America in Crisis and Healing
On December 4, 2021, I presented this lecture for the Sunrise Foundation in Honolulu. The remarkable Wally Fukunaga, my Princeton Theological Seminary classmate, founder and president of the [...]
Ronald C. White
On Great Fields
The Life and Unlikely Heroism of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain
To be published October 31, 2023
Before 1862, Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain had rarely left his home state of Maine, where he was a trained minister and mild-mannered professor at Bowdoin College. His colleagues were shocked when he volunteered for the Union army, but he was undeterred and later became known as one of the North’s greatest heroes: On the second day at Gettysburg, after running low on ammunition at Little Round Top, he ordered his men to wield their bayonets in a desperate charge down a rocky slope that routed the Confederate attackers. Despite being wounded at Petersburg—and told by two surgeons he would die—Chamberlain survived the war, going on to be elected governor of Maine four times and serve as president of Bowdoin College.
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How did a stuttering young boy come to be fluent in nine languages and even teach speech and rhetoric? How did a trained minister find his way to the battlefield? Award-winning historian Ronald C. White delves into these contradictions in this definitive, cradle-to-death biography of Chamberlain, from his youthful formation, his tenacious, empathetic military leadership, and his influential post-war public service, exploring a question that still plagues so many veterans: How do you make a civilian life of meaning after having experienced the extreme highs and lows of war?
Chamberlain is familiar to millions from Michael Shaara’s classic novel of the Civil War, The Killer Angels, Ken Burns’s miniseries, The Civil War, and Jeff Daniels portrayal of Chamberlain in the movie Gettysburg. In On Great Fields, White captures the complex and inspiring man behind the hero.”<em>Ronald C. White has given us a vital and vivid portrait of an unlikely military hero who played a key role in the preservation of the Union and therefore in the making of modern America. From his bookish days as a professor at Bowdoin to the fields of Gettysburg, Joshua Chamberlain was a man of principle and of action, a surprising officer whose conviction and courage made all the difference. A marvelous book.</em>”
—Jon Meacham, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle
Ronald C. White is available for select readings and lectures.
To inquire about a possible appearance with Ronald C. White, please contact Penguin Random House Speakers Bureau. Stasia Whalen: swhalen@penguinrandomhouse.com or phone: 212-782-9208.
Webinars
American POTUS Podcast
Lincoln: His Private Notes to Himself
With the Bark Off: Conversations from the LBJ Presidential Library
“We are attracted to Abraham Lincoln because for us, he seems to embody what America is all about.” A Conversation with Ron White
Events
Please note which events are virtual: 💻
I am signing personalized bookplates for each of these events.
2022 Events
The year 2022 will mark the bicentennial of the birth of Ulysses S. Grant.
In The News
Notes to Self – Lincoln’s private thoughts on fate, failure, slavery, and belief.
A conversation on Character and the Presidency in Grand Rapids on October 4 recorded by C-SPAN.
Leadership Lessons from Lincoln & Grant
Ronald C. White discussed what the lives and presidencies of Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant can teach us about leadership with the Library’s Colleen Shogan.
Books
Lincoln In Private
What His Most Personal Reflections Tell Us About Our Greatest President
Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain
Ronald White is writing a comprehensive biography of Chamberlain to be published by Random House in September 2023
American Ulysses
From the author of the New York Times bestseller A. Lincoln, a major new biography of one of America’s greatest generals—and most misunderstood presidents.
For Copyright and Permissions
If you wish to publish an excerpt from A. Lincoln, The Eloquent President or Lincoln’s Greatest Speech, please visit the Random House Copyright & Permissions Web Page.
From their website:
All published material by Random House, Inc. and its divisions is protected under copyright law. Written permission is required from the publisher if you wish to reproduce any of our material. All requests directed to Random House, Inc. must be made in writing, by mail or by fax. It is not our policy to grant permissions verbally, neither is it our policy to accept permission requests via e-mail. In addition, no requests are handled on a rush basis. If you wish to photocopy material for academic use, please contact: Copyright Clearance Center 222 Rosewood Drive Danvers, MA 01923 Phone: (978) 750-8400 Fax: (978) 750-4470 Click (here) to be directed to the Random House Copyright & Permissions Web Page.
