Lecture: Alex Kershaw - The Liberator

New York Times best-selling author Alex Kershaw, Resident Historian for Friends of the National World War II Memorial, tells the incredible true story of Felix Sparks, a Texas-born officer who fought in WWII from the beaches of Sicily to the gates of Dachau. It’s a harrowing but also inspiring story of great heroism and leadership exhibited by an exceptional member of the Greatest Generation. 

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Alex Kershaw is the author of numerous books on World War II, including the New York Times best-sellers The Bedford Boys, The Longest Winter, Avenue of Spies, Against All Odds, and his newest book, Patton’s Prayer, published in May 2024. His 2012 book, The Liberator: One World War II Soldier’s 500-Day Odyssey from the Beaches of Sicily to the Gates of Dachau, was made into a drama series aired by Netflix in 2020. Kershaw’s book, The First Wave: The D-Day Warriors Who Led the Way to Victory in World War II, published in 2019, was a national best-seller. A graduate of University College, Oxford, England, Kershaw’s journalism has appeared in many magazines and newspapers since 1990, and he has also worked as a screenwriter and in television, penning an award-winning 2004 documentary on Bobby Kennedy. He is an honorary colonel in the 116th Infantry Regiment of the 29th Infantry Division. Since 2012, Kershaw has led many battlefield tours of Europe, and he will be leading tours for the Friends of the National World War II Memorial of The Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany in September 2024 and of London, Normandy, and Paris in May 2025. Kershaw serves as Resident Historian of the Friends of the National World War II Memorial.