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Arthur Garfield Hays was one of the twentieth century’s most influential attorneys. A champion of free speech and civil liberties, he fought prohibition, housing discrimination, and censorship, while taking part in some of the era’s most significant civil rights cases. He was also an early opponent of Hitler and Nazism, helping defend the communists accused of setting the Reichstag fire in 1933. Despite his remarkable career, no book had focused exclusively on Hays’s legal work until now. On this episode of the History Tavern Podcast, I welcomed Richard F. Hamm, author of the new book Confronting Racism: Arthur Garfield Hays and the Fight for Equality, 1925-1954. This was a particularly special interview for me. Professor Hamm served as the chair on my dissertation committee and is one of the best advisors in the history field.

Follow the paper trail of a Civil War veteran's brutal death in 1901, near the Soldiers' Home in Bath, NY.

George Boutwell was a state legislator, the youngest Governor of Massachusetts, the first commissioner of the internal revenue, congressman, treasury secretary, and US senator. He was also a staunch antislavery advocate, close ally of Abraham Lincoln, and champion of black civil rights. Throughout his seven decades of public service, Boutwell left an unmistakable mark on American history. How is it then that you’ve likely never heard of him? In the latest episode of the History Tavern Podcast, I spoke with Jeffrey Boutwell about his new book Boutwell: Radical Republican and Champion of Democracy.

Churchill Archives Centre Director Allen Packwood talks about his new book Churchill's D-Day: The British Bulldog's Fateful Hours During the Normandy Invasion. Countless historians and commentators have criticized Churchill arguing the British Prime Minister delayed and obstructed the plans for the Normandy invasion. Packwood and co-author General Richard Dannatt, offer a fresh perspective on Churchill’s experiences and actions leading up to D-Day.

Matthew Christopher Hulbert dropped by the History Tavern to talk about his book Oracle of Lost Causes: John Newman Edwards and His Never-Ending Civil War. John Newman Edwards was a popular newspaperman and a historian who grew up devouring heroic tales of knights and soldiers. He was also a Confederate and unapologetic supporter of the Confederate and Southern cause long after the Civil War ended.

Kylie Hulbert dropped by the History Tavern to talk about her book The Untold War at Sea: America's Revolutionary Privateers. Lacking a functioning Navy, the Continental Congress turned to privateers to wage war against the British on the high seas. In covering their story, Hulbert highlights the global nature of the struggle for American independence and the cultural exchanges produced by the war.

David Gellman talked about his book Liberty’s Chain: Slavery, Abolition, and the Jay Family of New York.

William Blair talked about his new book The Record of Murders and Outrages: Racial Violence and the Fight Over Truth at the Dawn of Reconstruction where he examines the role the Freedmen's Bureau played investigating widespread racial violence across the South during Reconstruction.

Kent Masterson Brown talks about Meade's actions during the Gettysburg campaign and his abilities as an operational commander.

Emancipation was an uncertain process and one that enslaved people had to pursue throughout the Civil War. Or as Embattled Freedom author Murrell Taylor writes, "Freedom had to searched for and found." In this special re-released episode, listen to my discussion with Amy Murrell Taylor at the 2019 Civi War Institute Summer Conference.

Dr. Jeanne Abrams talked about her book A View From Abroad: The Story of John and Abigail Adams in Europe. John and Abigail's time in Europe helped define what it meant for them to be American. They detested the excesses of European aristocracy and the rule of a hereditary monarch. Instead, the were unwavering republicans.

In 1946, World War II vets took a stand against the corrupt political machine that ran their small Tennessee town for over a decade. In order to restore democracy, the vets had to take up arms against the government and ultimately won the first armed rebellion since the Revolution.

Dr. David J. Silverman talked about his book This Land is Their Land: The Wampanoag Indians, Plymouth Colony, and the Trouble History of Thanksgiving.

Dr. Paul Finkelman discussed the debates over slavery at the Constitutional Convention, Thomas Jefferson’s legacy as a slaveowner and perpetuator of slavery, and the roles John Marshall, Joseph Story, and Roger Taney played in protecting slavery as justices on the United States Supreme Court.

Dr. Gary Gallagher talked about his new book The Enduring Civil War, the way Civil War history is covered, monuments, his favorite Civil War movies, and much more.