T. J. Stiles

T. J. Stiles (born 1964) is an American biographer who lives in Berkeley, California. His book The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2009) won a National Book Award His book Custer's Trials: A Life on the Frontier of a New America received the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for History.

Background

Stiles was born and raised in Foley, Minnesota, a rural farming community. He graduated from Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota with Distinction in History, and received a fellowship to study European history at Columbia University in New York City. After receiving a Master of Arts and a Master of Philosophy, he took a position in publishing at Oxford University Press.

Early publications

In the 1990s, Stiles edited a series of anthologies of primary sources on American history. These included The Citizen's Handbook (New York: Berkley Publishing Group, 1994); In Their Own Words: Civil War Commanders (New York: Perigee Books, 1995), In Their Own Words: Warriors and Pioneers (New York: Perigee Books, 1996), In Their Own Words: Robber Barons and Radicals (New York: Perigee Books, 1997), In Their Own Words: The Colonizers (New York: Perigee Books, 1998), and In Their Own Words: Founding Fathers (New York: Perigee Books, 1999), later republished as The American Revolution. Stiles also wrote for periodicals, authoring pieces for Smithsonian, Denver Post, and the Los Angeles Times.

Biographies

Jesse James: Last Rebel of the Civil War In 2002, Stiles published Jesse James: Last Rebel of the Civil War (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2002). This was a widely noted reassessment of the legendary outlaw, focusing on his life and historical role, rather than his folk-culture status. Stiles argued that Jesse James won political support by depicting himself as a Confederate avenger after the Civil War, as opposed to the traditional notion that he was an anti-railroad Robin Hood figure.

The book received a cover review in The New York Times Book Review, and was favorably reviewed by many other publications in the United States and abroad.

The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt In 2009, after seven years of work, Stiles published his second biography The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2009). This massive study was the first comprehensive account of the life of "Commodore" Cornelius Vanderbilt, the nineteenth-century shipping and railroad mogul, financial backer of Vanderbilt University, and founder of the Gilded Age Vanderbilt dynasty. This book was also widely and very favorably reviewed. It went on to win the 2009 National Book Award for Nonfiction and the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Biography. It was also named a New York Times Notable Book and one of the best books of the year by The New Yorker, the Financial Times, the Christian Science Monitor, the Boston Globe, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and other publications. Thomas Powers remarked in the New York Review of Books that Stiles's relegation of the Battle of Little Bighorn to the epilogue "is about the boldest purely literary decision I’ve seen in a long while, and the effect is startling." The book has been named a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography and for the Guggenheim-Lehrman Prize in Military History. It received the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for History.

Fellowships and other awards Stiles is a member of the Society of American Historians. He has also received a Distinguished Alumni Award from Carleton College. In 2019, Stiles received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement presented by Awards Council member Rick Atkinson.

Other writings, appearances, and professional positions Stiles has published numerous reviews and essays. He has written for the New York Times Book Review, the Washington Post, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Salon.com, The Atlantic online, and the New York Observer. He is a popular public speaker and has appeared on several television documentaries. He served as a consultant and on-screen interview subject in the PBS series The American Experience, for the films Jesse James and Grand Central, among other programs. He also taught nonfiction creative writing at Columbia University, and belonged to the faculty of the 2014 World Economic Forum annual meetings. He is a former member of the San Francisco Writer's Grotto.

Currently, Stiles serves on the executive council of the Authors Guild and on the advisory council of the Biographers International Organization.

Personal life Stiles practices and teaches Japanese Shotokan karate-do, and holds a 6th Dan from the Japan Karate Association. A resident of New York City for twenty years, he now lives in Berkeley, California, with his wife, son, and daughter.