List of Booknotes interviews first aired in 2003


Booknotes is an American television series on the C-SPAN network hosted by Brian Lamb, which originally aired from 1989 to 2004. The format of the show is a one-hour, one-on-one interview with a non-fiction author. The series was broadcast at 8 p.m. Eastern Time each Sunday night, and was the longest-running author interview program in U.S. broadcast history.
First broadcast
AuthorBookSubject matter
Hugh PriceAchievement Matters: Getting Your Child the Best Education PossibleEducation in the United States
Andrew RobertsNapoleon & Wellington: The Battle of Waterloo and the Great Commanders Who Fought ItNapoleon Bonaparte; The Duke of Wellington; The Battle of Waterloo
Warren ZimmermannFirst Great Triumph: How Five Americans Made Their Country a World PowerJohn Hay; Henry Cabot Lodge; Alfred Thayer Mahan; Theodore Roosevelt; Elihu Root
Robert CoramBoyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of WarJohn Boyd
Stephen SchwartzThe Two Faces of Islam: The House of Sa’ud from Tradition to TerrorWahhabism
Amy ChuaWorld on Fire: How Exporting Free Market Democracy Breeds Ethnic Hatred and Global InstabilityGlobalization; Democratization; Middleman minorities
Robert KaganOf Paradise and Power: America and Europe in the New World OrderForeign policy of the United States; Politics of Europe
Joy HakimFreedom: A History of USA History of US
John McWhorterAuthentically Black: Essays for the Black Silent MajorityAfrican Americans
Dana PriestThe Mission: Waging War and Keeping Peace with America’s MilitaryUnited States Armed Forces
Michael HowardThe First World WarWorld War I
Bernard BailynTo Begin the World Anew: The Genius and Ambiguities of the American FoundersFounding Fathers of the United States
Mona CharenUseful Idiots: How Liberals Got It Wrong in the Cold War and Still Blame America FirstAmerican Left; The Cold War
Roy Morris, Jr.Fraud of the Century: Rutherford B. Hayes, Samuel Tilden, and the Stolen Election of 1876Rutherford B. Hayes; Samuel Tilden; 1876 United States presidential election
Philip TaubmanSecret Empire: Eisenhower, The CIA, and The Hidden Story of America’s Space EspionagePresidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower; The Central Intelligence Agency; Spy satellites
and April 27, 2003William TaubmanKhrushchev: The Man and His EraNikita Khrushchev
Dorothy RabinowitzNo Crueler Tyrannies: Accusation, False Witness, and Other Terrors of Our TimesDay care sex abuse hysteria; Fells Acres day care sexual abuse trial; Gerald Amirault; McMartin preschool trial
Monica LangleyTearing Down the Walls: How Sandy Weill Fought His Way to the Top of the Financial World And Then Nearly Lost it AllSandy Weill
Paul TherouxDark Star Safari: Overland from Cairo to Cape TownTravel literature; Africa
Anne ApplebaumGulag: A HistoryGulag
Raymond StrotherFalling Up: How a Redneck Helped Invent Political ConsultingMemoir/Autobiography; Political consulting
Azar NafisiReading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in BooksMemoir/Autobiography; Women's rights in Iran; Politics of Iran; Higher education in Iran
Eric SchlosserReefer Madness: Sex, Drugs, and Cheap Labor in the American Black MarketUnderground economy; Cannabis in the United States; Pornography in the United States; Economic impact of illegal immigrants in the United States
Paul BermanTerror and LiberalismWar on terror; Islamic terrorism
Vartan GregorianThe Road to Home: My Life and TimesMemoir/Autobiography; Iranian Armenians; The Carnegie Corporation
Jon KuklaA Wilderness So Immense: The Louisiana Purchase and the Destiny of AmericaThe Louisiana Purchase
Willard ScottThe Older the Fiddle, the Better the Tune: The Joys of Reaching a Certain AgeMemoir/Autobiography; Aging
Connie BruckWhen Hollywood Had a King: The Reign of Lew Wasserman, Who Leveraged Talent into Power and InfluenceLew Wasserman
Kenneth AckermanDark Horse: The Surprise Election and Political Murder of President James A. GarfieldJames Garfield
Dorothy HeightOpen Wide the Freedom Gates: A MemoirMemoir/Autobiography; National Council of Negro Women
Gretchen RubinForty Ways to Look at Winston Churchill: A Brief Account of a Long LifeWinston Churchill
David LipskyAbsolutely American: Four Years at West PointThe United States Military Academy
Adam BellowIn Praise of Nepotism: A Natural HistoryNepotism
Robert DarntonGeorge Washington's False Teeth: An Unconventional Guide to the Eighteenth CenturyThe Enlightenment; The French Revolution; the 18th century
Michael ParentiThe Assassination of Julius Caesar: A People's History of Ancient RomeJulius Caesar; Assassination of Julius Caesar; Ancient Rome
Erik LarsonThe Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed AmericaThe World's Columbian Exposition; Daniel Burnham; H.H. Holmes
Eric RauchwayMurdering McKinley: The Making of Theodore Roosevelt’s AmericaLeon Czolgosz; Assassination of William McKinley; Presidency of Theodore Roosevelt
Victor Davis HansonMexifornia: A State of BecomingMexifornia
David Von DrehleTriangle: The Fire That Changed AmericaTriangle Shirtwaist Factory fire
Jessica SternTerror in the Name of God: Why Religious Militants KillReligious terrorism; Christian terrorism; Islamic terrorism; Jewish terrorism
Lance MorrowEvil: An InvestigationEvil
Jill JonnesEmpires of Light: Edison, Tesla, Westinghouse, and the Race to Electrify the WorldThomas Edison; Nicola Tesla; George Westinghouse; History of electromagnetism
James BovardTerrorism and Tyranny: Trampling Freedom, Justice, and Peace to Rid the World of EvilCriticism of the War on Terror; Civil liberties in the United States
Rich LowryLegacy: Paying the Price for the Clinton YearsPresidency of Bill Clinton
Michael MooreDude, Where's My Country?Criticism of the Iraq War; Enron scandal
Tom CoburnBreach of Trust: How Washington Turns Outsiders Into InsidersUnited States House of Representatives; The Republican Revolution
Sen. Tom Daschle Like No Other Time: The 107th Congress and the Two Years That Changed America107th United States Congress
Richard PipesVixi: Memoirs of a Non-BelongerMemoir/Autobiography; Harvard University; Soviet Union–United States relations
Gail CollinsAmerica's Women: 400 Years of Dolls, Drudges, Helpmates and HeroinesHistory of women in the United States
Matthew PinskerLincoln's Sanctuary: Abraham Lincoln and the Soldiers' HomePresident Lincoln's Cottage at the Soldiers' Home
Carl CannonThe Pursuit of Happiness in Times of WarLife, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; Home front