Of all social media platforms I consider
Twitter to be my favorite in part because it's a useful way to find out things that are of interest to me on the web. But it can be a little overwhelming to know exactly who to follow. In this series, I'll share some of the feeds that have become my favorite feeds to follow. The following is a list of authors with a bent towards history as well as a couple of historical feeds that are worth a follow:
1. Eric Metaxas (@EricMetaxas)
The New York Times Bestselling author probably wouldn't consider himself a historian or biographer but he has shown himself adept at both roles. His books include
Bonhoeffer,
Amazing Grace, and most recently
7 Men. He is also host of
Socrates in the City in New York. He is also the host of
Breakpoint Radio. In addition, he's an incredibly funny guy and definitely worth a follow.
2. Amity Shlaes (@AmityShlaes)
She is the author of the excellent biography
Coolidge as well as the previous bestseller
The Forgotten Man about the Great Depression. She frequently shares links of a historical nature particularly connected with her books. Both books should be on your must read list. My interview with her about The Forgotten Man is
here.
3. Stephen Mansfield (@MansfieldWrites)
Most recently the author of
Killing Jesus as well as faith biographies of
George W. Bush and
Barack Obama, he is another author to definitely follow on Twitter. His tweets are often about a variety of different subjects with links to articles of note. Among books of his I would recommend are
Ten Tortured Words about the Establishment Clause in the First Amendment and
More Than Dates and Dead People which deals with restoring a Christian view to history.
4. Jane Hampton Cook (@janehamptoncook)
Formerly a webmistress during her time in the Bush White House, Cook has always had an interest in history. She is a frequent contributor on cable news as well as a prolific author. Her latest book is
American Phoenix, a biography of John Quincy and Louisa Adams.
5. Joel C. Rosenberg (@JoelCRosenberg)
Few people understand biblical prophecy and Middle East politics as well as Joel Rosenberg. He blogs about events in the Middle East at his
Flash Traffic blog. He is also the author of numerous political thrillers, all of which I would heartily recommend. His latest book is
Damascus Countdown.
6. Michael Beschloss (@BeschlossDC)
He's best known as a presidential historian and author of a number of books. But he's also proprietor of one of the coolest Twitter feeds out there. Don't take my word for it: read this
Washington Post profile. His accidental entry into Twitter has been one of the best feeds to come along in a while. The reason? He tweets nothing but photos many of which had never before been published. I have no idea where he finds them but they are always worth checking out.
7. Life (@LIFE)
In its heydey, LIFE Magazine was the penultimate historical photo album. If it happened, LIFE photographed it. Now the vast archives of photos is being posted on the internet. Many of them weren't even published originally in the magazine. They tweet out whenever they post a new album on their site. You could easily spend hours and hours looking through their pictures.
8. World War II Tweets (@RealTimeWWII)
Imagine what it would be like to have Twitter cover a major geopolitical event like World War II and you have what this feed is all about. Started a couple of years ago,
this project documents events as they happen on a particular date. As I am writing this, they are tweeting through 1941 and intend to continue all the way through the end of the war. They also frequently post photographs that are absolutely amazing.
9. Smithsonian National Museum of American History (@amhistorymuseum)
The largest repository of historical artifacts, the American History museum is a must-see for any history buff. They also frequently blog about their collection and send out tweets about new posts. If you want to know more about American history it's definitely a feed to follow.
