Scott Ellsworth

Gorgeous

‘Tis a spectacular Autumn day here in Ann Arbor. Happy Fall, y’all!

Passing through Gettysburg on a beautiful fall day. Driving back to Ann Arbor after giving a Midnight on the Potomac book talk at the Virginia Museum of History and Culture. Terrific audience—we sold out all 350+seats!—with a great Q&A. Thank you Richmond.

Eastern Market, Washington, D.C.

Smithsonian! Delighted to see the MIDNIGHT ON THE POTOMAC in the bookshop at the National Museum of American History, a wonderful institution where I worked for ten years.

Thrilled that MIDNIGHT ON THE POTOMAC is one of NPR’s Books on the Day. www.npr.org/2025/10/03/n...

Hats off to Robin Henry and the other fine folks in the History Department at Wichita State University. Just wrapped up a two-day visit, which included appearing on Allison Johnson and Eugene Pott’s superb Maybe Water, Maybe Vodka history podcast. Let’s Go, Shockers!

Hello Kansans! Just a quick note to announce that I will be speaking about MIDNIGHT ON THE POTOMAC in Wichita this week. Thanks to the Department of History at Wichita State, I'll be speaking at Hubbard Hall, Room 211, 1845 Fairmount, at 5:30 pm on Thursday, September 25th. Let's Go Shockers!

A big thank you to the folks at WBUR Boston who had me on NPR's "Here & Now" midday news program yesterday, talking about political division and the legacy of the Civil War. Recording in link:

www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2...

Thrilled to be joining the White House Historical Association for a livestream interview on Facebook and YouTube on Tuesday, October 21, 2025 at 5:30 pm.

www.whitehousehistory.org/events/white...

It was both an honor and a true delight to pay a visit yesterday to the legendary Abraham Lincoln Book Shop, Inc. in Chicago, home to the world's largest inventory of books, manuscripts, antique prints, and sculpture relating to Abraham Lincoln & the Civil War. alincolnbookshop.com

Fortitude the lion, New York Public Library, Fifth Avenue at 41st Street, on a hot August afternoon. Carved by the Piccirilli brothers, Fortitude and his brother, Patience, have stood guard—and won admirers, including yours truly—outside the library since 1911.

A nice way to kick off a trip to NYC. Thank you Amanda Brickell Bellows for the terrific review of MIDNIGHT ON THE POTOMAC in today’s Wall Street Journal. “Suspenseful . . . ‘a fight for the very soul of the nation.’”

"If you live in Alaska, I need you to buy a Ukrainian flag and turn any area that Putin is going to be into a sea of Ukrainian flags - so many that, when Putin lands, all he's going to see is just yellow and blue."

New Englanders! I am heading your way. I'll be doing a book event for MIDNIGHT ON THE POTOMAC at the Harvard Book Store, 1256 Mass Ave, Cambridge, on Thursday, August 14th, at 7 pm. Even better, I'll be interviewed by the wonderful novelist Steve Yarbrough. Hope you can come.

William Seward, Jr. and the Battle of Monocacy - General Lew Wallace Study & Museum Colonel William Seward, son of Secretary of State William Henry Seward, commanded the hard-fighting Ninth New York Heavy Artillery

@scottellsworth.bsky.social
www.ben-hur.com/william-sewa...
So pleased to read about the little known Battle of Monocacy in your new book. The Seward House Museum in Auburn, NY, where I volunteered as a docent for many years, tells the story with a Seward twist.

Thanks, Marc! And thanks for the tip about the Seward House Museum. It’s definitely on my To Visit List.

With all of the petty hassles of air travel, it’s easy to forget the majesty of flight. I absolutely adore being above the clouds. Have a good day everybody.

Michiganders! Hope to see you tomorrow night, Tuesday, July 22nd, at 6:30 pm at Literati Bookstore, 124 E. Washington Street, Ann Arbor. I'll be discussing my new book, MIDNIGHT ON THE POTOMAC, and how a remarkable coalition of loyal Americans defeated the Confederacy and destroyed slavery.

Hey, fellow Okies! I'll be speaking about my new book, MIDNIGHT IN THE POTOMAC, this Wednesday, July 23rd, at 7 pm at Congregation B'nai Emunah, 1719 S. Owasso Avenue, Tulsa. Let Freedom Ring.

Hey, Michiganders! I'll be speaking about my new book, MIDNIGHT ON THE POTOMAC, this Tuesday, July 22nd, at 6:30 pm at Literati Bookstore, 124 E. Washington, Ann Arbor. Hope you can swing by!

Thrilled to have ended the first leg of the book tour for MIDNIGHT ON THE POTOMAC last week in Washington, D.C. Had to stop by the Lincoln Memorial on my last night in town. Always awe-inspiring! #Lincoln #CivilWar

Thanks, Marc! Much appreciated.

That’s the stuff, Marc! Hope you’re enjoying the book!

Pub day!

Five days until MIDNIGHT ON THE POTOMAC is released. The book is about how close we came to losing our country during the last fraught months of the Civil War, and the loyal men and women who defeated the Confederacy, destroyed slavery, and gave our nation a new beginning. Out July 15th.