Megan Kate Nelson is an expert in the history of the American Civil War, the U.S. West, and popular culture. In fact, she’s such an expert that in 2021 she was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in History for her book, The Three-Cornered War: The Union, the Confederacy, and Native Peoples in the Fight for the Wes. Her new book, out this Spring, is called Saving Yellowstone and is about the historical context in which Yellowstone was discovered, preserved, and established as a national park.
As her website puts it, it is “a narrative of adventure and exploration, Saving Yellowstone is also a story of Indigenous resistance, the expansive reach of railroad, photographic, and publishing technologies, and the struggles of Black southerners to bring racial terrorists to justice. It reveals how the early 1870s were a turning point in the nation’s history, as white Americans ultimately abandoned the higher ideal of equality for all people, creating a much more fragile and divided United States.”
Recently Megan joined Bibliography to chat about the books she loves, the challenges of writing history, and much more. So if you love books of history, national parks, and adding to your to-be-read list be sure to tap that play button.
Graham Greene the Spy, with Christopher Hull
On the Work of the Regional Novelist, with David Joy
Callie Feyen on Teaching Shakespeare
The Summer Reading Episode
Paul Sahre, One of the World's Foremost Book Cover Designers
Discussing the 2019 Pulitzer Prize Finalists with John Wilson
Christian Kiefer on "Phantoms" and the Writing Life
Dostoevsky's Gambling Problem (featuring Dr. Jessica Hooten Wilson)
Eighth Day Book's owner, Warren Farha
The Tragic Story of A Confederacy of Dunces
On Sans Forgetica, a new font to aid memory retention
On the Best Film Adaptations of Books, with Jeffrey Overstreet and Steven Greydanus
Libromania Top 5: The Most Romantic Books
Matthew Zapruder, author of WHY POETRY, on life as a poet
Remembering Mary Oliver (with A.M. Juster and Allison Backous Troy)
Why Do We Love the Smell of Old Books?
S.D. Smith, Jonathan Rogers, & Douglas McKelvey talk process and vocation
Why "To Kill a Mockingbird" is America's most popular novel
The Year in Movies, with Jeffrey Overstreet
John Wilson on his favorite books of 2018
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