Wade Hampton Sides (born 1962) is an American historian, author and journalist. He is the author of ''
Hellhound on His Trail,'' ''
Ghost Soldiers
Ghost soldiers or ghost battalions refers to army troops whom names appear on military rolls, but who are not actually in military service, generally in order to divert part of the soldiers' salaries to an influential local entity such as army of ...
,'' ''
Blood and Thunder'', ''On Desperate Ground'', and other bestselling works of
narrative history
Narrative history is the practice of writing history in a story-based form. It tends to entail history-writing based on reconstructing series of short-term events, and ever since the influential work of Leopold von Ranke on professionalising histo ...
and literary non-fiction.
Sides is editor-at-large for
''Outside'' magazine and has written for such periodicals as ''
National Geographic'',
The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
, ''
The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'',
''Esquire'', ''
Men's Journal'',
The American Scholar
"The American Scholar" was a speech given by Ralph Waldo Emerson on August 31, 1837, to the Phi Beta Kappa Society of Harvard College at the First Parish in Cambridge in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was invited to speak in recognition of his gro ...
,
Smithsonian, and ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
''. His magazine work, collected in numerous published anthologies, has been twice nominated for
National Magazine Awards
The National Magazine Awards, also known as the Ellie Awards, honor print and digital publications that consistently demonstrate superior execution of editorial objectives, innovative techniques, noteworthy enterprise and imaginative design. Or ...
for feature writing.
Early life
A native of Memphis, Sides attended
PDS Memphis and
Memphis University School, and graduated from
Yale
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...
with a
BA in history. In 2017, he was awarded an honorary doctorate in humane letters from Colorado College. Sides lives in
Santa Fe, New Mexico, with his wife Anne Goodwin Sides, a journalist and former
NPR
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
editor.
Career
Sides is a past fellow of the
Santa Fe Institute
The Santa Fe Institute (SFI) is an independent, nonprofit theoretical research institute located in Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States and dedicated to the multidisciplinary study of the fundamental principles of complex adaptive systems, inclu ...
,
Yaddo
Yaddo is an artists' community located on a estate in Saratoga Springs, New York. Its mission is "to nurture the creative process by providing an opportunity for artists to work without interruption in a supportive environment.". On March  ...
, the
MacDowell Colony
MacDowell is an artist's residency program in Peterborough, New Hampshire, United States, founded in 1907 by composer Edward MacDowell and his wife, pianist and philanthropist Marian MacDowell. Prior to July 2020, it was known as the MacDowel ...
, and the
Japan Society, and has been an Edwards Media Fellow at
Stanford University.
He is a member of the
Society of American Historians and serves on the boards of the
Authors Guild and the Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference. Sides has guest-lectured at
Columbia,
Yale
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...
,
Stanford,
Cal Tech, the
Autry National Center of the American West, the
American Embassy in
Manila
Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...
, the
National World War II Museum
The National WWII Museum, formerly known as The National D-Day Museum, is a military history museum located in the Central Business District of New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S., on Andrew Higgins Drive between Camp Street and Magazine Street. The ...
, the
Chautauqua Institution
The Chautauqua Institution ( ) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit education center and summer resort for adults and youth located on in Chautauqua, New York, northwest of Jamestown in the Western Southern Tier of New York State. Established in 1874, the ...
,
the Explorers Club
The Explorers Club is an American-based international multidisciplinary professional society with the goal of promoting scientific exploration and field study. The club was founded in New York City in 1904, and has served as a meeting point fo ...
, the Sun Valley Writers' Conference, and the Google campus, among other venues and institutions. He has appeared as a guest on such national broadcasts as the ''
American Experience
''American Experience'' is a television program airing on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in the United States. The program airs documentaries, many of which have won awards, about important or interesting events and people in American his ...
'', the
''Today'' show,
Book TV
''Book TV'' is the name given to weekend programming on the American cable network C-SPAN2 airing from 8 a.m. Eastern Time Sunday morning to 8 a.m. Eastern Time Monday morning each week. The 24-hour block of programming is focused on non-ficti ...
, the
History Channel
History (formerly The History Channel from January 1, 1995 to February 15, 2008, stylized as HISTORY) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney ...
, ''
Fresh Air
''Fresh Air'' is an American radio talk show broadcast on National Public Radio stations across the United States since 1985. It is produced by WHYY-FM in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The show's host is Terry Gross. , the show was syndicated to ...
'',
CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
, ''
CBS Sunday Morning
''CBS News Sunday Morning'' (normally shortened to ''Sunday Morning'' on the program itself since 2009) is an American news magazine television program that has aired on CBS since January 28, 1979. Created by Robert Northshield and original hos ...
'', ''
The Colbert Report
''The Colbert Report'' ( ) is an American late-night talk and news satire television program hosted by Stephen Colbert that aired four days a week on Comedy Central from October 17, 2005, to December 18, 2014, for 1,447 episodes. The show fo ...
'', and NPR's ''
All Things Considered
''All Things Considered'' (''ATC'') is the flagship news program on the American network National Public Radio (NPR). It was the first news program on NPR, premiering on May 3, 1971. It is broadcast live on NPR affiliated stations in the United ...
''.
Books
''Ghost Soldiers''
''
Ghost Soldiers
Ghost soldiers or ghost battalions refers to army troops whom names appear on military rolls, but who are not actually in military service, generally in order to divert part of the soldiers' salaries to an influential local entity such as army of ...
'' (Doubleday, 2001), a
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
narrative about the rescue of
Bataan Death March
The Bataan Death March (Filipino: ''Martsa ng Kamatayan sa Bataan''; Spanish: ''Marcha de la muerte de Bataán'' ; Kapampangan: ''Martsa ning Kematayan quing Bataan''; Japanese: バターン死の行進, Hepburn: ''Batān Shi no Kōshin'') wa ...
survivors, has sold slightly over a million copies worldwide and has been translated into a dozen foreign languages.
Erik Larson, author of ''
The Devil in the White City
''The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America'' (Crown Publishers, ) is a 2003 historical non-fiction book by Erik Larson presented in a novelistic style. It tells the story of the 1893 World's Colu ...
'', praised ''Ghost Soldiers'' as a "Great Escape for the Pacific Theater," and ''Esquire'' called it "the greatest World War II story never told." The book was the subject of documentaries on
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...
and
The History Channel
History (formerly The History Channel from January 1, 1995 to February 15, 2008, stylized as HISTORY) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney ...
, and was partially the basis for the 2005
Miramax film, ''
The Great Raid
''The Great Raid'' is a 2005 war film about the Raid at Cabanatuan on the island of Luzon, Philippines during World War II. It is directed by John Dahl and stars Benjamin Bratt, James Franco, Connie Nielsen, Marton Csokas, Joseph Fiennes with Motok ...
'' (along with
William Breuer's ''The Great Raid on Cabanatuan''). ''Ghost Soldiers'' won the 2002
PEN USA Award for non-fiction and the Discover Award from
Barnes & Noble. The book's success led Sides to create The Ghost Soldiers Endowment Fund, a non-profit foundation dedicated to preserving the memory of the sacrifices made by Bataan and
Corregidor veterans by funding relevant archives, museums, and memorials.
''Americana''
''
Americana: Dispatches from the New Frontier'' is a 2004 collection of
non-fiction
Nonfiction, or non-fiction, is any document or media content that attempts, in good faith, to provide information (and sometimes opinions) grounded only in facts and real life, rather than in imagination. Nonfiction is often associated with b ...
essay
An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal a ...
s. The book was published in paperback on April 13, 2004, through
Doubleday.
The book consists of several essays that Sides wrote while traveling through the United States and examining
American cultures during a period of 15 years. Sides pays specific attention to
subcultures that would fall under the topic of "
Americana
Americana may refer to:
*Americana (music), a genre or style of American music
*Americana (culture), artifacts of the culture of the United States
Film, radio and television
* ''Americana'' (1992 TV series), a documentary series presented by J ...
".
''Blood and Thunder''
''
Blood and Thunder'' (Doubleday, 2006) focuses on the life and times of controversial frontiersman
Kit Carson
Christopher Houston Carson (December 24, 1809 – May 23, 1868) was an American frontiersman. He was a fur trapper, wilderness guide, Indian agent, and U.S. Army officer. He became a frontier legend in his own lifetime by biographies and ...
, and his role in the conquest of the
American West. A critic for the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...
'' described ''Blood and Thunder'' as "stunning, haunting, and lyrical," while ''The Washington Post'' called it "riveting, monumental...authoritative and masterfully told." ''Blood and Thunder'' was named one of the 10 Best Books of 2006 by ''
Time Magazine
''Time'' (stylized in all caps) is an American news magazine based in New York City. For nearly a century, it was published weekly, but starting in March 2020 it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York City on Ma ...
'', and was selected as that year's best history title by the History Book Club and the
Western Writers of America
Western Writers of America (WWA), founded 1953, promotes literature, both fictional and nonfictional, pertaining to the American West. Although its founders wrote traditional Western fiction, the more than 600 current members also include histori ...
. ''Blood and Thunder'' was the subject of a major documentary on the PBS program ''
American Experience
''American Experience'' is a television program airing on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in the United States. The program airs documentaries, many of which have won awards, about important or interesting events and people in American his ...
'' and is currently under development for the screen.
''Hellhound on His Trail''
''
Hellhound on His Trail'' (Doubleday 2010) is about the
assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., and the largest manhunt in American history to capture
James Earl Ray
James Earl Ray (March 10, 1928 – April 23, 1998) was an American fugitive convicted for assassinating Martin Luther King Jr. at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968. After this Ray was on the run and was cap ...
, who pleaded guilty in 1969 and served the rest of his life in prison. Sides, who is a native of
Memphis
Memphis most commonly refers to:
* Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt
* Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city
Memphis may also refer to:
Places United States
* Memphis, Alabama
* Memphis, Florida
* Memphis, Indiana
* Memp ...
, is the first historian to make use of a new digital archive in that city, called the B. Venson Hughes Collection, which contains more than 20,000 documents and photos, many of them rare or never before published. Sides' research forms much of the basis for PBS's documentary "Roads to Memphis", which originally aired May 3, 2010, on the award-winning program, ''American Experience''.
''Hellhound on His Trail'' reached #6 on
The New York Times Best Seller list
''The New York Times'' Best Seller list is widely considered the preeminent list of best-selling books in the United States. John Bear, ''The #1 New York Times Best Seller: intriguing facts about the 484 books that have been #1 New York Times ...
and was a finalist for the 2011 Edgar Awards as the year’s best non-fiction mystery.
Janet Maslin
Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for ''The New York Times''. She served as a ''Times'' film critic from 1977 to 1999 and as a book critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000 Maslin ...
of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' called the book "spellbinding...bold, dynamic, unusually vivid," while a reviewer in ''
The New York Times Book Review
''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely rea ...
'' suggested that ''Hellhound'' "may be the first book on King that owes less to
Taylor Branch
Taylor Branch (born January 14, 1947) is an American author and historian who wrote a Pulitzer Prize winning trilogy chronicling the life of Martin Luther King Jr. and much of the history of the American civil rights movement. The final volume o ...
than
Robert Ludlum
Robert Ludlum (May 25, 1927 – March 12, 2001) was an American author of 27 thriller novels, best known as the creator of Jason Bourne from the original '' The Bourne Trilogy'' series. The number of copies of his books in print is estimated b ...
." ''Time Magazine'' said ''Hellhound'' "unfolds like a mystery—one read not for the ending but for all the missteps and near misses along the way." Critic Laura Miller, writing on
Salon.com
''Salon'' is an American politically progressive/ liberal news and opinion website created in 1995. It publishes articles on U.S. politics, culture, and current events.
Content and coverage
''Salon'' covers a variety of topics, including re ...
, described ''Hellhound'' as a "meticulous yet driving account that is in essence a true-crime story and a splendid specimen of the genre."
David Garrow
David Jeffries Garrow (born May 11, 1953) is an American author and historian. He wrote the book ''Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference'' (1986), which won the 1987 Pulitzer Prize for Biogr ...
, author of a
Pulitzer Pulitzer may refer to:
*Joseph Pulitzer, a 20th century media magnate
* Pulitzer Prize, an annual U.S. journalism, literary, and music award
*Pulitzer (surname)
* Pulitzer, Inc., a U.S. newspaper chain
*Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, a non-pr ...
-winning biography of King, wrote in ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' that ''Hellhound'' was "a carefully constructed true-crime narrative" and "a memorable and persuasive portrait" that "makes a valuable contribution to the historical record."
Black Label Media Black Label Media is a Los Angeles based independent film production, television production, podcast, entertainment and finance company founded in 2013. The company had a 25 percent stake in ''La La Land'' (2016).
History
The founders are Molly Sm ...
will produce and direct a film adaption, with a spring 2018 target for start of production. The script will be adapted by
Scott Cooper who will also direct the film.
''In the Kingdom of Ice''
''In the Kingdom of Ice'' (2014, Doubleday) recounts the tragic true story of the first official American attempt on the North Pole, the voyage of the USS ''Jeannette'' led by Navy captain
George DeLong in 1879. Key historical figures in the book include
James Gordon Bennett, Jr., owner of the ''
New York Herald'' newspaper and financier, and
August Heinrich Petermann
Augustus Heinrich Petermann (18 April 182225 September 1878) was a German cartographer.
Early years
Petermann was born in Bleicherode, Germany. When he was 14 years old he started grammar school in the nearby town of Nordhausen. His mother wa ...
, a German
cartographer whose theory helped spawn the polar expedition.
The book has been translated into French, German, Chinese, Polish, and Russian, among other languages.
Mark Bowden
Mark Robert Bowden (; born July 17, 1951) is an American journalist and writer. He is a national correspondent for ''The Atlantic''. He is best known for his book '' Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War'' (1999) about the 1993 U.S. military r ...
, author of ''Black Hawk Down,'' called ''In the Kingdom of Ice'' “the most dramatic polar mission you’ve never heard of. Once you start, you won’t stop.”
S.C. Gwynne, author of ''Empire of the Summer Moon'' called it “an Arctic thriller . . . an authentic narrative masterpiece.” Efforts to locate the wreck of the USS ''Jeannette'' have been led by the
Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation
The Prince Albert II Foundation (Official name: Fondation Prince Albert II de Monaco) is a Monaco-based charity which has donated millions in various environmental projects. The foundation was initially created in 2006 by Prince Albert II of Mona ...
, for which Sides has served as a consultant. ''In the Kingdom of Ice'' is reportedly being developed for the small screen by Emmy Award winning screenwriter Kirk Ellis ''(John Adams).''
''On Desperate Ground''
''On Desperate Ground: The Marines at The Reservoir, the Korean War's Greatest Battle'', was published on October 2, 2018. It is a multifaceted retelling of the
Battle of Chosin Reservoir
The Battle of Chosin Reservoir, also known as the Chosin Reservoir Campaign or the Battle of Lake Changjin (), was an important battle in the Korean War. The name "Chosin" is derived from the Japanese pronunciation "''Chōshin'', instead of t ...
through the experiences of marines, commanders, pilots, Korean citizens and the Chinese. ''On Desperate Ground'' on a deeper level, is also an indictment of the overweening hubris of
General of the Army,
Douglas MacArthur. Through MacArthur's self-proclaimed expertise on the "Oriental mind" and what Sides referred to as MacArthur's "solemn regard for his own mind", MacArthur was thoroughly convinced of American victory; instead, and while completely ignoring the advice of leaders on the ground, MacArthur sent American troops into what could only result into a massacre. Historian
Douglas Brinkley called the book “a heart-pounding, fiercely written . . . one of the finest battle books ever.” A reviewer for
Bloomberg Bloomberg may refer to:
People
* Daniel J. Bloomberg (1905–1984), audio engineer
* Georgina Bloomberg (born 1983), professional equestrian
* Michael Bloomberg (born 1942), American businessman and founder of Bloomberg L.P.; politician and m ...
, calling the book “ superb,” wrote that ''On Desperate Ground'' "should be required reading for negotiators on both sides of the DMZ.” ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' named ''On Desperate Ground'' one of the ten best books of 2018, and the
Marine Corps Heritage Foundation named it the year's best non-fiction book.
Considerable parts of the narrative follow aviator
Jesse L. Brown
Jesse LeRoy Brown (October 13, 1926 – December 4, 1950) was a United States Navy officer. He was the first African-American aviator to complete the United States Navy's basic flight training program (though not the first African-American Navy ...
, who is also the subject of the 2022 film
Devotion.
Selected journalism
*''The
New York Times Book Review''; 'On
Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by
Erik Larson'.
*''
National Geographic''; ''"Science Seeks to Unlock Marijuana's Secret"''.
*''
National Geographic''; ''"Unseen Titanic"''.
*''
National Geographic''; ''"Russian Refuge"''.
*''
National Geographic''; ''"1,000 Days in the Ice"''.
*''
Outside''; ''"Tracing the Steps of Lost Explorers in Miserable, Beautiful Siberia"''.
*''
Outside''; ''"The Man Who Saw Too Much"''.
*''
Outside''; ''"Bear Grylls Plays Dirty"''.
*''
Outside''; ''"Anyone for a Dip?"''.
*''
Outside''; ''"The Birdman Drops In"''.
*''
Outside''; ''"Wake-Up Call"''.
*''
Outside''; ''"Quadzilla"''.
*''
Outside''; ''The Place Where Two Fell Off''.
*''
Men's Journal''; ''"The First to Die"''.
*''
Bicycling
Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...
''; ''"Life's Rich Pageant"''.
*''
The Dallas Morning News
''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885 by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the '' Galvest ...
''; ''"Decades after assassinations, Memphis and Dallas remain hostages of history"''.
*''
The American Scholar
"The American Scholar" was a speech given by Ralph Waldo Emerson on August 31, 1837, to the Phi Beta Kappa Society of Harvard College at the First Parish in Cambridge in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was invited to speak in recognition of his gro ...
''; ''"Frozen Assets"''.
*''
Newsweek
''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely ...
''; ''"The Fall of Greg Mortensen and Our Longing for Heroes"''.
*''
The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
''; ''"National Defense"''.
*''
Garden & Gun
''Garden & Gun'' is a national magazine focusing on the American South. The magazine reports on the South's culture, food, music, art, literature, and its people and their ideas. It was created in 2007, published by the Evening Post Publishing Co ...
''; ''"City Portrait: Memphis, Tennessee"''.
Bibliography
* ''Stomping Grounds: A Pilgrim's Progress Through Eight American Subcultures'' (1992)
* ''
Ghost Soldiers: The Epic Account of World War II's Greatest Rescue Mission'' (2001)
* ''Why Moths Hate Thomas Edison and Other Urgent Inquiries into the Odd Nature of Nature: The Best of Outside Magazine's "The Wild File"'' New York: Norton, 2001.
* ''
Americana: Dispatches from the New Frontier'' (2004)
* ''
Blood and Thunder: An Epic of the American West'' (2006)
* ''
Hellhound on His Trail: The Electrifying Account of the Largest Manhunt in American History (2010)
*
*
References
External links
Official websiteDoubleday website for Sides's history, Blood and ThunderWebsite for Sides's anthology of journalism, Americana: Dispatches from the New FrontierInterviewon ''Blood and Thunder'' at the
Pritzker Military Museum & Library
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sides, Hampton
1962 births
Living people
American columnists
American non-fiction writers
Writers from Santa Fe, New Mexico
Writers from Tennessee
People from Memphis, Tennessee
Yale University alumni
Journalists from Tennessee