Biographer T.J. Stiles

Public Talks

An experienced public speaker, author T.J. Stiles has addressed dozens of audiences, at venues ranging from local bookstores and public libraries to major universities. He served as an advisor to two films in the PBS series The American Experience ("Jesse James" and "Grand Central"), and has appeared as an on-screen expert in these and other documentaries.

The Original Grand Central Depot, constructed by Commodore Vanderbilt

Past Appearances:

Television
Aired February 4, 2008:
T.J. Stiles served as advisor and on-screen expert for the film "Grand Central," a documentary in the PBS series The American Experience.

Aired 2006:
Stiles also served as consultant and on-screen expert for "Jesse James," an earlier film in the series The American Experience.

Lectures
As noted above, T.J. Stiles is available to give talks, and has frequently spoken in a wide variety of venues. In 2006, for example, he delivered the James Neal Primm Lecture at the St. Louis Mercantile Library, a talk that was excerpted in August 2008 by U.S. News & World Report for a special issue on the Civil War.



Reviews of Jesse James:

New York Times Book Review (Cover Review), 10/27/02
"So carefully researched, persuasive, and illuminating that it is likely to reshape permanently our understanding of its subject's life and times."
Larry McMurtry, The New Republic, 10/14/02
"[Carries] the reader scrupulously through Jesse James's violent, violent life."
Salon.com, 10/15/02
"Perhaps the finest book ever written about this American legend."
Albert Castel, Missouri Historical Review, 04/04
"A superb word-portait of Jesse James, his crimes, and his times."
The Economist, 10/5/02
"In this excellent account ... Stiles masterfully strips James bare."
John Mack Faragher, Yale University, in the Raleigh News & Observer, 10/13/02
"T.J. Stiles has written a wonderful life and times."
Eric Foner, Los Angeles Times Book Review, 9/22/02
"Stiles has combed a wealth of contemporary sources and imbues this story with the drama it deserves."
Michael Fellman, Journal of American History, 3/05
"Both stimulating and overstated." Read the full review, and a response by T.J. Stiles



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