BY JUDY CARMACK BROSS
Nathaniel Philbrick, best-selling author and winner of the National Book Award, made the Revolutionary War come alive for 200 members of the Society of Colonial Wars in the State of Illinois and their guests at the Newberry Library.
SCW-IL Deputy Governor and Lecture Organizer, Philip May, with Nathaniel Philbrick.
The author of Valiant Ambition: George Washington, Benedict Arnold and the Fate of the American Revolution spoke as part of a prestigious series co-sponsored by the Warriors, the Newberry, and the University of Illinois. Members of their sister organization, The Colonial Dames, were in attendance.
Brad Hunt, Vice President, The Newberry Library; and Colonial Warrior Bill Parke.
Maureen Hamilton, Colonial Dame Mary Carter, and Jane Gately.
Despite the dreary day outside, listeners were spellbound by Philbrick’s narrative: Arnold as a risk taker and great general before “his betrayal blew the country apart,” also describing George Washington as a “fiery redhead, aggressive by temperament.”
New York Times Bestseller, Valiant Ambition, by Nathaniel Philbrick.
The overflow crowd at The Newberry Library.
A resident of Nantucket and a passionate sailor, Philbrick has also written about Custer’s last stand, the Mayflower, Bunker Hill, and answered the intriguing question, Why Read Moby Dick? Ron Howard made a movie based on his bestseller, In the Heart of the Sea.
Society of Colonial Wars Governor General, David Trebing, and Colonial Dame Katherine Saville,
David Trebing, the Society’s Governor General who came in from Washington, DC, joined SCW-IL Deputy Governor, Philip May, and Robert Morrissey from the University of Illinois in welcoming Philbrick. Trebing revealed that there are 4400 Warriors nationwide and that the organization “celebrates the period 1607-1775, which set the foundation for national diversity.”
Nathaniel Philbrick explaining a 1781 map depicting a Revolutionary War naval battle from The Newberry Library Special Collections.
David Trebing, Melissa and Nathaniel Philbrick, and SCW-IL Social Chairman Todd Schwebel.
The Philbrick Family and friends.
SWC-IL Warriors JP Beall and Geoff Euston tending the coffee bar.
The author.
Brad Hunt, David Trebing, Nathaniel Philbrick, Bob Burell, Robert Morrissey, and Philip May.
