The Official Website of Doug Stanton

New Reporting.
New Questions.
New Answers.

Learn More

New Edition of Horse Soldiers now available.

New Reporting. New Questions. New Answers.

IN HARM'S WAY

Learn More

6 months on the New York Times Best-Seller List

As seen on The Today Show, Morning Joe, CNN, Fox, Discovery, History, A&E, and NBC Nightly News

As featured in PBS’s “USS Indianapolis: The Final Chapter"

An Amazon and Barnes & Noble Notable/Best Book Of The Year

An Audible Award Winner— "Best History Book"

Best-seller lists— Publisher’s Weekly, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, USA TODAY, Christian Science Monitor, Entertainment Weekly, BookSense, Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, New York Times

12 Strong

Based on the #1 New York Times bestseller, Horse Soldiers

Learn More

Chris Hemsworth (“Thor,” “The Avengers” films) and Oscar nominee
Michael Shannon (“Revolutionary Road,” “Nocturnal Animals”) star in
“12 Strong,” a powerful new war drama from Alcon Entertainment,
Black Label Media and Jerry Bruckheimer Films. Based on the best-selling
book Horse Soldiers, it is a story of heroism based on true events that
unfolded a world away in the aftermath of 9/11.

THE ODYSSEY

OF ECHO COMPANY

The 1968 Tet Offensive and the Epic Battle to Survive the Vietnam War

by Doug Stanton
Published by Scribner (S&S)

Learn More

“Stanton’s searing tale of war and homecoming will soon finds its place on the rarefied shelf among the classics of the Vietnam War.”
—Hampton Sides

Media

Now in paperback!

Military Times Best Book Of The Year

Best Nonfiction Book Award, Society of Midland Authors

Learn More

U.S.S. Indianapolis, Lost for 72 Years, Is Found

In July, 1945 the USS Indianapolis was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine. Based on Doug’s reporting in his book In Harm’s Way, the ship sank in about 12 minutes, killing some 300 sailors, and sending some 900 adrift in a burning sea. In August 2017, the wreckage of the ship was found.

Read Doug's piece in Newsweek

See Doug on CBS

PBS's USS Indianapolis Live

12 Strong Movie
Tie-in edition,
out now wherever
books are sold

Learn More

A film starring Chris Hemsworth,
Michael Shannon and Michael Peña
about the U.S. Special Forces
sent to Afghanistan right after the
September 11 attacks., previously
published as Horse Soldiers.

Media

Doug Stanton is a #1 New York Times bestselling author, lecturer, screenwriter. His books include The Odyssey of Echo Company, In Harm’s Way, and Horse Soldiers. Horse Soldiers is the basis for a Jerry Bruckheimer-produced movie titled 12 Strong, starring Chris Hemsworth and Michael Shannon, released by Warner Bros. in 2018. Horse Soldiers is required reading by US Army Special Forces at the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School. In Harm’s Way, the definitive account of the sinking, rescue, and valor of the USS Indianapolis crew, spent more than six months on the New York Times bestseller list and became required reading on the U.S. Navy's reading list for officers. The unabridged audiobook edition of In Harm’s Way is the winner of the 2017 Audie Award in the History category. Horse Soldiers was featured on the front page of the Sunday New York Times Book Review, and is also a New York Times bestselling ebook and audiobook. The Odyssey of Echo Company is a Military Times Best Book Of The Year and recipient of the The Society of Midlands Authors Best NonFiction Book Award. He has lectured at libraries, civic and corporate groups, bookstores, universities, including the US Department of State and The Center for Strategic International Studies. He recently appeared, with Lynn Novick, co-producer of PBS’s "The Vietnam War,” on CSPAN’s "American History” to discuss the Vietnam War.

Doug Stanton has appeared as an USS Indianapolis historian on PBS’s 2017 “USS Indianapolis–From The Deep,” The Today Show, CNN, Fox, Morning Joe, NBC Nightly News, CBS This Morning, C-SPAN Book TV, History, A&E, Smithsonian Channel, Discovery, and in hundreds of national radio and print interviews.

In Harm’s Way spent more than six months on the New York Times bestseller list and has been translated in multiple languages. In 2017, the unabridged audiobook edition was the winner of an Audie Award in the History category.The book is read in U.S. highs schools as part of History and English/Creative Writing coursework and is a popular choice of book clubs nationwide.

His writing about the USS Indianapolis has appeared in Naval History magazine and other national publications. In Harm’s Way was included in the U.S. Navy’s required reading list for naval officers.

In Harm’s Way was a Publisher’s Weekly “Notable Book," a Michigan Notable Book of the Year, a Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com Notable/Best Book of The Year, and appeared on multiple bestseller lists: The New York Times, Publisher’s Weekly, Los Angeles Times, Detroit Free Press, Washington Post, USA TODAY, Christian Science Monitor, Entertainment Weekly, Publisher’s Weekly, Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, The Sunday Times (London), and Book Sense.

As chronicled in In Harm’s Way, in July 2001, the Department of Navy, joining with the United States Congress, exonerated the ship’s court-martialed captain, Charles McVay. This historic reversal of fortune was preceded by a decades-long journey by USS Indianapolis survivors and families, friends, and interested parties from across the US, seeking justice for McVay and their ship’s legacy. As survivor Giles McCoy told Doug Stanton, he and his shipmates had promised McVay that they would “clear the skipper’s name.” McCoy, founder of the USS Indianapolis Survivors’ organization, and his shipmates made further good on this promise with the dedication of the USS Indianapolis National Memorial, in August, 1995.

After the publication of In Harm’s Way, Doug and Anne Stanton established “The USS Indianapolis Survivor’s Fund Scholarship Program,” administered by the Grand Traverse Regional Foundation, and later generously endowed, in memory of rescue pilot of Chuck Gwinn, as “The USS Indianapolis/Gwinn 'Angel' Scholarship Endowment” by the Gwinn family. Doug and Anne also provided the initial donation supporting publication of USS Indianapolis Survivors' oral histories. '

Learn More

IN HARM’S WAY

“Stanton not only offers a well-researched chronicle of what is widely regarded as the worst naval disaster in U.S. history, but also vividly renders the combatants’ hellish ordeal during the sinking, and the ensuing days at sea as well as attempts to cope with the traumatic aftermath. Stanton’s omniscient narrative shifts among the individual perspectives of several principal characters, a successful technique that contributes to the book’s absorbing, novelistic feel.”

–Publisher’s Weekly

IN HARM’S WAY

“A thoroughly researched, powerfully written account of a nightmare at sea, one of the most poignant tragedies and injustices of World War II. I was struck throughout by the extraordinary heroism of the marines and sailors who survived, all the more remarkable because they do not see it on themselves.”

– Mark Bowden, author of Black Hawk Down and Hue 1968

IN HARM’S WAY

“[In Harm’s Way] fully deserves the acclaim it has received.”

–National Review

IN HARM’S WAY

“A haunting story of valor, iniquity, and young men in peril on the sea. Once the Indianapolis steams into the crosshairs of the Japanese submarine I-58, In Harm’s Way is impossible to put down. Doug Stanton’s account of the Indy’s sinking and the harrowing aftermath is as infuriating, mesmerizing, and heartbreaking as any tale yet told of the great war in the Pacific.“

– Rick Atkinson, author of The Long Gray Line and The Liberation Trilogy

IN HARM’S WAY

“When it comes to… sea tales, few are as riveting as that of the USS Indianapolis…”

–The Wall Street Journal

IN HARM’S WAY

“Stanton tensely tells how four days of shark attacks and hypothermia killed hundreds.”

–People magazine

IN HARM’S WAY

“In Harm’s Way is an important book.”

–New Orleans Times-Picayune

IN HARM’S WAY

“…A powerfully intimate story… Stanton’s book successfully paints a remarkable picture of…heroism, and the strength of the human spirit.”

–American History

IN HARM’S WAY

“Doug Stanton has done this country a service by bringing the incredible yet almost-forgotten story of the USS Indianapolis to heart-pounding life. Do yourself a favor. Read In Harm’s Way.”

–James Bradley, author of Flags of Our Fathers

IN HARM’S WAY

“The secret to any good history book is for readers to be taught a history lesson without knowing it. In Harm’s Way does just that.”

–Chicago Tribune

IN HARM’S WAY

““Superbly crafted, [In Harm’s Way] . . . benefits from sympathetic research on the Indianapolis survivors, the horrors of their experiences, and their courage in surviving.”

–Booklist

IN HARM’S WAY

“Drawing on extensive interviews with survivors and rescuers and on government files that have only recently been opened to view, Doug Stanton has rendered a public service by providing the first complete account of the tragedy of Indianapolis. . . This is a grim, poignant story that needed to be told fully and honestly. With painstaking research and an unerring eye for detail, Stanton has set down a riveting, eloquent tale of great power.”

–World War II magazine

IN HARM’S WAY

“Stanton writes a riveting account of the USS Indianapolis, [and] weaves testimony from survivors with corroborating research… a harrowing story of what the survivors withstood until help arrived.”

–Christian Science Monitor

Just reading THE LIONS FINALLY ROAR by Bill Morris and loved the story of when an underling tells mulit-millionaire Bill Ford that he drinks too much. He had just bought the team in November of '63, but was disappointed with his "expensive new toy." It was Christmas time and Bill was having a drink with Dick Morris, his p.r. guy and confidante. Out of the blue, Bill offered Dick the job as the team's general manager. But Dick was a former reporter and spent years doing p.r. for the Ford Motor Company. He knew "precisely nothing" about managing a team. He told Ford he had serious doubts about taking the job, but Bill assured him he could "do it with his left hand."
Bill writes:
"Sipping his drink, Dick Morris came to a decision. It was time to let Bill Ford know the deeper reason for his demurral.
"I'll seriously consider taking the GM job," he said, "if you'll do something about that guy sitting on that table there"—he pointed at the bottle—"Mr. Jack Daniel from Lynchburg, Tennessee."
Now it was Ford's turn to be flabbergasted. "You've got to be kidding."
"I"m not kidding. I'm worried about it. We're both doing it too much, and I think you're getting to the point where it's serious and I want to tell you that as both a friend and an employer. And I'm not going to undertake the responsibility of running your football team if the drinking continues at the level it's now going going."
"Well, maybe you've got a point," Ford conceded. But he quickly came back to himself. He was not a man accustomed to getting lectured by an employee or hearing no for an answer. There was a hint of acid in this next question: "Are you turning me down?"
"No, but I don't think it's going to work without your help."
They dropped the conversation, finished their drinks, then hit the town.
That job offer set the tone for everything that was to come."
Bill Morris told me about growing up with Dick Morris, his dad, hearing all his stories. In the 1990s, he decided to tape record them.
"He was from Georgia and a great storyteller. I took the tapes out of the drawer and used those interviews with my dad—that's how the book got started. "
It's an AMAZING read, even for me, a newbie Lions fan. I invited Bill to Traverse City to talk about his book and he'll be here on Wednesday, December 18, at the City Opera House. Come see him and get a free copy of THE LIONS FINALLY ROAR with your ticket. To reserve a seat, call the City Opera House at 231-941-8082, ext. 201, or go to their website. 🙂 You can also watch virtually. All the info is on the Traverse City National Writers Series website!

Thanks to supporters: Cherry Capital Airport - TVC Cherry Republic NorthGuard Technology Group and The Brick Foundation.

Doug Stanton Traverse City National Writers Series ... See MoreSee Less

2 weeks ago

View on Facebook

Likes: 0
Shares: 0
Comments: 0

Comment on Facebook

Out today. Get it. There are people in your life who lived this, about whom you don't know much-- yet. Eye opening. SWIFT SWORD, by Doyle Glass, Author ... See MoreSee Less

2 weeks ago

View on Facebook

Likes: 1
Shares: 1
Comments: 0

Comment on Facebook

Check out this new dramatic book by Doyle Glass, just published today. Untold story comes to light. As told by the people who were there, reported and written by Doyle Glass, Author. ... See MoreSee Less

This content isn't available right now

When this happens, it's usually because the owner only shared it with a small group of people, changed who can see it or it's been deleted.

2 weeks ago

View on Facebook

Likes: 0
Shares: 0
Comments: 0

Comment on Facebook

Huge open to a new season. The Tix selling fast. Congrats NWS team.Here's a sneak peek to our upcoming Winter/Spring Season!

— Geraldine Brooks and "Memorial Days" on Sat. Feb. 8 at Lars Hockstad Auditorium and virtual.

— Scott Turow and "Presumed Guilty" on Thurs., Feb. 27, virtual only.

— Jennifer Weiner and "The Griffin Sisters' Greatest Hits" on Wed., April 9 at the City Opera House and virtual.

NWS friends, those who donated $50 or more to our nonprofit in the past 12 months, get tickets first. Tickets are now on sale to FRIENDS ONLY!

Become a Friend and get the best seats and first dibs on tickets! Donate here: nationalwritersseries.org/donate-and-support/

We will open in-person ticket sales to the general public next Tuesday, Dec. 17. We will announce the rest of our upcoming season in early January.

City Opera House Horizon Books - Traverse City Doug Stanton Anne Gertiser Stanton #traversecitymichigan #authorevent #jenniferweiner #geraldinebrooks #scottturow ... See MoreSee Less