The On The Bookshelf Podcast

interview-Ralph White and how he rescued 113 Vietnamese refugees from Saigon in April 1975

In his new book, Ralph White explains how as a 27-year-old with experience in Vietnam and Burma he was dispatched to Saigon in April 1975 to get his Chase Bank employees to safety and gently shut down the branch. The task was much bigger and more perilous than anyone thought. White used great courage and determination combined with insight and creativity to accomplish a near-impossible task within a few days of the Fall of Saigon to the North Vietnamese communist military forces. He did this without personal gain, even hiring a teen prostitute to NOT have sex with him but to be his interpreter and assistant in this incredible endeavor. He saved her and 112 others, who would have been killed by the communists because they had worked for the Americans.

interview--Sarah Sundin returns with her latest WWII Historical novel, this time in Denmark

Sarah Sundin is meticulous in her research so you can trust the situations she builds into her novels. This time, a female physicist has traveled from America to work for the renowned physicist Neil Bohr in Copenhagen just before the Nazis come marching in. The Reich treated Denmark with kid gloves for several years but the Danes were determined to avoid sending off their Jews or helping Hitler in any way possible. There were, of course, some who collaborated with the Nazis. But our other lead character used everything in his power to defeat the hated invaders. He was an Olympic rower, so he traveled at night between Sweden and Denmark carrying messages from the Danish Underground to their allies in Stockholm, all while maintaining a dual identity as a dull dock worker. This allowed him even more opportunities to stand up to the Germans. Eventually the baron's son and the brilliant women physicist meet at a boarding house, and fight their growing attraction. They dare not trust anyone, because both hold secrets that can get others killed. Will they trust God, who brought them together? 

interview--Rebecca Boggs Johnson with the true story of First Lady Edith Wilson and he Big Secret

In 1918, The President had a debilitating stroke, brought on by stress and overwork. Woodrow Wilson was desperately trying to get the American people to insist that their Congressmen vote for America to join the League of Nations, and traveled across the nation on a train to speak to as many as possible.

His left side was immobilized by the stroke, and he never recovered. But he was still in office, and the amendment to replace him with the Vice President had not been proposed or passed. So his wife, the most outgoing First Lady yet, came up with a plan, known only to her husband's doctor and his chief of staff. They would pretend he was fine, just really tired. They pulled it off. She was essentially the unelected Chief Executive for the balance of his term! What kind of woman could manage this situation? A very extraordinary one.

interview-Why should America embrace a failed social program like Multiculturalism and trash Melting Pot?

Jeans Hencke investigated examples of Multiculturalism across the ages and the globe to see if it ever benefits a nation. What he found was very disturbing: rather than unite people, Multiculturalism always divides them into angry camps. Why did the Aztecs fall? They didn't want to assimilate those they conquered, so when the Conquistadors arrived they found plenty of allies to fight the Aztec Empire. You'll be horrified to learn that the Rwandan Genocide occurred because the Belgian colonizers deliberately created enmity between the Tutsis and the Hutus. Happily, that has been overturned by citizens who declare "we are all Rwandans". The Roman Empire extended citizenship with its privileges to warriors they defeated in battle, making them proud Romans and eliminating insurrections. They used the Melting Pot to their advantage until AD 400 when they discarded it, and the barbarians sacked Rome because as non-Romans there was no motivation to NOT do it. America needs to heed the lessons of history and geography.

interview--Wartime Romance on the North Carolina coast (novel)

We have two wartime romances: one set during The Great War and the other during the Second World War. Each involves a local woman, strong and brave and resourceful; and a young man from England who is there for a specific purpose. Each will involve danger and secret codes. Intrigued? There are plenty of twists and surprises as these four people try to figure out what God is leading them to do and how they can serve Him in time of war.