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    The Remarkable Life of Reed Peggram

    The Man Who Stared Down World War II in the Name of Love

    Author Ethelene Whitmire
    Look inside
    Hardcover
    $30.00 US
    Penguin Adult HC/TR | Viking
    6.22"W x 9.31"H x 1.14"D   | 17 oz | 12 per carton
    On sale Feb 03, 2026 | 320 Pages | 9780593654194
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    The dramatic and heartrending true story of one remarkable young man's account of love in the time of war, by a celebrated historian of untold Black stories

    On the eve of World War II, a handsome young scholar arrived in Paris. The queer, Black son of a housecleaner, who had nevertheless been decorated in the halls of Harvard and Columbia, Reed Peggram flirted with Leonard Bernstein, sat for portraits by famous artists, charmed minor royalty and became like a little brother to famed researcher and writer Jan Gay. Finally in Europe and on the same prestigious scholarship as literary luminaries Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes before him, he ignored the increasingly alarmed calls to return home to a repressive, segregated America and a constrained life as a second class citizen. And as tensions grew and gas masks were distributed in the City of Lights, Reed turned instead to the new life he’d made: with Arne, a tall and dashing Danish scholar with whom he had formed a deep bond.

    Award-winning historian Ethelene Whitmire unearthed a trove of Reed’s letters when she met one of his descendants at a lecture, awed that she’d heard so little of this charismatic man and his fascinating true story of love and war. In The Remarkable Life of Reed Peggram, she introduces us to an unforgettable character who fled from country to country as fighting advanced, was captured by Nazis and outwitted them in a daring escape, and risked it all in a personal fight for a life of love, freedom, beauty and dignity in a world set against him.
    “Ethelene Whitmire has given a great gift to readers, rescuing a fascinating character from the mist of history and presenting his story in vivid detail and graceful prose. The Remarkable Life of Reed Peggram more than lives up to its title, reminding us that the struggle for freedom is a tale worth telling from as many angles as possible.”
    —Jonathan Eig, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of King: A Life

    “A remarkable and absorbing story about an exceptional man . . . This book allows us to see World War II and African American history with fresh eyes. Whitmire’s deeply researched account is proof that history can sometimes be more surprising than fiction.”
    —Matthew F. Delmont, author of Half American: The Heroic Story of African Americans Fighting World War II at Home and Abroad

    “Ethelene Whitmire wields the caring detail of an impassioned historian and the literary grace of an exquisite storyteller. The Remarkable Life of Reed Peggram is a searing marker of a society's compulsive marginalization of its brightest members. But it is so much more: an global portrait of a historical moment, an intimate celebration of a time of life, an immersive anthem about the sheer wonder of intellect, romance, and exploration. This book is an elegy—but one given with a wisdom that teaches us how to live.”
    —Jeff Hobbs, New York Times bestselling author of The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace: A Brilliant Young Man Who Left Newark for the Ivy League

    “Ethelene Whitmire has gifted us a singular, gripping story. Here was a man who, after battling racism and exclusion from his earliest years, would let neither penury nor war keep him from living on his own terms. The Remarkable Life of Reed Peggram pays beautiful tribute to its subject; may we forever remember him as Whitmire does, steering toward his destiny with fearless determination.”
    —Tamara J. Walker, author of Beyond the Shores: A History of African Americans Abroad

    “The Remarkable Life of Reed Peggram is a thrilling, impressively intimate study of a man whose encounters with love, literature, and fascism enliven our understanding of the past. Through Whitmire’s careful research, Peggram emerges as a figure who deserves far greater recognition in the overlapping canons of queer history and Black history.”
    —Michael Waters, Lambda Award–winning author of The Other Olympians: Fascism, Queerness, and the Making of Modern Sports

    “Ethelene Whitmire has rescued the astonishing story of an American scholar who crossed a war-torn continent and whose life was nearly erased. The Remarkable Life of Reed Peggram is at once deeply researched and grippingly told, a testament to survival, love, and the human spirit.”
    —Laurie Gwen Shapiro, author of The Aviator and the Showman: Amelia Earhart, George Putnam, and the Marriage That Made an American Icon

    “[Reed Peggram’s] extraordinary story comes to life in this dazzling biography from historian Whitmire … a vivid glimpse of queer Black life at an exceptionally tumultuous historical moment.”
    —Publishers Weekly *starred review*

    “Peggram’s story could be an alternative version of Casablanca . . . Whitmire’s biography brings this brave, decent man the recognition that is only now being given to so many unheralded Black Americans.”
    —BookPage

    “A sympathetic portrait of an extraordinary man.”
    —Kirkus Reviews
    © Hope Kelham
    Ethelene Whitmire is a respected historian and professor for the Department of African American Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Her research has won awards and funding from the Ford Foundation, the Fulbright Program, and the American Library Association, and she has been invited to writers residencies including Yaddo, UCross, Hedgebrook, and Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. View titles by Ethelene Whitmire

    About

    The dramatic and heartrending true story of one remarkable young man's account of love in the time of war, by a celebrated historian of untold Black stories

    On the eve of World War II, a handsome young scholar arrived in Paris. The queer, Black son of a housecleaner, who had nevertheless been decorated in the halls of Harvard and Columbia, Reed Peggram flirted with Leonard Bernstein, sat for portraits by famous artists, charmed minor royalty and became like a little brother to famed researcher and writer Jan Gay. Finally in Europe and on the same prestigious scholarship as literary luminaries Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes before him, he ignored the increasingly alarmed calls to return home to a repressive, segregated America and a constrained life as a second class citizen. And as tensions grew and gas masks were distributed in the City of Lights, Reed turned instead to the new life he’d made: with Arne, a tall and dashing Danish scholar with whom he had formed a deep bond.

    Award-winning historian Ethelene Whitmire unearthed a trove of Reed’s letters when she met one of his descendants at a lecture, awed that she’d heard so little of this charismatic man and his fascinating true story of love and war. In The Remarkable Life of Reed Peggram, she introduces us to an unforgettable character who fled from country to country as fighting advanced, was captured by Nazis and outwitted them in a daring escape, and risked it all in a personal fight for a life of love, freedom, beauty and dignity in a world set against him.

    Praise

    “Ethelene Whitmire has given a great gift to readers, rescuing a fascinating character from the mist of history and presenting his story in vivid detail and graceful prose. The Remarkable Life of Reed Peggram more than lives up to its title, reminding us that the struggle for freedom is a tale worth telling from as many angles as possible.”
    —Jonathan Eig, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of King: A Life

    “A remarkable and absorbing story about an exceptional man . . . This book allows us to see World War II and African American history with fresh eyes. Whitmire’s deeply researched account is proof that history can sometimes be more surprising than fiction.”
    —Matthew F. Delmont, author of Half American: The Heroic Story of African Americans Fighting World War II at Home and Abroad

    “Ethelene Whitmire wields the caring detail of an impassioned historian and the literary grace of an exquisite storyteller. The Remarkable Life of Reed Peggram is a searing marker of a society's compulsive marginalization of its brightest members. But it is so much more: an global portrait of a historical moment, an intimate celebration of a time of life, an immersive anthem about the sheer wonder of intellect, romance, and exploration. This book is an elegy—but one given with a wisdom that teaches us how to live.”
    —Jeff Hobbs, New York Times bestselling author of The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace: A Brilliant Young Man Who Left Newark for the Ivy League

    “Ethelene Whitmire has gifted us a singular, gripping story. Here was a man who, after battling racism and exclusion from his earliest years, would let neither penury nor war keep him from living on his own terms. The Remarkable Life of Reed Peggram pays beautiful tribute to its subject; may we forever remember him as Whitmire does, steering toward his destiny with fearless determination.”
    —Tamara J. Walker, author of Beyond the Shores: A History of African Americans Abroad

    “The Remarkable Life of Reed Peggram is a thrilling, impressively intimate study of a man whose encounters with love, literature, and fascism enliven our understanding of the past. Through Whitmire’s careful research, Peggram emerges as a figure who deserves far greater recognition in the overlapping canons of queer history and Black history.”
    —Michael Waters, Lambda Award–winning author of The Other Olympians: Fascism, Queerness, and the Making of Modern Sports

    “Ethelene Whitmire has rescued the astonishing story of an American scholar who crossed a war-torn continent and whose life was nearly erased. The Remarkable Life of Reed Peggram is at once deeply researched and grippingly told, a testament to survival, love, and the human spirit.”
    —Laurie Gwen Shapiro, author of The Aviator and the Showman: Amelia Earhart, George Putnam, and the Marriage That Made an American Icon

    “[Reed Peggram’s] extraordinary story comes to life in this dazzling biography from historian Whitmire … a vivid glimpse of queer Black life at an exceptionally tumultuous historical moment.”
    —Publishers Weekly *starred review*

    “Peggram’s story could be an alternative version of Casablanca . . . Whitmire’s biography brings this brave, decent man the recognition that is only now being given to so many unheralded Black Americans.”
    —BookPage

    “A sympathetic portrait of an extraordinary man.”
    —Kirkus Reviews

    Author

    © Hope Kelham
    Ethelene Whitmire is a respected historian and professor for the Department of African American Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Her research has won awards and funding from the Ford Foundation, the Fulbright Program, and the American Library Association, and she has been invited to writers residencies including Yaddo, UCross, Hedgebrook, and Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. View titles by Ethelene Whitmire

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