McCullough and S&S: 40 Years

On March 18, 1968, Simon & Schuster published David McCullough's first book. Since then, the American historian has written seven more critically acclaimed works, all with S&S, most repped by Mort Janklow, that have nearly nine million copies in print. Michael Korda is the editor behind most of the books and attributes McCullough's success to three things: the author's “unbeatable instinctive sense for historical subjects that the American public wants to read about”; his ability to instill trust in his readers; and his books' combination of scrupulous research and “brilliant narrative.” In 1995, HBO made a movie of Truman, and last night (Mar. 16), the network debuted a seven-part miniseries based on John Adams. S&S has published a tie-in edition, on sale now.