and his failures. he won almost all of his battles, but unfortunately ones he lost were pretty dispositive. he was a brilliant statesman a brilliant manager, a brilliant general but who kind of toward the end, i think maybe because

hubris kind of lost sight of his own techniques, his own lessons learned and ultimately, he were turned against him. but this is a great read and a real a reappraisal and reassessment of the importance of napoleon even down to modern history. great read must read. scott berg wrote this wonderful biography on woodrow wilson, also a bit of a reappraisal. wilson, you know, had this mix of incredible progressive record in the white house, especially in his first term. statesman during world war i but also certainly, a retrograde attitude toward race relations in america. and, but it's a great balanced read and ultimately, one appreciates sort of that progressive moment that woodrow wilson most certainly took advantage of to the benefit of america, in my view. great single-volume biography of

woodrow wilson. this book thirteen days in september by lawrence wright, i love this book because it humanizes diplomacy. it talks about the camp david accords and the 13 days anwar sadat and prime minister begin of israel and jimmy carter spent together -- not always harmoniously -- at camp david and how that process worked out. personalities, history fears anxieties, stresses mistrust, the role of interlocutor by the president, jimmy carter. jimmy carter put a lot on the table including his own reputation. and it worked. and the camp david accord, to this day, remains the only lasting peace accord in the middle east. and jimmy carter deserves a lot of credit, as do the other two apartments as well. but -- participants as well. but if you want to see at human levels how diplomacy works great, great book. ought to be read by every

graduate school that studies international studies. another biography walter isakson on benjamin franklin, a wonderful biography. i mean, benjamin franklin comes through these passengers as a very -- pages as a very contemporary man. we would relate to him easily based on the portrayal in this book. and on balance, this is a great man, great vision. lived a long life, had many episodes to that life as a political figure in pennsylvania as a political figure on behalf of the colonies in europe as a political figure back with the declaration of independence, back to europe representing now the confederacy of america during the revolutionary war then comes back and actually serves as a key figure in the constitutional convention helping to save the day really for that constitutional convention and arguing for it in what was a very close thing in the approval of the constitutional convention in the 13 states.

benjamin franklin: bigger than life figure, quintessential american homespun, shrewd, smart, entrepreneurial represents so much of the american character. this is a wonderful biography. and finally "dying every day." i happen to love ancient roman history. this book is all about the roman poet seneca who was sort of the artist in residence at the court of nero and sort of the odd juxtapositions between this thoughtful man, seneca, and this tyrant nero, and how he tried to survive in that time period while being, on the other hand, a very senior adviser to nero. and it was a very tricky business. so it's a great piece of roman history about a very controversial and not easy relationship and a very, a very

easy and great read if you like ancient roman history, as i do. so that's my summer reading if more now and i hope to be back next year with an equal number of recommendations. >> and booktv wants to know what you're reading this summer. tweet us your answer, @back t or you can --@booktv. >> up next on booktv lewis gordon talks about the life and philosophy of france fanon, author of "the wretched of the earth." finish. [background sounds]

>> so, good evening. welcome, all to book culture for tonight's event. my name's roger berkovitz i'll be moderating. we're here tonight to talk about and to celebrate the publication of lewis gordon's book, "what fanon said: a philosophical instruction to his life and thought." it's an honor for me to have -- to be one of the series editors at university press that published this book and i'm excited to have the conversation tonight. i'm going to introduce the speakers as they go along and as they're going to speak. we have a large group of people who are going to comment on the book. i've asked them each to speak for about five minutes and then conc