Peter Cozzens will join a live online discussion of his newest book, “Tecumseh and the Prophet: The Shawnee Brothers Who Defied a Nation,” presented by the History Book Festival, at 5 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 19.
This biography of the great Shawnee leader Tecumseh is the first to make clear that his misunderstood younger brother, Tenskwatawa, was an equal partner in the last great pan-Indian alliance against the United States. Tenskwatawa has been dismissed as a talentless charlatan and a drunk, but historian Cozzens shows that while Tecumseh was a brilliant diplomat and war leader, it was Tenskwatawa, called the “Shawnee Prophet,” who created a doctrine of religious and cultural revitalization that unified the disparate tribes of the Old Northwest.
Peter Cozzens is the author or editor of 16 acclaimed books on the American Civil War and the Indian Wars of the American West, and a member of the Advisory Council of the Lincoln Prize, awarded annually for the best nonfiction historical work on the American Civil War. His book “The Earth Is Weeping” was featured at the 2018 History Book Festival.
Bob Drury will interview Cozzens. Drury is a three-time National Magazine Award finalist and a Pulitzer Prize nominee. He has authored, co-authored or edited several books on historical topics, including “Valley Forge,” which was also featured at the 2018 festival.
This Zoom event is free but registration is required. To register, go to historybookfestival.org and click on 2020 Events.
The 2020 Virtual History Book Festival is presented in cooperation with the Lewes Public Library and sponsored by Delaware Humanities and the Lee Ann Wilkinson Group.
Copies of “Tecumseh and the Prophet” with signed archival bookplates are available from the festival’s official bookseller, Browseabout Books in Rehoboth Beach. Biblion in Lewes also has copies.
To arrange to pick up borrowed copies from the Lewes Public Library, call 302-645-2733 or email lewes.library@gmail.com.
This is the final event in the 2020 Virtual History Book Festival: Bring History Home.
The festival plans to present more virtual events in 2021. For the most up-to-date information on coming books and authors, sign up for the festival’s newsletter at historybookfestival.org.
