WALTER R. BORNEMAN

Walter R. Borneman’s latest book on American history is Reckoning: The American West on Edge, to be published by the University of Utah Press in early 2027. While widely recognized for his titles on American military and political history, Walt has lived in the Mountain West and written about it most of his life. His experiences range from climbing its mountains and rafting its rivers to evacuating his hometown in the face of a monster firestorm.

His book on Colorado's mountains, A Climbing Guide to Colorado's Fourteeners (with Lyndon J. Lampert), was first published in 1978 and in print for twenty-five years. Borneman's titles include the New York Times bestseller The Admirals and books about James K. Polk, western railroads, and Alaska. He holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in history from Western Colorado University and a law degree from the University of Denver. His volunteer roles have included leadership positions with the Colorado Fourteeners Initiative and the Rocky Mountain Conservancy.

Walt has won awards from the Society of Colonial Wars in the State of New York, the Tennessee Library Association and Historical Commission, the Colorado Humanities Program, and the Samuel Eliot Morison Award for Naval Literature. His commentary has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and Washington Post.

My overriding goal in writing history has always been to get the facts straight and then present them in a readable fashion. I am convinced that knowing history is not just about appreciating the past, but also about understanding the present and planning for the future.