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	Mohrbooks Literary Agency Sebastian Ritscher

HISTORY MATTERS

Dorie McCullough Lawson David McCullough

In this posthumous collection of thought-provoking essaysmany never published beforePulitzer Prizewinning historian and bestselling author David McCullough affirms the value of history, how we can be guided by its lessons, and the enduring legacy of American ideals.

History Matters brings together selected essays by beloved historian David McCullough, some published here for the first time, written at different points over the course of his long career but all focused on the subject of his lifelong passion: the importance of history in understanding our present and future. Edited by McCullough's daughter, Dorie McCullough Lawson, and his longtime researcher, Michael Hill, History Matters is a tribute to a master historian and offers fresh insights into McCullough's enduring interests and writing life. The book also features a foreword by Jon Meacham.

McCullough highlights the importance of character in political leaders, with Harry Truman and George Washington serving as exemplars of American values like optimism and determination. He shares his early influences, from the books he cherished in his youth to the people who mentored him. He also pays homage to those who inspired him, such as writer Paul Horgan and painter Thomas Eakins, illustrating the diverse influences on his writing as well as the influence of art.

Rich with McCullough's signature grace, curiosity, and narrative gifts, these essays offer vital lessons in viewing history through the eyes of its participants, a perspective that McCullough believed was crucial to understanding the present as well as the past. History Matters is testament to McCullough's legacy as one of the great storytellers of this nation's history and of the lasting promise of American ideals.

David McCullough (19332022) twice received the Pulitzer Prize, for Truman and John Adams, and twice received the National Book Award, for The Path Between the Seas and Mornings on Horseback. His other acclaimed books include The Johnstown Flood, The Great Bridge, Brave Companions, 1776, The Greater Journey, The American Spirit, The Wright Brothers, and The Pioneers. He was the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian award. Visit DavidMcCullough.com.

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Book Published 2025-09-16 by Simon & Schuster

Comments

One need not agree with late historian David McCullough's interpretations of the American past to respect his legacy as a writer and a researcher. And as we face a full-scale crisis in the humanities, fueled by book-bannings, authoritarian overreach, and widespread institutional cowardice, it is as important as ever to make the case for history in American schools that refuses to tailor its narratives to the rhinestone patriotism of the current White House. With this posthumous collection of essays, edited by his daughter Dorie McCullough Lawson, McCullough reminds us how important it is to try to understand where we came from, that we might know where we're going.

At his best here, McCullough uses history as a way to orient thinking about the present.

Pulitzer Prize winner McCullough (John Adams), who died in 2022, extols the importance and craft of writing history in this resonant collection of 20 speeches, essays, and interviews selected by his daughter Dorie McCullough Lawson and his longtime researcher Michael Hill...the collection displays McCullough's eye for engrossing anecdotes and ebullient prose ('History should not ever be dull,' he declares). The historian's admirers will find this an enjoyable and warmhearted valedictory hymn to the American spirit.

Next year marks America's 250th anniversary, or semiquincentennial. There will be celebrations and a lot of new books to mark the occasion. For those who can't wait, the late historian David McCullough's posthumous new volume is a delightful primer.

McCullough thought knowledge of history was foundational for citizenship and patriotism: without it there can be no gratitude for the achievements of our forebears or standards to live up to. Fittingly, the collection includes many expressions of McCullough's own gratitude for the teachers, historians, and books he learned from and for the figures of the past whose stories he told, never dully.