A Publication of Humanities Tennessee

Fighting a Monstrous Injustice

By Chris Scott

February 21, 2012 As a young man in frontier Illinois, Abraham Lincoln became convinced that slavery was wrong. How to end the injustice, and whether to treat the former slaves as equal citizens, were questions Lincoln wrestled with for most of his life. These struggles are the subject of Eric Foner’s Pulitzer Prize-winning history, The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery. On February 23 at 6:30 p.m., Foner will give the Belle McWilliams Lecture in American History in the UC Theater at the University of Memphis.

Fighting a Monstrous Injustice

Adding On

By Chris Scott

November 9, 2011 In Lions of the West: Heroes and Villains of the Westward Expansion, bestselling novelist and historian Robert Morgan tells the true stories of the men who added the territories from the Appalachians to the Pacific, thereby making a country out of a continent. Morgan will discuss Lions of the West at 7 p.m. on November 14 at the Hodges Library on the University of Tennessee campus in Knoxville.

Living In a Gray Area

By Chris Scott

October 26, 2011 Court Gentry lives in a morally ambiguous world. In Ballistic by Memphis novelist Mark Greaney, the ex-CIA assassin brings his unique fighting skills to bear against some of the most violent people on earth—the Mexican drug cartels. The action is fast and deadly, and the shadows dark and deep, in this third outing for one of the thriller genre’s newest heroes.

The Pain of What Might Have Been

By Chris Scott

October 12, 2011 Charles Guiteau did much more than kill James Garfield. As Candice Millard explains in Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President, the deranged Guiteau deprived America of a potentially great president. Even in death Garfield inspired much of the reform that he advocated in his too-short term of office. His murder, Millard writes, “brought tremendous change to the country he loved—change that, had it come earlier, almost certainly would have spared his life.” Millard will appear at the 2011 Southern Festival of Books, held October 14-16 in Nashville. All events are free and open to the public.

Getting to Know A. Lincoln

By Chris Scott

September 26, 2011 Writing a compelling new biography of a subject as monumental as Abraham Lincoln is a remarkable achievement. Ronald C. White Jr. has done just that with A. Lincoln, a universally praised new look at one of the most important figures in world history. The biography is both detailed and accessible, and White recently took the time to answer questions from Chapter 16 via email about what makes Lincoln so fascinating. White will give a lecture about the Civil War on September 26 at 5:30 p.m. at Montgomery Bell Academy in Nashville. The event is free and open to the public.

Getting to Know A. Lincoln

The Wonder of Her Smile

By Chris Scott

August 16, 2011 In Stealing Mona Lisa, first-time novelist Carson Morton takes readers to the heart of Belle-Époque Paris to participate in a notorious art heist with a cast of lovable rogues. Morton will read from the book at Barnes & Noble Booksellers in Brentwood on August 18 at 7 p.m. He will also appear at the 2011 Southern Festival of Books, held October 14-16 in Nashville.

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