News and Reviews
The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum interviewed me and former Kippenheim resident Kurt Maier as part of a public program to mark publication of The Unwanted. Kurt was a 10-year-old boy when he was deported from Kippenheim to Gurs in France in October 1940, together with his family. The Maier family was fortunate to receive the "piece of paper with a stamp" that enabled them to travel to the United States in August 1941, following a roundabout odyssey via Marseille and Casablanca. The conversation was led by Michael Abramowitz, president of Freedom House. See the YouTube video above, and photograph of Kurt and me below. The New York TV program, Richard French Live, interviewed me about the Jewish refugee crisis triggered by the rise of Hitler. The first question was about the voyage of the St. Louis. See below.
Great reviews for The Unwanted from The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and the book blogs. A selection:
"A heartbreaking and timely read"--The Washington Post "Echoes our politics today..provides a glimpse of how we may be judged by future generations"--The New York Times "A devastating tapestry of too many hopes wrecked and too few lives saved"--The Wall Street Journal For more quotes, go here, and see Bookmarks box below. |
I was delighted to learn that the XVIII Airborne Corps is using One Minute to Midnight as a teaching tool, describing it as "the foremost book on the Cuban missile crisis." They asked me on to their "Doomsday Clock" podcast to describe the flaws in the U.S. invasion plan for Cuba in October 1962. You can listen here.
Apple Podcasts (History This Week) featured One Minute to Midnight and an interview with me in an episode that focuses on the events of Black Saturday, October 27, 1962. Everything you need to know about the Cuban Missile Crisis boiled down to 28 minutes! Click here to listen.
The National Archives in Washington D.C. is a great venue for authors. I was delighted to accept their invitation to talk about The Unwanted, having spent many productive hours researching the book at their facilities around the country (including the FDR Library at Hyde Park, and the research rooms in College Park.)
During my trip to Atlanta as part of the publicity tour for The Unwanted, I was interviewed by Lois Reitzes, host of NPR City Lights. We talked about my research into the expulsion of German Jews to France in October 1940, and my reasons for focusing on the village of Kippenheim. You can listen to the interview here.
C-Span invited me to discuss parallels between JFK's handling of the Cuban missile crisis and President Trump's nuclear showdown with North Korea. See also my article for The Washington Post on this subject. "Out-crazying Kim Jong Un is a scary proposition. Game theory teaches us that, if neither driver swerves, everybody goes up in flames." Yahoo News interviewed me on the decision-making style of John F. Kennedy. It was part of a 13-part series on modern-day presidents from Franklin Roosevelt to George W. Bush, entitled "When Presidents Lead." Other speakers included Doris Kearns Goodwin on FDR, Evan Thomas on Dwight Eisenhower and Richard Nixon, and Lou Cannon on Ronald Reagan. You can see my contribution here.
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