a conversation with pulitzer prize-winning annette gordon- reed. she became the first african- american to in -- african- american to win for "the hemingses of monticello." also tonight, a conversation with rhythm-and-blues singer kem. he just kicked off a u.s. tour in support of his latest cd, " intimacy." >> all i know is his name is james, and he needs extra help with his reading. >> i am james. >> yes. >> to everyone making a difference -- >> thank you. >> you help us all live better. >> nationwide insurance supports tavis smiley. with every question and every answer, nationwide insurance is proud to join tavis in working to improve financial literacy and remove obstacles to economic empowerment, one conversation at a time. >> nationwide is on your side >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> annette gordon-reed is a professor at harvard who became the first african-american to win the pulitzer prize for her book "the hemingses of monticello." the new book is part of the american president series. good t

>> please join me in thanking annette gordon-reed. [applause] >> annette gordon-reed is a history and law professor at harvard university, the author of the hearings is of monticello. his book -- her book on andrew johnson is part of the american president series. .. >> after his fall during the height of his power and his presidency. so that interested me. because i think that these final journeys of lincoln and davis are as important as other great american journeys like lewis and clark or even the journey to the moon because it created so many myths about what america is and what our history is. i don't think the civil war's over. we still discuss the issues that lincoln and davis argued about, and i thought about doing one book about each of these stories, one about the lincoln funeral train and the package gent and another about the -- pageant and another about the davis escape. lincoln would often visit georgetown alone, and as i walked that path that abraham lincoln walked, i realized as i looked to my left one of the sons of je

. >> please join me in thanking annette gordon-reed. >> she's a history profession. she's the author of "the helmingson's of monticello." her book is part of the president series. to find out more visit americanpresidentsserious.com. >> you are watching booktv on c-span2. 48 hours of nonfiction books every weekend. >> on february 16th of this year, the borders bookstore group declared bankruptcy. joining us on booktv to discuss the impact of this bankruptcily is sara wynnman who is news editor of publishers place. how did they get to the point to declaring bankruptcy? >> i think it's been a long time in coming. as quarter after quarter, borders have been losing money, they've also gone through a number of management changes, especially at the top. they've gone through i think something like four ceos in the last four years. but this story can also date back to the beginning of the 21st century, i suppose. things like outsourcing their web site to amazon in 2001, and they didn't reclaim it until 2008. their ebook strategy was never at the same level as say amazon with

. >> coming up next pulitzer prize-winning author annette gordon-reed presents a biography of the 17th president of the united states, andrew johnson. ..