An Update on the Progress of my Biography of Robert Gould Shaw

(Source: Boston Daily Herald, May 29, 1897)

Yesterday I completed a draft of the final chapter of my biography of Robert Gould Shaw. The book is tentatively titled, A Glorious Fate: The Life and Legacy of Col. Robert Gould Shaw and will be published by The University of North Carolina Press. It’s a strange feeling as well as a huge relief to finally have a draft of the entire book in hand.

My editor at the press has strongly encouraged me to submit the manuscript by the end of March, which I have every intention of doing. I am very much looking forward to moving this project into the peer review stage, before making the final changes. If all goes well, the book should be available in Spring 2025.

I am also looking forward to the opportunity to continue with a number of other book projects. More on that in a minute.

In the meantime, please don’t expect much activity on the newsletter this month as my attention will be focused on getting the manuscript ready for delivery. I do plan on sharing a draft of the book’s epilogue with those of you who are paid subscribers and I am very much interested in your feedback. That should drop at some point over the next two weeks.

[Note: I should also point out that your paid subscription helps to offset expenses connected to my visits to schools and professional development work with history educators that do not have deep pockets. This work means everything to me and I thank you for helping to make it possible.]

Thanks to all of you for your continued support and words of encouragement. Writing can be an incredibly lonely activity, but having such a vibrant and supportive community close at hand is incredibly helpful.

(Source: Boston Globe, May 30, 1897)

Once I send the manuscript off I will be able to devote much more time to building this community. I plan on reviving the movie discussion group as promised and I hope to do a lot more interviews with historians and other people in the field of public history. One of the things I would like to start are live zoom discussions with guests for paid subscribers.

If this is of interest to you, please consider upgrading to a paid membership at $5 per month or $40 annually. The latter rate is a steal, but more importantly, it will go far to making all of this happen. Thank you.

I also have a number of book projects at different stages of completion.

They include a co-authored book, with my good friend Kanisorn Wongsrichanalai, about Boston during the Civil War as well as a short book about the role of enslaved labor in the Army of Northern Virginia during the Gettysburg Campaign.

Finally, I very much want to finish editing the letters of Captain John Christopher Winsmith from Spartanburg, South Carolina. This incredibly rich collection of letters follows the trajectory of a diehard Confederate to Radical Republican during Reconstruction. It’s a fascinating story.

It’s been quite a journey and I thank you for sharing it with me.