Richard Sidney Slotkin (born November 8, 1942) is a

cultural critic A cultural critic is a critic of a given culture, usually as a whole. Cultural criticism has significant overlap with social and cultural theory. While such criticism is simply part of the self-consciousness of the culture, the social positions o ...

and historian. He is the Olin Professor of English and

American Studies American studies or American civilization is an interdisciplinarity, interdisciplinary field of scholarship that examines American literature, History of the United States, history, Society of the United States, society, and Culture of the Unit ...

, Emeritus at

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the Methodi ...

Middletown, Connecticut Middletown is a city in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States. Located along the Connecticut River, in the central part of the state, 16 miles (25.749504 km) south of Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford. Middletown is the largest city in the L ...

, and, since 2010, a member of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

. Slotkin writes novels, predominantly historical ones, alongside his historical research, and uses the process of writing the novels to clarify and refine his historical work.

Education and career

Richard Sidney Slotkin was born on November 8, 1942, in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

. He received a B.A. degree from

Brooklyn College Brooklyn College is a public university in Brooklyn in New York City, United States. It is part of the City University of New York system and enrolls nearly 14,000 students on a campus in the Midwood and Flatbush sections of Brooklyn as of fall ...

in 1963 and a Ph.D. in American Civilization from

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

in 1967. He started teaching at

in 1966 and helped establish the school's American studies and film studies program. He remained at Wesleyan until his retirement in 2009.

Awards

''Regeneration Through Violence'' received the Albert J. Beveridge Award of the

American Historical Association The American Historical Association (AHA) is the oldest professional association of historians in the United States and the largest such organization in the world, claiming over 10,000 members. Founded in 1884, AHA works to protect academic free ...

as the Best Book in American History (1973) and was a Finalist for the

National Book Award The National Book Awards (NBA) are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. ...

in 1974. ''Gunfighter Nation'' was a National Book Award Finalist in 1993. In 1995, Slotkin received the

American Studies Association The American Studies Association (ASA) is a scholarly organization devoted to the interdisciplinary study of American culture, U.S. culture and American history, history. It was founded in 1951 and claims to be the oldest scholarly organization d ...

's Mary C. Turpie Award for his contributions to teaching and program-building. His novel ''Abe: A Novel of the Young Lincoln'' won the 2000 Michael Shaara Award for Excellence in Civil War Fiction. In 1976, he received an honorary Master of Arts degree in art education from Wesleyan University. His 2024 book ''A Great Disorder: National Myth and the Battle for America'' was longlisted for the

National Book Award for Nonfiction The National Book Award for Nonfiction is one of five US annual National Book Awards, which are given by the National Book Foundation to recognize outstanding literary work by US citizens. They are awards "by writers to writers". The panelists a ...

Works

*''Regeneration Through Violence: the Mythology of the American Frontier, 1600–1860'' (

Wesleyan University Press Wesleyan University Press is a university press that is part of Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. The press is currently directed by Suzanna Tamminen, a published poet and essayist. History and overview Founded (in its present form ...

, 1973) *''The Crater: A Novel of the Civil War'' ( Atheneum, 1980) *''Fatal Environment: The Myth of the Frontier in the Age of Industrialization, 1800–1890,'' (Atheneum, 1985) *''The Return of Henry Starr'' (Atheneum, 1988) *''Gunfighter Nation: Myth of the Frontier in Twentieth-Century America'' (Atheneum, 1992) *''Abe: A Novel of the Young Lincoln'' (

Henry Holt and Company Henry Holt and Company is an American book-publishing company based in New York City. One of the oldest publishers in the United States, it was founded in 1866 by Henry Holt (publisher), Henry Holt and Frederick Leypoldt. The company publishes in ...

, 2000) *''Lost Battalions: The Great War and the Crisis of American Nationality'' (Henry Holt and Company, 2005) *''No Quarter: The Battle of the Crater, 1864'' (

Random House Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the foll ...

, 2009) *''The Long Road to Antietam: How the Civil War Became a Revolution'' ( W. W. Norton & Company, 2012) *''Greenhorns: Stories '' ( Leapfrog Press, 2018) *''A Great Disorder: National Myth and the Battle for America'' (Belknap Press, 2024)

References

External links

* * Richard Slotkin Papers. Yale Collection of Western Americana, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. {{DEFAULTSORT:Slotkin, Richard Living people 21st-century American historians 21st-century American male writers Brown University alumni Writers from Connecticut Brooklyn College alumni Wesleyan University alumni Wesleyan University faculty Historians of the American West 1942 births American male non-fiction writers