Great Author Line-Up at Three Venues Including Cyclorama

By Henry Bryant
BATL has a great lineup of authors coming as part of the annual Battle of Atlanta Commemoration in our neighborhoods. There are several opportunities running from July 12 through July 17 and they are all free with limited seating.
On Tuesday July 12 (if it isn’t too late), Wendy Venet will present her recent book Sam Richards’Civil War Diary. The book offers a personal view of life in Atlanta from the Civil War’s start 150 years ago through reconstruction. This program will be at the Jimmy Carter Library & Museum on Freedom Parkway at 7pm and is hosted by The Friends of East Atlanta Library in partnership with The Jimmy Carter Library.
On Saturday July 16, there will be a series of author presentations at Bound to Be Read Book Store (B2BR)  in East Atlanta Village. At  11am Barry Brown will be signing and discussing his book Crossroads of Conflict: Civil War Sites in Georgia. The book is a comprehensive look at the history that is still evident in our state including some places in our own neighborhoods.
At 2pm at B2BR, Dr. Brian Wills, director of the Center for the Study of The Civil War at Kennesaw State University, will speak about his book Gone with the Glory: The History of The Civil War in Cinema. Take a journey through the portrayal of the war in film, exploring what Hollywood got right and wrong, how the films influenced each other, and, ultimately, how the movies reflect America’s changing understandings of the conflict and of the nation.
At 4:30pm at B2BR, Marion Blackwell Jr., an author who grew up in East Atlanta, will read from his book Blue Locusts. It is a book of historical reflection, reporting, fiction and poetry. Included is the title story about Sherman’s march to the sea, “Return to Chickamauga,” “Vinings Chattahoochee River Line” and “11000 Killed in My Backyard.”
Wrapping up the series will be a finale presentation on Sunday July 17 at 7pm at The Cyclorama in Grant Park. Historian Bob Davis will tell the story of the devastation that befell Atlanta, the Union occupation, and how the “Gate City” was reborn from the ashes, reading from his newest book Civil War Atlanta. The talk will also give an advance peek at his latest research on the controversial Provost of Atlanta, George Washington Lee, “the man Sherman could not stop.”
The author presentations are made possible by the Georgia Humanities Council. For more info on these and other BATL activities and programs: www.batlevent.org.