Douglas Brinkley

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Douglas Brinkley (born 1961) is an author and professor of history, currently lecturing at Tulane University. He is most famous for his John Kerry biography, Tour of Duty.

The late historian, Stephen E. Ambrose, once called Brinkley "the best of the new generation of American historians" [1].

During the early 1990's, Brinkley taught American Arts and Politics out of Hofstra University aboard the Majic Bus, a roving, transcontinental classroom, from which emerged the book, The Majic Bus: an American Odyssey, published in 1993. In 1993 he left Hofstra University to teach at the University of New Orleans, and taught this class again, using a natural-gas bus. He also worked with Stephen Ambrose, then Director of the Eisenhower Center. Upon Stephen Ambrose's death, Brinkley became Director of the Eisenhower Center.

Brinkley is the editor of a three-volume collection of letters written by journalist-author Hunter S. Thompson:

Volume 1: The Proud Highway: Saga of a Desperate Southern Gentleman, 1955-1967. Published April 7, 1998.
Volume 2: Fear And Loathing In America: The Brutal Odyssey of an Outlaw Journalist. Published December 13, 2000.
Volume 3: The Mutineer: Rants, Ravings, and Missives from the Mountaintop, 1977-2005. Scheduled to be released January 1, 2007.

In January 2006, Brinkley and fellow historian, Julie M. Fenster, released Parish Priest, a biography of Fr. Michael J. McGivney, the founder of the Knights of Columbus.

In May 2006, he released The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast, a record of the effects of Hurricane Katrina on the Gulf Coast. Brinkley spoke about the book and his experiences during Hurricane Katrina on NPR's Fresh Air in September of 2005 [2].

Brinkley lives in New Orleans with his wife and three children.