Adam Goodheart

About Adam Goodheart

Adam Goodheart is a historian, essayist, and journalist and the author of the New York Times bestselling book 1861: The Civil War Awakening, which was published by Knopf in April 2011. The book has received wide critical acclaim; a cover review in the New York Times called it “exhilarating” “inspiring,” and “irresistible,” adding, “1861 creates the uncanny illusion that the reader has stepped into a time machine.” The Boston Globe’s reviewer wrote: “Hardly a page of this book lacks an insight of importance or a fact that beguiles the reader.” Mr. Goodheart’s book has been named one of the Top Ten History Books of the year by Amazon, one of the Top 25 Nonfiction Books of the year by Barnes & Noble, and a New York Times Notable Book of 2011. President Obama recently invited him to the Oval Office to recognize 1861’s role in having Fort Monroe, Va. – in which part if the book is set – declared a national park.

Mr. Goodheart’s articles have appeared in National Geographic, Outside, Smithsonian, The Atlantic, and The New York Times Magazine, among others, and he is a regular columnist for the Times’ acclaimed Civil War series, “Disunion.” He has made many broadcast media appearances, including on NPR’s “Fresh Air,” “Morning Edition,” and “All Things Considered.” Mr. Goodheart lives in Washington, D.C., and on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, where he is director of Washington College’s C. V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience, an institute for fostering innovative approaches to American history and culture.