Legacy Lecture

Alex Kershaw is the author of numerous books on World War II, including the New York Times best-sellers The Bedford Boys and The Longest Winter. 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 recently made into a drama series aired by Netflix in 2020. 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 several battlefield tours of Europe and he will be leading a tour of London, Normandy, and Paris for the Friends of the National World War II Memorial in June 2022. Kershaw’s latest book, The First Wave: The D-Day Warriors Who Led the Way to Victory in World War II, was published in 2019 to mark the 75th anniversary of D-Day and was a national best-seller. His next book, Against All Odds, is expected in Spring 2022. Kershaw serves as a member of the Friends of the National World War II Memorial’s Board of Directors.