The Age of Jackson and Rebel Bulldog

I have a deep love of history, both personally and professionally.  When I was in graduate school, while my cohort was encouraged to find a topic and area to specialize in, I was told by more than one professor that while that was necessary, we needed to be trained and cross trained in different areas of history. As such, though I was trained to be an American Historian, specializing in 20th century US History -- I was also cross trained in 19th century US, Indiana, Global/Transnational, and Religious History as well. That training has served me well, allowing me to teach a wide variety of classes and to indulge that love of history by reading and thinking broadly about the past.

Earlier this semester, I started listening to the Age of Jackson podcast, done by Daniel Gullota. It is a wonderful podcast, bringing historians together to talk about their books or important books about the Jacksonian period in American History (roughly the 1810s-1840s). One day this Fall, I happened to see a Twitter post from the podcast asking for book recommendations for future episodes. I contacted Daniel about the possibility of including Rebel Bulldog on the podcast. We chatted about how a book about the Civil War could fit into the Age of Jackson. While I made a good argument, I think what ultimately helped to win him over was Governor Noah Noble and the Beechers!  :) 

A few weeks ago, Daniel and I talked for over an hour on the phone. The interview was lots of fun to do and was wide ranging -- talking not just about the themes of the book, but also the process of researching and writing history. It was a great deal of fun. And so, I am very proud to have Episode 52 of the Age of Jackson podcast be on Rebel Bulldog.  My thanks to Daniel and I hope you enjoy listening to us discuss Rebel Bulldog!

Disney Walk In

We are currently in the midst of registration for next semester, a semester that will see me offer the Disney class for the third time. I'm of course pleased that students want to take the class -- it's filled again and has a wait list already, and we still have several days left for registration.

And that is, of course gratifying.  But even more so was something that happened today at the office.  The father of one of a Butler student came in to see me unannounced. His purpose was to get my book on Disney autographed. His family, like ours has a "Disney Problem," his daughter happened to see my book in the campus bookstore, and sent him a picture.  As he was visiting on campus today, he bought a copy and came by to see me.  We had a pleasant chat and he walked out with a signed edition of Dis-History!

World Cat and Dis-History

Today, so they say, is National Cat Day.  Now it is true that we don't have any cats, and it is also true that it seems like any group can claim that it is "national _____ day" with relative ease, but it is for sure true that today, Dis-History made it officially onto World Cat, the online library information search engine.  So, while I won't be celebrating any cats in my house, I will be thanking Ceaderville University for its purchase of Dis-History and for entering the following description:

"Dis-history is the term used by the author to describe the influence that Walt Disney and the Disney company has had on modern American culture. This book specifically focuses on the Disney theme parks role in shaping that culture." 

As the Fall semester begins to wind down, and we prepare for the Spring, and with it, the return of my Disney and American Culture class, this is welcome news indeed!

Prohibition in Greenfield

Tonight I had the good fortune of talking about my very first book, Prohibition is Here to Stay, at the Hancock County Public Library in Greenfield, Indiana.  It was a pleasure to be the guest of both the library and the Hancock County historian.  It was fun to revisit the Reverend Edward S. Shumaker and the Dry Crusade, while also talking about how Prohibition continues to shape Indiana and the nation in very real ways.

I hope to have a couple of major announcements about Rebel Bulldog (and maybe even Dis-History) soon.  Additionally, one of these days I'm going to do a post about what I'm currently working on...a project that is coming together very quickly and in ways that may one day help create a "Butler at War" series! 

Double Dose of Rebel Bulldog

The start of the school year has brought with it a good deal of action on the book front. I hope to be sharing more soon, but here is some news on Rebel Bulldog:

Last week, I was notified by the IHS that they had received a review from the Federation of Genealogical Societies  FGS Forum.  It read in part:  "At first glance a reader would believe this book to be a collection of letters pertaining to a family, with some filler to describe how they fit into the Civil War. The reader would be mistaken, but I believe they would be most delighted in what they find instead . . . In the end, this is a very well-written book that was quite a delight to read."   I am, of course, quite glad to read the glowing review, and happy as well to see the book reaching a broad audience.

Speaking of audience, tonight I had the pleasure of talking about Rebel Bulldog to the Madison County Historical Society's Civil War Roundtable.  There was a nice turnout and some good questions from the group.  My thanks to Gerald Jones for the invitation to speak up in Anderson.

And in another update, I've started work on my next book, which will look at the Brown family, Butler University, and the Great War!

WBAA review of Rebel Bulldog

It was wonderful to discover the following discussion of Rebel Bulldog on WBAA (based out of Purdue University):

http://www.wbaa.org/post/book-review-rebel-bulldog#stream/0

Thank you, Nick Schenkel for great commentary on the book!

A Line of Praise Goes A Long Way

I received the following (via email) from a Rebel Bulldog reader today:

"I read your most recent book a month or so ago. Nicely done! VERY impressive job tracking down a lot of far-flung sources."

As an author, I can't tell you how nice it is to hear from readers!  This, and a good dose of family time, made this an excellent weekend.

I hope to be able to share a major Rebel Bulldog announcement soon.....plus updates on new and older projects (Dis-History sequel anyone)?