Public Programs

Book Talks

The Unvanquished: The Untold Story of Lincoln’s Special Forces, the Manhunt for Mosby’s Rangers, and the Shadow War That Forged America’s Special Operations

by Patrick K. O’Donnell

Thursday, January 16, 2025 | 7 p.m. ET | Virtual
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Author and historian Patrick O’Donnell describes irregular guerrilla warfare that altered the course of the Civil War and inspired the origins of America’s modern special operations forces. This was a vital shadow war that raged amid and away from the major battlefields that was in many ways equally consequential to the conflict’s outcome. O’Donnell focuses on Lincoln’s special forces, the Jessie Scouts, and their deadly contest with Confederate partisans from 1863-65.

Patrick K. O’Donnell has written 13 critically acclaimed books, including “The Indispensables: The Diverse Soldier-Mariners Who Shaped the Country, Formed the Navy, and Rowed Washington Across the Delaware,” and “Washington’s Immortals: The Untold Story of an Elite Regiment Who Changed the Course of the Revolution.”

Register for “The Unvanquished” virtual Book Talk


Till the Extinction of This Rebellion: George Rogers Clark, Frontier Warfare, and the Illinois Campaign of 1778–1779

by Eric Sterner

Thursday, February 20, 2025 | 7 p.m. ET | Virtual
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Author Eric Sterner continues his research and writing into the often over-looked western theater of the Revolution War. His latest book focuses on the frontier campaigns of Virginia’s George Rogers Clark of 1778–79, in what was known as the Illinois Country, and their effect on the War of American Independence.

Eric Sterner earned a BA from American University and two MAs from George Washington University. He worked in the defense and aerospace field, serving on the staff of two Congressional committees and in the Department of Defense and as a NASA Associate Deputy Administrator. He is the author of “Anatomy of a Massacre: The Destruction of Gnadenhutten, 1782” and “The Battle of Upper Sandusky, 1782.”

Register for the “Till the Extinction of This Rebellion” virtual Book Talk


Backcountry War: The Rise of Francis Marion, Banastre Tarleton, and Thomas Sumter

by Andrew Waters

Thursday, March 20, 2025 | 7 p.m. ET | Virtual
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Using background biographies of Francis Marion, Banastre Tarleton, and Thomas Sumter, author Andrew Waters offers a thorough sketch of the British “Southern Strategy” in the Revolutionary War. “Backcountry War” offers a fresh perspective on an extraordinary chapter of American history and a compelling account of the deadly contest between three of the destructive war’s most charismatic leaders.

Andrew Waters is a writer, editor, and conservationist. He is the author of “To the End of the World: Nathanael Greene, Charles Cornwallis, and the Race to the Dan” and “The Quaker and the Gamecock: Nathanael Greene, Thomas Sumter, and the Revolutionary War for the Soul of the South.”

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