National Outdoor Book Award
1 appearances
-
Edition 20 (2016) Winner
Maurice Isserman
モーリス・イッサーマン
Mōrisu Issāman
Profile
- Gender
- Male
- Born
- 1951-03-12 （Hartford, Connecticut, USA）
- Nationality
- United States
- Languages
- English
- Religion
- Judaism (heritage)
- Residence History
- Hartford (born) → Coventry, Connecticut → Portland, Oregon → Clinton, New York (Hamilton College)
Career
- Occupations
- Historian, Professor, Author, Mountaineering historian/commentator
- Active Years
- 1973-
- Affiliations
- Hamilton College (James L. Ferguson Professor of History), Smith College (visiting/temporary positions), Mount Holyoke College (temporary), Williams College (temporary)
- Influenced By
- Eugene Genovese, Christopher Lasch
- Influenced
- Scholars of American communism
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reed College | — | History | BA | 1968–1973 | United States |
| University of Rochester | — | History | MA | 1974–1976 | United States |
| University of Rochester | — | History (PhD dissertation) | PhD | 1976–1979 | United States |
Reed College
History
Degree:
BA
Period:
1968–1973
Year of Graduation:
1973
Country:
United States
Undergraduate thesis on radical American writers of the 1930s.
University of Rochester
History
Degree:
MA
Period:
1974–1976
Year of Graduation:
1976
Country:
United States
Graduate work in American history; continued into doctoral program.
University of Rochester
History (PhD dissertation)
Degree:
PhD
Period:
1976–1979
Year of Graduation:
1979
Country:
United States
Dissertation on the American Communist Party during World War II.
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | National Outdoor Book Award | Fallen Giants (with Stewart Weaver) | — | National Outdoor Book Award organization | 受賞 |
| 1997 | Fulbright Distinguished Professorship | Teaching American political history at Moscow State University (visiting) | — | Fulbright Program | 受与 |
National Outdoor Book Award
2008
Work:
Fallen Giants (with Stewart Weaver)
Organization:
National Outdoor Book Award organization
Result:
受賞
Fulbright Distinguished Professorship
1997
Work:
Teaching American political history at Moscow State University (visiting)
Organization:
Fulbright Program
Result:
受与
Awards & Nominations
Works
Major Works
Which Side Were You On? The American Communist Party during the Second World War
1982 History (political history)A documentary and analytical history of the American Communist Party during World War II, examining internal conflicts and political positioning.
American political historyCommunismWorld War II
Fallen Giants: The History of Himalayan Mountaineering from the Age of Empire to the Age of Extremes
2008 Mountaineering history / Non-fictionCo-authored with Stewart Weaver, this comprehensive history traces Himalayan mountaineering from the Age of Empire to contemporary extremes, addressing technical challenge, cultural context, and the ethics of exploration.
Mountaineering historyEmpire and explorationAdventure culture
Continental Divide: A History of American Mountaineering
2016 Mountaineering history / Non-fictionA social and historical account of mountaineering in the United States, exploring exploration, recreation, intersections with military history, and changes in climbing culture.
MountaineeringAmerican historyCultural history
Bibliography
- Which Side Were You On? The American Communist Party during the Second World War (1982)
- If I Had a Hammer... The Death of the Old Left and the Birth of the New Left (1987)
- Dorothy Healey Remembers: A Life in the American Communist Party (1990, with Dorothy Healey)
- America at War: The Korean War (1992, with John Stewart Bowman)
- Witness to War: Vietnam (1995)
- Journey to Freedom: The African American Great Migration (1997)
- America Divided: The Civil War of the 1960s (2000, with Michael Kazin)
- The Other American: The Life of Michael Harrington (2000)
- Exploring North America, 1800-1900 (2005, with John Bowman)
- Fallen Giants: The History of Himalayan Mountaineering from the Age of Empire to the Age of Extremes (2008, with Stewart Weaver)
- America at War: World War II (2010, with John Stewart Bowman)
- Across America: The Lewis And Clark Expedition (2010, with John Stewart Bowman)
- On The Hill: A Bicentennial History of Hamilton College 1812–2012 (2011)
- Cronkite's War: His World War II Letters Home (2013, with Walter Cronkite)
- Continental Divide: A History of American Mountaineering (2016)
- The Winter Army: The World War II Odyssey of the 10th Mountain Division (2019)
- Reds: The Tragedy of American Communism (2024)
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- Scholarly, documentary-driven proseSocial-history perspective with accessible narrativeBalance between academic rigor and general readership
- Recurring Motifs
- Internal history of leftist movementsRelations between movements and individualsIntersection of exploration/mountaineering and social culture
Legacy
Isserman is an important historian of the American Communist movement and the New Left, and in recent years has produced highly regarded works on mountaineering history. He is known for interpretations that influence both academia and general readers.
Trivia
- Born in Hartford in 1951.
- Moved from political history to publishing several mountaineering histories from the late 2000s onward.
- Won the National Outdoor Book Award in 2008 for Fallen Giants.
- Publicly announced resignation from the Democratic Socialists of America in 2023.