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Clay Risen

Biography

Clay Risen

Clay Risen, a reporter and editor at The New York Times, is the author of THE CROWDED HOUR, a New York Times Notable Book of 2019 and a finalist for the Gilder-Lehrman Prize in Military History. He is a member of the Society of American Historians and a fellow at the Perry World House at the University of Pennsylvania. He is also the author of two other acclaimed books on American history, A NATION ON FIRE and THE BILL OF THE CENTURY, as well as his most recent book on McCarthyism, RED SCARE. He lives in Brooklyn, New York, with his wife and two young children.

Clay Risen

Books by Clay Risen

Red Scare: Blacklists, McCarthyism, and the Making of Modern America
by Clay Risen - History, Nonfiction

The film Oppenheimer has awakened interest in this vital period of American history. Now, for the first time in a generation, RED SCARE presents a narrative history of the anti-Communist witch hunt that gripped America in the decade following World War II. The cultural phenomenon, most often referred to as McCarthyism, was an outgrowth of the conflict between social conservatives and New Deal progressives, coupled with the terrifying onset of the Cold War. This defining moment in American history was marked by an unprecedented degree of political hysteria. Drawing upon newly declassified documents, journalist Clay Risen recounts how politicians like Joseph McCarthy, with the help of an extended network of other government officials and organizations, systematically ruined thousands of lives in their deluded pursuit of alleged Communist conspiracies.

The Crowded Hour: Theodore Roosevelt, the Rough Riders, and the Dawn of the American Century
by Clay Risen - History, Nonfiction

When America declared war on Spain in 1898, the US Army had just 26,000 men spread around the country --- hardly an army at all. In desperation, the Rough Riders were born. A unique group of volunteers, ranging from Ivy League athletes to Arizona cowboys and led by Theodore Roosevelt, they helped secure victory in Cuba in a series of gripping, bloody fights across the island. Roosevelt called their charge in the Battle of San Juan Hill his “crowded hour” --- a turning point in his life, one that led directly to the White House. As THE CROWDED HOUR reveals, it was a turning point for America as well, uniting the country and ushering in a new era of global power.

The Bill of the Century: The Epic Battle for the Civil Rights Act
by Clay Risen - History, Nonfiction

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was the single most important piece of legislation passed by Congress in American history. The bill's passage often has been credited to the political leadership of President Lyndon Johnson, or the moral force of Martin Luther King. Yet, as Clay Risen shows, the battle for the Civil Rights Act was a story much bigger than those two men. It was a broad, epic struggle, a sweeping tale of unceasing grassroots activism, ringing speeches, backroom deal-making and hand-to-hand legislative combat.

American Whiskey, Bourbon & Rye
by Clay Risen

The number of commercially available American whiskeys has grown exponentially over the past 20 years-as has its popularity. Discerning drinkers will savor this, the only guide devoted solely to US-made whiskey, rye, and bourbon.