John Kelly

John Kelly's new book, "Never Surrender: Winston Churchill and Britain's Decision to Fight Nazi Germany in the Fateful Summer of 1940,"​ chronicles the battles, ploys, and gamesmanship among Britain's War Cabinet during one of the most perilous and consequential seasons of the last century. After the Germans had taken Poland, France, Holland, Belgium, and Czechoslovakia - and were menacing Britain as Paris fell - the question was: should Britain negotiate with Germany? Or fight on and - per Churchill - "never surrender"​? Kelly's deeply researched account of these character-testing months will be published on October 20, 2015, by Scribner, Colin Harrison, editor. With his last two books – "The Graves Are Walking: The Great Famine and the Saga of the Irish People"​ -- which was widely praised by history scholars, literary reviewers, statesmen and international activists, including President Bill Clinton -- and "The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the Black Death, The Most Devastating Plague of All Time,"​ Kelly has established himself as a major writer of deeply researched, narratively compelling, and highly lauded popular histories. He has also written on psychology and medicine, including a narrative about clinical trials, "Three on the Edge: Three Patients In Search of a Medical Miracle." Kelly has been a featured speaker at the Smithsonian Institution, Princeton University, New York University, Bard College, Fordham University, The University of British Columbia, Baylor University Albion College, The State University at Albany, the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, as well as numerous NPR, C-Span, and History Network appearances. Kelly lives in Manhattan and Berkshire County, Massachusetts.