December 11, 2015 As Allyson Hobbs reveals in her fascinating history, A Chosen Exile, black people endured great loss when they “passed” as white. Hobbs will discuss her book at the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis on December 17, 2015, at 6 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.
December 10, 2015 In his new biography, Alex Haley and the Books That Changed a Nation, Robert Norrell not only chronicles the life of a fascinating author but also reveals how The Autobiography of Malcolm X and Roots shaped our thinking about African-American history and culture.
November 13, 2015 Basketball has helped to define Barack Obama, both as a person and as a president. In The Audacity of Hoop, veteran sportswriter Alexander Wolff explores the man, the sport, and his era. Wolff will discuss and sign his new book at the John Seigenthaler Center at Vanderbilt University in Nashville on November 17, 2015, at 6 p.m. The reading will be preceded by a reception at 5:30 p.m. Both events are free and open to the public.
November 5, 2015 Peter Guralnick’s Sam Phillips: The Man Who Invented Rock ‘n’ Roll not only recounts the musical titans who passed through Sun Records but also explores the ideas and experiences of its iconoclastic hero. Guralnick will discuss the book at the Brooks Museum in Memphis on November 11, 2015, at 7 p.m. and at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville on November 14, 2015, at 1:30 p.m.
October 27, 2015 Archaeologist Eric H. Cline tackles one of ancient history’s great questions in 1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed. Cline delivers the Sesquicentennial Lecture in History at the University Center Theater at the University of Memphis on Nov. 5, 2015, at 6 p.m.
September 16, 2015 In Once in a Great City: A Detroit Story, David Maraniss weaves together the city’s key stories during the early 1960s: Ford’s unveiling of the Mustang, the liberal dreams of labor leaders and politicians, the civil-rights movement and its discontents, and the glory of Motown. Maraniss will appear at the Southern Festival of Books, held in Nashville October 9-11, 2015.
