MSU historian John Marszalek featured on History Channel in May

Award-winning Mississippi State historian and Civil War scholar John F. Marszalek will appear on a May 22 History Channel program focusing on Union Gen. William T. Sherman and his famous march to the sea.The university's Giles Distinguished Professor Emeritus will be featured on the popular cable channel's new program called "The Conquerors." He wrote a highly acclaimed biography of Sherman in 1993 and is author of another forthcoming book on the famous general. "Sometime this summer, my book 'Sherman's March to the Sea' will be published by McWhiney Foundation Press in its acclaimed 'Civil War Campaigns and Commanders Series'," said Marszalek, who retired in 2002 after nearly 30 years on the faculty. "It is aimed at the general reading public and classes in American history."A nationally recognized researcher and lecturer, Marszalek recently returned to campus as the university's director and mentor of distinguished scholars, which includes holders of the most prestigious undergraduate scholarships. His 1993 work, "Sherman: A Soldier's Passion for Order," was a finalist for the Lincoln Prize, considered the most prestigious award for Civil War books.Over his career, the Buffalo, N.Y., native has appeared on all three major networks, as well as Cable News Network and C-SPAN, among others. Marszalek's most recent publication, "Commander of All Lincoln's Armies: A Life of General Henry W. Halleck," (November 2004, Harvard University Press) became a History Book Club selection March 17. It focuses on the puzzling career of a senior Union officer who was a commanding general longer than anyone else in the four-year conflict, but whose legacy subsequently fell into somewhat of an historical vacuum.In 2002, the John F. and Jeanne A. Marszalek Lecture Series was established at Mississippi State's Mitchell Memorial Library to honor the distinguished professor and his wife, an influential leader in local politics and race relations. The purpose of the series is to encourage use of primary source materials related to American history, the Civil War and Reconstruction, Jacksonian America, and race relations.