T.J. Stiles
Biographer
T.J. Stiles is a biographer whose works include "Jesse James: Last Rebel of the Civil War" (2002) and "The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt" (2009), for which he won the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. Stiles also authored a five-volume series of historical anthologies, and has written a number of articles for Smithsonian, the Denver Post, and the Los Angeles Times. His next biography will focus on the life of General George Armstrong Custer.
Why Politicians Need to Know History
The past doesn’t so much teach us specific lessons as give us an appreciation for the complexity of the issues we face.
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5 min
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What Today’s CEOs Could Learn From Cornelius Vanderbilt
Problems in corporate America are often connected to the fact that management is no longer answerable to the people who actually own their companies.
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7 min
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Inside the Psyche of a Robber Baron
Cornelius Vanderbilt couldn’t spell, but he had a consummate passion for competition.
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6 min
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More Research Materials Mean More Research
Digitization has actually made working on biographies more laborious. The sheer amount of material means that the process actually takes longer if you’re going to be thorough.
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6 min
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Good Biographies Ask Big Questions
Although biographies often focus on individuals, they’re really about exploring big historical trends.
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2 min
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Big Think Interview With T.J. Stiles
A conversation with the Cornelius Vanderbilt biographer.
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26 min
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