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JOIN US ON TUESDAY, MARCH 26, 2024, AT 7:15 P.M. (Pacific Time)

FOR A PROGRAM ON "ON GREAT FIELDS:  THE LIFE AND UNLIKELY HEROISM OF 

JOSHUA LAWRENCE CHAMBERLAIN"

WITH  Dr. Ronald C. White, Author and Historian 

What makes a hero “unlikely”? Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain was often called such by his neighbors. They had been surprised when Chamberlain, a bookish child who became a minister and professor, volunteered for the Union Army. They were outright shocked when newspapers proclaimed the news of Chamberlain’s leadership at the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863. On the second day of fighting, after running low on ammunition at Little Round Top, he ordered his men to wield their bayonets in a desperate charge down a rocky slope that routed the Confederate attackers. His character tested and affirmed; Chamberlain dedicated himself to a lifetime of public service. 

 

Before 1862, Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain had rarely left his home state of Maine, where he was a trained minister and mild-mannered professor at Bowdoin College. His colleagues were shocked when he volunteered for the Union army, but he was undeterred and later became known as one of the North’s greatest heroes.

 

Chamberlain is familiar to millions from Michael Shaara’s classic novel of the Civil War, The Killer Angels, Ken Burns’s miniseries, The Civil War, and Jeff Daniels' portrayal of Chamberlain in the movie Gettysburg. In On Great Fields, White captures the complex and inspiring man behind the hero

 

Ronald C. White is the author of a new biography, On Great Fields: The Life and Unlikely Heroism of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain. He is the author of two New York Times bestselling presidential biographies: A. Lincoln: A Biography, and American Ulysses: A Life of Ulysses S. Grant. He has also written Lincoln’s Greatest Speech: The Second Inaugural, a New York Times Notable Book; The Eloquent President: A Portrait of Lincoln Through His Words, a Los Angeles Times bestseller; and Lincoln in Private: What His Most Personal Reflections Tell Us About Our Greatest President, recipient of the 2021 Barondess/Lincoln award.

 

White is a graduate of UCLA and Princeton Theological Seminary, receiving a Ph.D. from Princeton University.  He has taught at UCLA, Whitworth University, Colorado College, and Princeton Seminary.  Ron and his wife Cynthia reside in Pasadena, California.

 

 

We have a new "Book Buying Partnership" with our local, Pasadena treasure, Vroman's Bookstore.  If you would like to pre-order Dr. White's book using this link, it will be available for you at the March 26 meeting where Dr. White can sign it for you.  And there are no shipping charges to pay!  

Please be sure to follow all instructions on the order page so that your book will be ready for you at the meeting. 

Orders must be placed no later than March 20.

VROMAN'S PURCHASE LINK

 

Southern California's Oldest & Largest Independent Bookstore

Vroman’s Bookstore is the official supplier of speakers’ books for the Pasadena Civil War Round Table.

 


Thanks to the volunteer efforts and expertise of our Pasadena CWRT members, Tina Miller and Monika Skerbelis, we are now able to record our monthly meetings and post the videos to our YouTube Channel for your enjoyment and edification if you are unable to join us for our live meetings.  We invite you to check out the videos from our two years of virtual meetings, as well as our most recent presentations, at our YouTube Channel:

CLICK HERE

 

We are indebted to Tina and Monika for helping us to bring this wonderful added benefit to allow our non-local members and guests to enjoy the presentations of our distinguished roster of speakers.

 


 

PLEASE JOIN US FOR OUR IN-PERSON MEETING:

Pasadena CWRT - TUESDAY, MARCH 26, 2024 - 7:15 PM (Pacific Time) 

The Blinn House - 160 North Oakland Avenue - Pasadena

 

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FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO BE ADDED TO OUR MONTHLY EMAIL LIST:

Contact Janet Whaley, Program Chair

PasadenaCWRT@gmail.com or 626-664-6627