The 25th Annual Carls-Schwerdfeger History Lectureship culminated with a standing ovation from the audience in G.M. Savage Memorial Chapel for guest speaker Michael S. Neiberg, a multiple-award-winning author and historian.
Union president Samuel W. “Dub” Oliver opened the event with a welcome address.
“We’re an institution devoted to the life of the mind. Joining us tonight is an individual with a rich life of the mind,” Oliver said, referring to Neiberg.
Neiberg is a professor of history and the chair of war studies in the Department of National Security and Strategy at the United States Army War College and was introduced by Union’s history department chair Stephen Carls. Carls reminded those attending of the past prestigious speakers Union has hosted, as well as what the 25th year of the history lecture series meant to him.
Neiberg’s lecture, “Perilous Times: America’s Search for Security after the Fall of France in World War II,” focused on the topic of his most recently released book titled “When France Fell: The Vichy Crisis and the Fate of the Anglo-American Alliance,” which was published by Harvard University Press in 2021.
The lecture’s focal point was the fall of France during World War II which was explained and broken down in great detail, with Neiberg stating that he took particular care to be unbiased when reporting on historical events. Neiberg’s central area of expertise is the first and second World Wars, and he led the audience through both the small and significant aspects of the United States’ policies and potential strategies in and around 1940, the year in which France fell to Nazi Germany.
“He was a really good speaker because he was able to find the balance between developing a serious, informative lecture and keeping it entertaining,” senior English major Philip Trandel said of the lecture after its conclusion on Monday night.
Neiberg’s book is available for purchase on Amazon.
Photo by Laila Al-Hagal
