Book TV airs on C-Span 2 this week from 8 a.m. Thursday to 8 a.m. Monday and focuses on political and historical books as well as the book industry. The following are highlights for this coming weekend. For more information, go to Book TV's website.
Thursday, December 25
9:30 a.m. David Hackett Fischer, author of Champlain's Dream: The European Founding of North America (S&S, $40; 9781416593324/1416593322), recounts the life of the French explorer who founded Quebec. (Re-airs Thursday at 9:30 p.m., Saturday at 5 p.m. and Monday at 2 a.m.)
1 p.m. Roy Blount Jr., author of Alphabet Juice: The Energies,
Gists, and Spirits of Letters, Words, and Combinations Thereof: Their
Roots, Bones, Innards, Piths, Pips, and Secret Parts, Tinctures,
Tonics, and Essences, With Examples of Their Usage Foul and Savory (FSG, $25, 9780374103699/0374103690), examines the roots of several commonly used words. (Re-airs Friday at 1 a.m., Saturday at 8 p.m. and Monday at 5 a.m.)
2 p.m. For an event hosted by the Abraham Lincoln Bookshop, Chicago, Ill., Harold Holzer, author of Lincoln President-Elect: Abraham Lincoln and the Great Secession Winter, 1860-1861 (S&S, $30, 9780743289474/0743289471), recalls the four months between Lincoln's election and inauguration. (Re-airs Friday at 2 a.m.)
6:30 p.m. Historian Robert Dallek, author of Harry S. Truman (Times Books, $22, 9780805069389,/0805069380), talks about the life and political career of the 33rd president. (Re-airs Friday at 6:30 a.m. and Sunday at 7:30 p.m.)
Saturday, December 27
6 p.m. Encore Booknotes. In a program that first aired in 1998, Paul Johnson, author of A History of the American People (Harper Perennial, $20, 9780060930349/0060930349), discussed his book, which uses historical documents and quotations from personal diaries to detail race relations, immigration, war and customs in the U.S.
7 p.m. Navy SEAL officer Eric Greitens, author of Strength and Compassion: Photographs & Essays (Leading Authorities Press, $65, 9780971007802/0971007802) contends that, "in times of great hardship and in the face of great evil, people with strength and compassion can live with courage." (Re-airs Monday at 1 a.m., Saturday, January 10, at 7 p.m. and 11 p.m., and Sunday, January 11, at 3 p.m.)
10 p.m. After Words. Historian Peniel Joseph interviews Philip Dray, author of Capitol Men: The Epic Story of Reconstruction Through the Lives of the First Black Congressmen. (Houghton Mifflin, $30, 9780618563708/0618563709). Dray discusses the prejudice that the 16 representatives faced and the many issues they advocated for. (Re-airs Sunday at 6 p.m. and 9 p.m., Monday at 12 a.m. and 3 a.m., and Sunday, January 4, at 11 a.m.)