H.W. Brands returns to West Michigan

 Award-winning author and presidential historian H.W. Brands will be in West Michigan to give two lectures. Brands will talk about the journey of Gen. Grant and the triumph of capitalism.

His visit is sponsored by the Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies at Grand Valley State University and the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation and Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum.

“H.W. Brands is one of the preeminent biographers of our time,” said Gleaves Whitney, director of the Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies. “West Michigan audiences deeply appreciate his insightful, entertaining talks. He is consistently one of our best speakers, and this will be the 7th time we’ve brought him back to the Hauenstein Center. These two talks promise to stretch our minds and stimulate our curiosity.”

American Ulysses: The Journey of General Grant
Thursday, April 7
7 p.m.
Gerald R. Ford Museum, 303 Pearl St. NW, Grand Rapids

American Colossus: The Triumph of Capitalism, 1865-1900
Friday, April 8
7:30 a.m., continental breakfast
8 a.m., presentation, Eberhard Center, room 215
Pew Grand Rapids Campus, 301 W. Fulton St.

Henry William Brands was born in Oregon, went to college in California, sold cutlery across the American West, and earned graduate degrees in mathematics and history in Oregon and Texas. He taught at Vanderbilt University and Texas A&M University before joining the faculty at the University of Texas at Austin, where he is the Dickson Allen Anderson Centennial Professor of History.

Brands has written 20 books, coauthored or edited five others, and published dozens of articles and scores of reviews. His writings have received critical and popular acclaim. “The First American” was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the Los Angeles Times Prize, as well as a New York Times bestseller. “The Age of Gold” was a Washington Post Best Book of 2002 and a San Francisco Chronicle bestseller. “Andrew Jackson” was a Chicago Tribune Best Book of 2005 and a Washington Post bestseller.  

His writings have been published in several countries and translated into German, French, Russian, Chinese, Japanese and Korean.

For more information call the Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies at (616) 331-2770 or visit www.allpresidents.org.