see my friends. people say where do you go? i go into a whole. when i'm doing research i really kind of disappear so i'm happy to reemerge and see my friends see my family. that is the immediate project. >> thank you so much. [applause] thank you all for coming. the book is available in the gift shop right up there and she has graciously agreed to sign some books. feel free to come up if you have a book already. ♪ ♪

booktv recently visited capitol hill to ask members of congress what they are reading this summer. >> first deadweight eric larson. i've read all of his works. this is a great book almost a minute by minute description of what happened to the lusitania and it's very dramatic and goes back and forth between what is happening in europe, what's happening washington and what is happening to the passengers on the ship. there are stories. it's really a great read well-written and i think really brings that piece of history back to life.

and really makes it very human. these are real human beings we can relate to who often lost their lives sadly on the lusitania. a great story. the illustrious dead is all about how tight this really was responsible or destroying napoleon's army and name invasion of russia. a lot of people thought it was the cold war the russian army. all of those things didn't help that the real killer was ifas. the sanitary conditions of the day simply didn't allow them to protect themselves against this bacterium and it was devastating devastating, really devastating. napoleon lost more than 90% of his army in the invasion of russia a lesson by the way that obviously a century later a century and a half later it off hit earlier did not attend tutus

regret. a friend of mine elizabeth bear and grew up across the street from me. she's a historian at the university of virginia and she wrote a great book on appomattox. it's sort of a revisionist history in my view and a correct one about what the outcome of appomattox how the south used and misused the agreement of appomattox to posture sort of a resegregation re-suppression of black americans after the union won the civil war and slavery was supposed to be over. they essentially invoked the free spirit of appomattox as meaning that none of them should be prosecuted for crimes. rather they have been indicted after the war and he insisted that the u.s. grant invoke the agreement they had to protect

robert e. lee. property leaped to his death reminds very reprobate on the issue of race in the south. he has the view in some versions of history but this is a pretty penetrating and compelling reassessment of how appomattox and the meaning of appomattox was determined by the south and ultimately by the north. it really did damage for the next 90 years in terms of race in america. this book thomas cromwell by tracy borman is a reappraisal of the controversial and historic figure during the rain of henry viii. those who are fans of st. thomas more the chancellor of england under henry viii and ultimately nick as he would not read to the remarriage of henry viii did and poland who also lost her head he was the answer me that both securing the divorce and arguing

for the separation of the church in england from the church up from and ultimately for thomas morris decide -- demise as well. ultimately thomas cromwell lost his head as well that may be more sympathetic portrayal of a very skilled statesman and a very skilled management who managed the kingdom for an rate eight to eight but also is responsible for the destruction of the monasteries the breakup of church property and ultimately this severance of the relationship between england and the church of rome. some of the deprivations that occurred under henry viii. he coincidently comes out as people are watching public radio also about thomas cromwell. this is the single best biography i have a read on napoleon called napoleon by

andrew roberts. 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 the ones he lost were pretty dispositive. he was a brilliant statement, a brilliant general but to kind of toward the end i think because of hubris kind of lost sight of his own techniques, his own lessons learned and ultimately they were turned against him. this was a great read and a reappraisal and reassessment of the importance of napoleon even down to modern history. a great read create scott burke wrote this wonderful biography on woodrow wilson also of the reappraisal. wilson had this mix of

incredible progressive record in the white house especially in his first term. statesmen during world war i but also certainly a retrograde attitude towards race relations in america. but it's a great balanced read and ultimately one appreciates the progressive moment that woodrow wilson moser clay took advantage of to the benefit of american might be. a great single volume biography of woodrow wilson. this book 13 days of september by lawrence wright i love this book because it humanizes diplomacy. talks about the camp david accords for 13 days on war sadat and jimmy carter spent together not only -- always harmoniously at camp david. personalities history fears anxiety stress is mistrust the role of interlocutor by the

president. jimmy carter put a lot on the table including his own reputation and it worked. the camp david accord to this day remains the only lasting peace accord in the middle east. jimmy carter deserves a lot of credit as to the other two as well. if you want to see how inhuman levels diplomacy works, a great look. in graduate schools and international studies. another biographer walter isaacson on benjamin franklin an american life. a wonderful biography. benjamin franklin comes to these pages is a contemporary man. we would like to have had easily based on the portrayal of this book. on balance this is a great band great vision lived a long life had many episodes 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 and then comes back and serves as a key figure in the constitutional prevention helping to save the day really for that constitution and arguing for it. it was a very close thing in the 13 states. benjamin franklin bigger than life figure quintessential american homespun shrews smart entrepreneurial represents so much of the american character. this is a wonderful biography. finally dying every day. i happen to love ancient history in this book by james rom is about the roman poet seneca who was sort of the artist in

residence in the court of neuro neuroand the odd juxtapositions between this awful man seneca and this tyrant nero and how he tried to survive in that time period while being on the other hand it very senior adviser to nero. it was very tricky business so it's a great piece of roman history about a very controversial and not not easy relationship and a very easy and great read if you like ancient roman history as i do. that's my summer reading for now and i hope to be back next year with an equal number of recommendations. ..