[applause] >> host: joining us on booktv, bill bryson, one summer in america, 1927. why 1927?> guest: well, i had always been fascinated by the fact that -- i just had it in mind that maybe it would be interesting to try to do a dual biography of these two guys with a meeting in the summer of 1927. that was my first thought. then when i began looking into what else happened in the summer of 1927, i found those were only just two tiny parts. there was all kinds of other stuff happening in the summer. the great mississippi flood. the biggest natural disaster in american history. and you had al capone beginning -- the beginning of the end of al capone, and the end of prohibition. the information that it was coming to an end. you had the -- building mt. rushmoore, and coolidge announced he did not run for re-election. for reasons that are still slightly mystifying. henry ford had a madid -- a madid to build a city. so this book came not just looking at these two figures, baby ruth and lindbergh but looking at everything that was happening. it was kind of frenetic amount of activit