H.W. Brands Headshot
Report a problem with this profile
[email protected]

H.W. Brands      

Educator, Author & Historian

Henry William Brands was born in Oregon, went to college in California, sold cutlery across the American West and earned graduate degrees in mathematics and history in Oregon and Texas.

He taught at Vanderbilt University and Texas A&M University before joining the faculty at the University of Texas at Austin, where he holds the Jack S. Blanton Sr. Chair in History.

He writes on American history and politics, with books including "The Last Campaign," "Our First Civil War," and "The Zealot and the Emancipator". Several of his books have been bestsellers and both "Traitor to His Class" and "The First American" were finalists for the Pulitzer Prize.

Brands lectures frequently on historical and current events, and can be seen and heard on national and international television and radio. He publishes history-themed poetry on Twitter and “A User’s Guide to History” on Substack.

Speech Topics


The Zealot and the Emancipator:

John Brown, Abraham Lincoln and the Struggle for American Freedom

Related Speakers View all


More like H.W.