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History Book Club

Gettysburg by Stephen Sears

Join us every second Tuesday for our new History Book Club, led by local Tom Drinkwater. Stop by the checkout desk to request a copy of the book.

For this month's book club, Tom will discuss Gettysburg, a book that Library Journal describes as "a deliberate, perceptive assessment of the battle of Gettysburg and the events leading up to it. The book's strength is the consistent and striking characterizations of the many generals and commanding officers involved in the battle. Sears cohesively takes stock of their infighting and ambitions as well as their dedication and risk taking, clearly showing how the varied personalities shaped decisions made by both armies, for better or for worse. Drawn from dispatches and diaries, colorful quotes from the officers contrast vividly with meticulous details of the battle's terrain and statistics. Sears examines several turning points during the battle's buildup and three-day duration. The resulting insights add to the excellent and dramatic narrative flow."

Tom Drinkwater

Tom Drinkwater grew up in Connecticut and developed a love of history from an early age; as an elementary student at Springdale School, Tom loved reading the Landmark history book series and credits this series with growing his interest in U.S. history. After attending the University of Virginia and majoring in History (focusing on U.S. and Russian history), Tom started his 35 year long career in publishing where he often focused on history books. He was hired at Random House as a sales representative and was lucky enough to meet many amazing authors, such as Julia Child and Toni Morrison. On one memorable occasion, he even met a man named Bob Lomis, who was the editor of that very same Landmark history series from his childhood! After working at Random House, McGraw-Hill, and other publishers, Tom left publishing and became an Advertising Consultant for The Sun Time News. Today, Tom shares this love of reading with his three daughters who, he admits, prefer fiction. He nourishes his passion for books and history as a regular consumer of the Sunday Book Review, The New Yorker book section, and all of the latest and greatest history books he can find at the Chelsea District Library, the Dexter District Library, and Serendipity Books.   

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