David McCullough: Americans in Paris

When historian David McCullough announced his intention to write a book about Americans in Paris, his interest was in Americans who went to Paris in the years between 1830 and 1900, not, as he observed, "to make a social splash, but with the ambition to excel. The old world was the new world to them," says the author. McCullough discusses his latest work, "The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris."

Speaker Biography: Librarian of Congress James H. Billington has called David McCullough the "citizen chronicler" for his meticulously researched and beautifully written historical books, such as the Pulitzer Prize winners "Truman" and "John Adams," the latter of which became an Emmy Award-winning miniseries on HBO. He is also a two-time winner of the National Book Award, for "The Path Between the Seas" and "Mornings on Horseback." His newest book is "The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris" (Simon & Schuster). McCullough has also received the National Book Foundation Distinguished Contribution to American Letters Award, the National Humanities Medal and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.