Past Events
Previous events and lectures include:
2020
CWRTDC’S UPCOMING MEETING ON NOVEMBER 10, 2020
VIA ZOOM
DONALD L. MILLER
speaks about
“Vicksburg: Grant’s Campaign That Broke the Confederacy”
Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2020
6:00 pm ET: Social Zoom
6:30 pm ET: Presentation
VIA ZOOM
Meeting URL:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/8869422793
Meeting ID: 886 942 2793
(a password will be sent to via a separate email)
About the Topic:
Vicksburg was the last stronghold of the Confederacy on the Mississippi River. It prevented Union forces from using the river for shipping between the Union controlled Midwest, New Orleans, and the Gulf of Mexico.
The Union navy tried alone to take Vicksburg, which sat on a high bluff overlooking the river, but it failed. It took both Grant’s army and Admiral David Dixon Porter‘s navy to successfully invade Vicksburg, forcing the city to surrender.
Donald Miller tells the full story about the year-long campaign to win the city. In the course of the campaign, tens of thousands of slaves fled to the Union lines, where more than 20,000 became soldiers. Others seized the plantations where they had been forced to work, destroying the economy of a large part of Mississippi and creating a social revolution.
Grant’s success at Vicksburg — which he himself called “the most important battle of the war” because it sealed the fate of the Confederacy — solidified his reputation as the Union’s most capable general.
About the Speaker:
Donald L. Miller is the John Henry McCracken Professor of History Emeritus at Lafayette College and is the author of 10 books, which include not only Vicksburg; Grant’s Campaign That Broke the Confederacy, but also Masters of the Air: America’s Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany, which is being made into a television series by Tom Hanks, Steven Speilberg and others.
Mr. Miller has also hosted, co-produced, or served as historical consultant for more than 30 television documentaries, including the series, A Biography of America, on PBS. In addition, he has appeared on numerous PBS programs in the American Experience series, as well as on programs on the History Channel.
Other books Mr. Miller has authored include the prize-winning City of the Century: The Epic of Chicago and the Making of America; The Story of World War II in the Pacific; and D-Days in the Pacific. He has also written articles for the New York Times, the Washington Post, and other publications.
October 29th History Book Festival
Live interactive book talk through Lewes Public Library
August 19, 2020 from 2-3pm
2019
1944 Allied Air Campaigns in Europe presented by C-SPAN
November 22, 2019
The Historic Rotunda at American Ancestors
99-101 Newbury Street, Boston
November 12, 2019 6:00 PM–7:00 PM, followed by book signing
$37.50 includes seat and signed book ($35, retail)
$12.50 general admission
Easton Book Festival
11:00AM
October 26, 2019
Sigal Museum, 342 Northampton Street, Easton, PA 18042
Easton Book Festival is a new, annual indoor literary festival for adults and children, with readings, seminars, panel discussions, luncheons and dinners.
Lemuria Books First Editions Club
5:00pm (signing), reading at 5:30pm
October 28, 2019
Lemuria Books, 202 Banner Hall, 4465 I-55 North, Jackson, MS 39206
Non-fiction first editions club joint event with Donald L. Miller and S.C. Gwynne.
C-SPAN Author Discussion on the Civil War
October 29, 2019
Historic New Orleans Collection
6:00-7:30pm
October 29, 2019
410 Chartres Street New Orleans, LA 70130
The Historic New Orleans Collection will host historian Donald L. Miller, in collaboration with The National WWII Museum, as he discusses his new book Vicksburg: Grant’s Campaign that Broke the Confederacy (Simon & Schuster, 2019), at the Williams Research Center on Tuesday, October 29. Vicksburg delves into the battle that defined control of the Mississippi River during the Civil War, sparked a social revolution that transformed the racial order of Louisiana and Mississippi, and handed commander Ulysses S. Grant a career-defining victory.
This program will be readers’ first opportunity to purchase the book, which has been well received by Kirkus Reviews, Booklist, Publishers Weekly, and more. John M. Barry, author of Rising Tide, praised the title, saying “This is a magnificent book, certainly one of the very best ever written about the Civil War. It has breadth and depth, and it is written in a way that makes the reader truly understand not only the battle and siege of Vicksburg, not only the Civil War, but war itself.”
Following the presentation, Miller will sign copies of the book, which retails for $35. This program is free and open to the public, and reservations are required. Register online, or call (504) 598-7146 to get your free ticket. All unclaimed tickets will be released to the general public at 5:55 p.m.
Book Signing – Square Books
5:30pm
October 29, 2019
Off Square Books, 129 Courthouse Sq, Oxford, MS 38655
Book Signing – Turnrow Books
5:30pm
October 31, 2019
American Civil War Museum
7:30pm – 8:30pm
November 5, 2019
Fountain Bookstore, Inc., 1312 E Cary St, Richmond, Virginia 23219
Atlanta History Center
7:30pm
November 6, 2019
130 West Paces Ferry Road NW, Atlanta, GA 30305
Smithsonian: Evening Program with Book Signing
6:45pm; Members: $20, Non-Members: $30
November 7, 2019
S. Dillon Ripley Center, 1100 Jefferson Dr SW, Washington, DC
Metro: Smithsonian (Mall exit)
American Ancestors & New England Historic Genealogy
6:00pm – 7:00pm, followed by a book signing; $37.50 – seat and signed book, $12.50 – general admission
November 12, 2019
99 – 101 Newbury St. | Boston, MA | 02116
Join Dr. Donald L. Miller and guest moderator Cathal J. Nolan. This hour-long event includes a talk by the author and a moderated Q&A session, followed by a meet-the-author book signing.
Abraham Lincoln Book Shop, Inc.
VIDEO INTERVIEW
Airdate: Nov 13, 2019 @ 12:00 PM CST
Daniel Weinberg talks with Donald Miller about his book, Vicksburg: Grant’s Campaign That Broke the Confederacy.
Pritzker Military Museum
6:00pm; Tickets: Members- FREE, Non-Members- $10
November 14, 2019
104 S. Michigan Ave. Chicago, IL 60603
Vicksburg National Military Park
10am, Book Signing at 11am
November 20, 2019
3201 Clay St, Vicksburg, MS 39183
Vicksburg National Military Park is proud to host Donald L. Miller author of “Vicksburg: Grant’s Campaign That Broke the Confederacy.” Mr. Miller is also the author many acclaimed books such as City of the Century: The Epic of Chicago and the Making of America, Lewis Mumford, A Life, and Masters of the Air.
A presentation of Mr. Miller’s work on the Vicksburg Campaign will take place at the Visitor Center auditorium at 10:00 AM, followed by a book signing meet and greet in the visitor center’s lobby at 11:00 AM.
The Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library
2pm-4pm
November 21, 2019
Mitchell Memorial Library: Campus of MSU, 395 Hardy Rd, P.O. Box 5408
Mississippi State, MS 39762-5408
Savannah Book Festival
February 14-16, 2020
121 Barnard St, Savannah, GA 31401
In its 13th year, the Savannah Book Festival has distinguished itself as one of the premier invitation-only, solo author events in the United States and has attracted a wide range of media attention. C-Span/Book TV covers the Festival Saturday live along with local, regional and national print, TV and radio coverage.
2018
December 13, 6:30pm to 8:30pm Prohibition Holiday Soiree
Cooper Union, Federick P. Rose Auditorium, New York, New York
Join the Art Deco Society of New York for their annual holiday event featuring an illustrated talk by Donald Miller, author of Supreme City: How Jazz Age Manhattan Gave Birth to Modern America, as well as a special prohibition themed reception and book signing by Donald Miller.
For tickets and more information visit the Art Deco Society website.
May 3-10, Masters of the Air: A WWII Museum Signature Journey London and surrounding areas, United Kingdom
Join renowned historian and best-selling author Donald L. Miller, PhD, on Masters of the Air: The Mighty Eighth over the Skies of Europe. Masters of the Air is a story of life in wartime England, in bombed-out London, and in the tiny hamlets, these brash young Americans completely transformed. In East Anglia, many airmen fell in love with British girls they met in the local pubs, and over 45,000 American servicemen brought home English brides after the war. The beautiful countryside and stately manor homes give way to the remains of air bases, some of them with their control towers still visible on the skyline.
For more information about the trip itinerary and book visit National WWII Trip Website.
Here is a preview of the tour by your guide, Donald Miller:
June 5, Conference on World War II in Film Liberty University, VA
Donald Miller will be the keynote speaker at this conference focused on World War II in film. There will be a wide array of topics creating a forum for collegial discourse with scholars and students from various perspectives and academic disciplines.
For more information about the conference, or to submit a paper, contact David L. Snead at the History Department of Liberty University dlsnead@liberty.edu.
2017
September 25-October 3, WWII Museum Tours Homepage
Through the National WWII Museum, Professor Miller led a trip from Normandy through Paris to the Huertgen Forest focusing on the lives of the reporters of WWII during some of the most significant battles.
June 23, Pooler, Georgia
Professor Donald Miller made an appearance at a special showing of the HBO documentary “He Has Seen War,” put on by the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force where he answered questions and discussed the documentary at length.
March 15, Colony Club, New York City
Professor Donald Miller will be the guest speaker at the inaugural event of the “Woodlawn in the World” a charity event for the Woodlawn Cemetary in the Bronx which is a historic cemetery filled with many of New York City’s finest architects, politicians, business moguls, and celebrities.
2016
December 4, Honolulu, Hawaii
At the 75th Anniversary of Pearl Harbour Symposium and Tour Professor Donald Miller will be giving a lecture on December 4th, the fourth day of the tour, while touring the Wheeler Army Airfield and Hickam Field.
November 18, New Orleans, Louisianna
Professor Donald Miller will be speaking with HBO producer Kirk Saduski in a talk called He Has Seen War discussing the production of Miller’s book Masters of the Air into 10 part HBO mini-series at the International Conference on World War II.
October 21, St. Louis, Missouri
Professor Donald Miller will be the keynote speaker during the dinner ceremony of the 8th Air Force Historical Society 42nd Reunion.
October 8th, Tuscan, Arizona
Miller was the guest speaker at the 95th Bomb Group reunion and rededication of the 95th Bomb Group Memorial Room in the Prima Air and Space Museum.
May 6th-12th, WWII Museum Tours Homepage
Through The National WWII Museum Professor Donald Miller lead a seven-day tour through England focusing on the heroic story of the US Eighth Air Force and their fight against Nazi Germany.
2015
October 7th, Atlanta History Center
Donald Miller gave a lecture at the Atlanta History Center about his book Masters of the Air. He also discussed the process of adapting the book into an HBO miniseries on the Eighth Air Force.
July 26th-August 1st World War II Museum
Professor Miller taught a seminar called “The Story of World War II” at the World War II Museum at New Orleans. This event is part of a series of Teacher’s Seminars held by the Gilder Lehrman institute.
March 6th University Club, NYC
Professor Donald L Miller spoke on the theme “The Making of a Book” at a dinner forum at New York’s prestigious University Club. One of the first speakers in the history of the forum was Winston Churchill. Other speakers in this year’s dinner forum series are Supreme Court Justices Anthony Scalia and Ruth Bader Ginsberg.
Miller was the keynote speaker at the National Warbird Operator’s Conference in New Orleans.
Sunday, February 15th Savannah Book Festival, 4:10pm
Close to Savannah’s heart is Donald L. Miller’s bestselling book Masters of the Air: America’s Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany. Miller writes the riveting history of the American Eighth Air Force in World War II. He serves on the Board of Trustees for the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force in Savannah.
The Savannah Book Festival Inc. (SBF) is an independent, nonprofit corporation led by a volunteer board of directors. SBF hosts best-selling and emerging authors in special events throughout the year, including a four-day Presidents Day weekend event that features talks by dozens of authors. The 2015 Savannah Book Festival will be held Feb.12-15, 2015, in locations in and around Telfair, Wright and Chippewa Squares in Savannah’s Landmark Historic District.
See full schedule of events here
2014
Wedneday, October 22nd Baltimore, MD: Pratt Library, 7:00 PM
Donald Miller’s new book, Supreme City, is the story of Manhattan’s growth and transformation in the 1920s and the brilliant people behind it. Chronicling the era immortalized by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Miller shows how Midtown Manhattan was transformed into the entertainment and communications center of New York and a business district that rivaled Wall Street.
Donald Miller is the bestselling author of nine books, the John Henry MacCracken Professor of History at Lafayette College in Pennsylvania, and one of the most respected authorities on World War II and U.S. history. His book on Chicago, City of the Century, was the basis for an award-winning PBS series of the same name, and another PBS documentary, Victory in the Pacfic, was based in part on his book D-Days in the Pacific. HBO is currently making his book Masters of the Air: America’s Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany into a miniseries produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks.
LOCATION: Central Library, Poe Room 400 Cathedral Street, Baltimore, MD
Wednesday, September 24th Rotary Club, Desales University, PA 6:30PM
Spend your evening with author and historian Donald L. Miller. He is author of Masters of the Air: America’s Bomber Boys Who Fought The Air War Against Nazi Germany. He is currently working with Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks to create an HBO mini-series based on the book.
The event begins at 6:30 pm with a reception, including wine and light hors d’oeuvres. After the lecture there will be a book signing with coffee and dessert.
LOCATION: Desales University, 2755 Station Ave., Center Valley, PA 18034
Monday, September 22nd Barnes & Noble-Bethlehem, PA, 7:00 PM
Donald L. Miller, professor of history at Lafayette College, will read from and sign his book, Supreme City: How Jazz Age Manhattan Gave Birth to Modern America. “History told through the lives of its richest, most famous and most flamboyant citizens.”
LOCATION: Southmont Center, 4445 Southmont Way, Easton, PA 18045
Thursday, September 18th Chicago: Chicago History Museum, 7:00 PM
To understand big city politics, one must first understand big city crime. Join historians Donald L. Miller, author of Supreme City, and Jonathan Eig, author of Get Capone, for a conversation with the Museum’s John Russick about the particular conditions in New York City and Chicago that gave rise to organized crime. Rather than avoiding the ties between Prohibition-era gangsters and big city politicians, Miller and Eig used archival material—newspapers, trial transcripts, witness interviews, and records from the NYPD and FBI—to recreate these powerful characters and the vivid world they shaped, controlled, and defined.
Cost: $15, $10 members Purchase tickets
Reception and Book Signing for Members
Thursday, September 18, 6:00–7:00 p.m.
Members of the Museum are invited to a preprogram reception and book signing with Donald L. Miller, Jonathan Eig, and John Russick.
Cost: Free, but reservations are required. Cash bar available
Wednesday, September 17th Chicago Art Deco Society, 6:30 PM
LOCATION: Roosevelt University, Congress Lounge, 2nd Floor, 420 S. Michigan Ave. Chicago, Illinois
REVIEW: Katherine Gage, The Roosevelt Torch
More past events:
New York City Public Library
Museum of the City of New York & Art Deco Society
Harvard Club of NYC
Historical Society
Skyscraper Museum (watch the lecture)
Browse about Books: Rehoboth Beach, DE