Walter R. Borneman Books In Order

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Walter R. Borneman is a history and nonfiction author that is known for his political history and American military literary works.

The author made his debut when he published “A Climbing Guide to Colorado’s Fourteeners” in 1978 and has since been producing works steadily.

For his work on “The Admirals” which would become a national bestseller, he was the winner of the Samuel Eliot Morison Prize. The work told the story of four men that would ever get the highly coveted rank of fleet admiral in American history.

Borneman would, later on, win many other awards and make the final shortlists for the likes of the Colorado Book Award, the Gilder Lehrman Prize for Military History, and the Tennessee History Book Award.

Borneman attended Colorado’s Western State College in 1974 which is where he earned his graduate and an undergraduate degree in history.

For his masters, he wrote about the western mining frontier and particularly a small town that mushroomed from a small settlement into a booming economy.
Walter R. Borneman would then attend the University of Denver, from where he graduated with a law degree and then went on to practice as a lawyer focusing on issues of historic preservation.

From 1982 to 1985, he worked as the lawyer for the Colorado Historical Society that was working on the reconstruction of the premier landmark districts in the West in the Railroading Park and Georgetown Loo Mining.

Walter at some point served as the president of the Idun Y. Berry and Walter V. Foundation. The foundation works to find funding for post-doctoral fellows for students pursuing children’s health studies at Stanford.

Between 1996 and 1999, Walter R. Borneman worked for the Colorado Fourteeners Initiative as its first chairman. He is also a member of the Colorado Mountain Club Foundation board.

Between 1975 and 1976 he worked for the Colorado Centennial-Bicentennial Commission as a heritage coordinator. In the years between 1977 and 1980, he was the acting director and assistant to the director of the Colorado Historical Society.

Aside from fiction works, he has also written for the likes of Fox News, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, and the New York Times.
Borneman has given keynote speeches to presidential sites and historical societies across the United States.

Some places where he has spoken include the James K. Polk ancestral home and birthplace, the Alaska Historial Society, and the Colorado Historial Society.
He currently makes his home in Colorado and frequently spends his time climbing the heights.

Walter R. Borneman’s work Polk is a spirited biography of the man that was the president of the United States between 1845 and 1849.

Despite being a one-term president, he was one of the most effective presidents. Polk significantly expanded the executive office powers and expanded the borders of the US after promoting the war against Mexico.

Not drawing on parallels with the current administration, Borneman makes a convincing case that the president was one of the best leaders who laid the foundation for what would become a great empire.

Polk saw Andrew Jackson as his mentor and made his mark in Tennessee before he came to national prominence. In 1825 he successfully got elected to Congress where he was an enthusiastic supporter of Andrew Jackson.

During his time in Congres, he was a speaker and nothing of the dark horse he is usually seen as when he won the ticket at the 1844 Democratic convention.
He was in fact a fiercely ambitious and nationally known politician who had the support of Jackson.

Once in office, he showcased Jacksonian vibrancy. He would then add Texas to the Union and settled the boundaries of Oregon after skirmishing with the French.

Walter R. Borneman’s novel “The Admirals” is a great work that is a comparative history work about four five-star generals.

It explores their relative strengths and their tireless efforts in what is a moving tale of tragedy and triumph during World War II.

Ernest King, Chester Nimitz, William Leahy, and William Halsey were the only five-star generals ever to reach that rank in the history of the United States.
Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, these four were instrumental in rebuilding the American fleet.

Leahy organized and built the big ship gun strategy and was the first to become an admiral.

King is a volatile and steely leader that headed the postgraduate Naval school and was the commander in chief of the American fleet. He demonstrated top-class strategic insight as he divided Pacific and Atlantic theaters which helped to win the war.

Nimitz who started out in the submarines is a ferocious and consummate commander who was a decisive and bold commander in chief of the Pacific Fleet.

On the other hand, is the scrappy commander and fighter Bull Halsey who exhibited can-do leadership in the war in the Solomon Islands.

Walter R. Borneman’s novel “1812” asserts that the 1812 war had a significant impact on American history despite being often dismissed as a sideshow to what was happening in Europe.

The author examines the origins of the conflict, the practice of impressing American seamen by the English, and the desire of many Westerners such as William Henry Harrison and Andrew Jackson to annex more territory.

Much of the war was fought against Canada and there were several prominent battles on the Great Lakes.

When invading American soldiers burned York in Canada which would later become known as Toronto, the English retaliate by sacking and burning Washington.

Borneman writes a good story as she shows how the Europeans viewed this as a sideshow. He offers insights into some of the best generals including English general Wellington, who refused to command English armies sent to America.

There is the vastly unpopular James Madison from New England who sent his best men to try to negotiate a truce so that they could concentrate on the war in Europe instead.

When he finally managed to get a deal, it was too late and the war continued ultimately culminating in the Battle of New Orleans, where a crack British army was defeated by Andrew Jackson.