List of Booknotes interviews first aired in 2003 explained

Booknotes is an American television series on the C-SPAN network hosted by Brian Lamb, which originally aired from 1989 to 2004.[1] The format of the show is a one-hour, one-on-one interview with a non-fiction author.[2] The series was broadcast at 8 p.m. Eastern Time each Sunday night,[3] and was the longest-running author interview program in U.S. broadcast history.

First broadcast
(with link to
transcript / video)
Author Book Subject matter
January 5, 2003Hugh PriceAchievement Matters: Getting Your Child the Best Education PossibleEducation in the United States
January 12, 2003Andrew RobertsNapoleon & Wellington: The Battle of Waterloo and the Great Commanders Who Fought ItNapoleon Bonaparte
The Duke of Wellington; The Battle of Waterloo
January 19, 2003Warren ZimmermannFirst Great Triumph: How Five Americans Made Their Country a World PowerJohn Hay
Henry Cabot Lodge; Alfred Thayer Mahan; Theodore Roosevelt; Elihu Root
January 26, 2003Robert CoramBoyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of WarJohn Boyd
February 2, 2003Stephen SchwartzThe Two Faces of Islam: The House of Sa’ud from Tradition to TerrorWahhabism
February 9, 2003Amy ChuaGlobalization
Democratization; Middleman minorities
February 16, 2003Robert KaganForeign policy of the United States
Politics of Europe
February 23, 2003Joy HakimFreedom: A History of USA History of US
March 2, 2003John McWhorterAuthentically Black: Essays for the Black Silent MajorityAfrican Americans
March 9, 2003Dana PriestThe Mission: Waging War and Keeping Peace with America’s MilitaryUnited States Armed Forces
March 16, 2003Michael HowardThe First World WarWorld War I
March 23, 2003Bernard BailynTo Begin the World Anew: The Genius and Ambiguities of the American FoundersFounding Fathers of the United States
March 30, 2003Mona CharenUseful Idiots: How Liberals Got It Wrong in the Cold War and Still Blame America FirstAmerican Left
The Cold War
April 6, 2003Roy 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
April 13, 2003Philip TaubmanSecret Empire: Eisenhower, The CIA, and The Hidden Story of America’s Space EspionagePresidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower
The Central Intelligence Agency; Spy satellites
April 20, 2003 and April 27, 2003William TaubmanNikita Khrushchev
May 4, 2003Dorothy 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
May 11, 2003Monica LangleyTearing Down the Walls: How Sandy Weill Fought His Way to the Top of the Financial World And Then Nearly Lost it AllSandy Weill
May 18, 2003Paul TherouxTravel literature
Africa
May 25, 2003Anne ApplebaumGulag
June 1, 2003Raymond StrotherFalling Up: How a Redneck Helped Invent Political ConsultingMemoir/Autobiography; Political consulting
June 8, 2003Azar NafisiMemoir/Autobiography; Women's rights in Iran; Politics of Iran; Higher education in Iran
June 15, 2003Eric SchlosserUnderground economy
Cannabis in the United States; Pornography in the United States; Economic impact of illegal immigrants in the United States
June 22, 2003Paul BermanTerror and LiberalismWar on Terror
Islamic terrorism
June 29, 2003Vartan GregorianThe Road to Home: My Life and TimesMemoir/Autobiography; Iranian Armenians; The Carnegie Corporation
July 6, 2003Jon KuklaA Wilderness So Immense: The Louisiana Purchase and the Destiny of AmericaThe Louisiana Purchase
July 13, 2003Willard ScottThe Older the Fiddle, the Better the Tune: The Joys of Reaching a Certain AgeMemoir/Autobiography; Aging
July 20, 2003Connie BruckWhen Hollywood Had a King: The Reign of Lew Wasserman, Who Leveraged Talent into Power and InfluenceLew Wasserman
July 27, 2003Kenneth AckermanDark Horse: The Surprise Election and Political Murder of President James A. GarfieldJames Garfield
August 3, 2003Dorothy HeightOpen Wide the Freedom Gates: A MemoirMemoir/Autobiography; National Council of Negro Women
August 10, 2003Gretchen RubinForty Ways to Look at Winston Churchill: A Brief Account of a Long LifeWinston Churchill
August 17, 2003David LipskyAbsolutely American: Four Years at West PointThe United States Military Academy
August 24, 2003Adam BellowIn Praise of Nepotism: A Natural HistoryNepotism
August 31, 2003Robert DarntonGeorge Washington's False Teeth: An Unconventional Guide to the Eighteenth CenturyThe Enlightenment
The French Revolution; the 18th century
September 7, 2003Michael ParentiJulius Caesar
Assassination of Julius Caesar; Ancient Rome
September 14, 2003Erik LarsonThe World's Columbian Exposition
Daniel Burnham; H.H. Holmes
September 21, 2003Eric RauchwayMurdering McKinley: The Making of Theodore Roosevelt’s AmericaLeon Czolgosz
Assassination of William McKinley; Presidency of Theodore Roosevelt
September 28, 2003Victor Davis HansonMexifornia: A State of BecomingMexifornia
October 5, 2003David Von DrehleTriangle: The Fire That Changed AmericaTriangle Shirtwaist Factory fire
October 12, 2003Jessica SternTerror in the Name of God: Why Religious Militants KillReligious terrorism
Christian terrorism; Islamic terrorism; Jewish terrorism
October 19, 2003Lance MorrowEvil: An InvestigationEvil
October 26, 2003Jill JonnesEmpires of Light: Edison, Tesla, Westinghouse, and the Race to Electrify the WorldThomas Edison
Nicola Tesla; George Westinghouse; History of electromagnetism
November 2, 2003James 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
November 9, 2003Rich LowryLegacy: Paying the Price for the Clinton YearsPresidency of Bill Clinton
November 16, 2003Michael MooreDude, Where's My Country?Criticism of the Iraq War
Enron scandal
November 23, 2003Tom CoburnBreach of Trust: How Washington Turns Outsiders Into InsidersUnited States House of Representatives
The Republican Revolution
November 30, 2003Sen. Tom Daschle (D-SD)Like No Other Time: The 107th Congress and the Two Years That Changed America107th United States Congress
December 7, 2003Richard PipesVixi: Memoirs of a Non-BelongerMemoir/Autobiography; Harvard University; Soviet Union–United States relations
December 14, 2003Gail CollinsAmerica's Women: 400 Years of Dolls, Drudges, Helpmates and HeroinesHistory of women in the United States
December 21, 2003Matthew PinskerLincoln's Sanctuary: Abraham Lincoln and the Soldiers' HomePresident Lincoln's Cottage at the Soldiers' Home
December 28, 2003Carl CannonThe Pursuit of Happiness in Times of WarLife, liberty and the pursuit of happiness
Home front

Notes and References

  1. News: 'Booknotes' Afterword . The Boston Globe . August 19, 2004.
  2. News: Books On TV, and a Host Who Listens . Ellen Emry Heltzel . The Sunday Oregonian . August 17, 1997.
  3. News: After Many Million Pages, 'Booknotes' Ends Its Run . Frank J. Prial . The New York Times . December 4, 2004 . November 4, 2010.