"How
do you write a book?" 24-year-old
Thomas Fleming asked bestselling writer Fulton
Oursler in 1951.
"Write four pages a day," Oursler said. "Every day except Sunday. Whether you feel like it or not. Inspiration consists of putting the seat of your pants on the chair at your desk."
Fleming has followed this advice to good effect. In the intervening years, he has produced an impressive number of books, including award-winning histories and best-selling novels. As proof of his talent in both genres, he is the only writer in the history of the Book-of-the-Month Club to have had main selections in both fiction and nonfiction.
One of Thomas Fleming’s most well-received novels, Liberty Tavern, has recently been published as an e-book from New Word City. An historical novel set in New Jersey during the struggle for independence, the book gave Fleming a deeper understanding of the American Revolution, which has been his main focus as a historian.
“For many people the conflict involved agonizing breaks with
brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, lovers and friends,” he
says. “I realized that the soaring idealism of the Declaration
of Independence and the heroism of Bunker Hill had a darker side,
full of personal heartbreak that seldom got into the history books.”
History Titles
The
Intimate Lives of the Founding Fathers is Thomas Fleming’s
most recent book. It examines the personal lives of these famous
Americans with an historian’s eye. Fleming’s other history
books include gripping narratives of the year 1776, the duel between
Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr, America’s entry into World
War I, and other dramatic events of the past. Read
more
Fiction Titles
One
of the main reasons Thomas Fleming began writing novels was to communicate
the reality of history as an experience. History books rarely deal
with emotion so it’s easy to forget that history was lived
by passionate, caring, conflicted people. Novels of the historical
imagination (a phrase Fleming prefers to historical novels) help
to bring the past alive. Read more
Biography of Thomas Fleming
Thomas
Fleming is an historian and historical novelist, with a special interest
in the American Revolution. A native of Jersey City, New Jersey,
he grew up during the reign of Frank Hague, the city’s legendary
mayor who was nationally known as the founder and leader of one of
the strongest big city political organizations in the country. Read more
Media & Events
Thomas
Fleming has received many awards and made many TV appearances over
the course of his long career. He is perhaps best known for his appearances
on C-SPAN and PBS. View a listing of some of those appearances and
links to the videos. Read
more