As we begin the countdown to Lamb’s last book notes (see last week’s post) on C-SPAN 1. This Sunday’s Booknotes is an interview with Dorie McCullough Lawson, Posterity: Letters of Great Americans to their Children The daughter of historian David McCullough, Lawson edits
letters that span more than three centuries of American history, Posterity is a fascinating glimpse into the thoughts, wisdom, and family lives of those whose public accomplishments have touched us all.
The interview will be 8:00 p.m. and again at 11:00 p.m. on Sunday.
Check the Book-TV schedule for its 24-hour weekend book discussions; these also link to more detailed descriptions.
Summary: Book-tv encores Lamb’s interview with Frank McCourt, discussing Angela’s Ashes at 7:00 Saturday evening and 11:00 Sunday morning. Encore “in depths” are of Victor Davis Hanson (three hours beginning at 4 on Saturday afternoon and Sunday at midnight) and of Margaret MacMillan (Midnight Saturday and again at 4:00 Sunday afternoon).
This week-end includes a variety of books on international issues, often paired with more national ones. History on Book TV presents Robert Paxton’s The Anatomy of Fascism (11:00 Saturday evening and 8:00 Sunday). Arundhata Roy’s An Ordinary Person’s Guide to Empire (Saturday 9:15 evening), Hugh Tomas’s Rivers of Gold: The Rise of the Spanish Empire (Sunday 6 am and noon); Karl Zinsmeister’s Dawn Over Baghdad discusses the current “remaking” of Iraq. AIDS is discussed in both A Continent for the Taking by Howard French (2:30 Saturday afternoon) and Moving Mountains (Sunday 4:30) by Anne-christine d’Adesky.
Given the political season, not surprisingly many are on politics, this admistration and last. Ben Stein’s Can America Survive? Is Saturday morning a 8, followed by another question Is That a Politician in Your Pocket? by Micah Sifry and Nancy Watzman. Bill Rauch’s Politicking: How to Get Elected, Take Action and Make an Impact jn Your Community (noon Saturday and again Sunday morning at 9:15). Three works on presidents: the comprehensive Harold Gullan’s First Fathers (8:00 Sunday morning) and the more specific pair: Bob Barr’s The Meaning of Is (1:00 Saturday afternoon & 10:15 Sunday) and Ronald Kessler’s A Matter of Character (1:00 Sunday).
The Public Lives segment is devoted to Karen Armstrong, who describes her spiritual journey in The Spiral Staircase: My Climb Out of Darkness (8:00 Saturday and 10:45 Sunday evening). A more secular journey is descried by Phyllis Vine in her One Man’s Castle, which describes Clarence Darrow.
Some personal responses to current American culture an be seen in Randall Robinson’s Quitting America: The Departure of a Black Man from His Native Land (7:00 Sunday evening) followed by Jimmy Breslin’s The Church that Forgot Christ (8:45). And discussions of culture in general include Steven Rhoads’ Taking Sex Differences Seriously (9:45 Sunday evening & Monday morning at 7:00) and Steven Gillon’s Boomer Nation (7:00 Sunday morning).