Tony Castro's America

Thank You, Readers!

Ashton Kutcher was among more than 400 who attended Tony's book signing at Lucy's El Adobe Cafe in Hollywood.

People often ask me which is my favorite out of all the books I’ve written, and I always reply that books are like children – you love them all equally but differently.

I stand by that answer, but sometimes the characters in a book will resonate so much with you that you want to continue spending time with them. That happened to me with Mantle: The Best There Ever Was, and also with my newest book, Maris & Mantle: Two Yankees, Immortality and the Age of Camelot. I completed that manuscript two summers ago, and surprisingly Maris stays with me even as I move on as a writer.

Fortunately, the promotion of Maris & Mantle has givien me ample opportunity to keep Roger in my immediate thoughts. He was his own man, and sometimes I feel as though the book is more of a biography of Roger Maris -- a biography of an American original in which Mickey Mantle played an important part.

Of course, you, readers, are my partners in this adventure. For that, I’m so truly grateful to those of you who helped make Maris & Mantle a bestseller at Amazon -- and helped return Mickey Mantle: America's Prodigal Son, originally published in 2002, back to the bestseller list this year as well. 

 

 

Visiting With Napoleon at Versailles

Although Napoleon is prominently featured at the Palace of Versailles, he did not reside in the château. But the apartments were arranged and decorated for the use of the empress Marie-Louise. Versailles also features The Coronation of Napoleon in Notre Dame, famous painting by  Jacques-Louis David.

Napoleon & The Christ

“Almost since the beginning of time, armies had marched into war bearing symbols of protection from higher powers. Plutarch wrote that in leading his troops Alexander the Great would shift “his lance into his left hand, and with his right appealed to the gods… praying (to) them, if he was really sprung from Zeus, to defend and strengthen the Greeks.” In Biblical times, the high priest Aaron served as a religious figure who traveled together with the military. In feudal Europe, armies carried papal flags to show that their campaigns had the blessing of the church. So, too, Napoleon in his first presiding military assignment to Italy had ignored orders from the French Revolution’s ruling Directory to dethrone Pope Pius VI and shutter the church. Instead Napoleon outfitted each of his regiments with imperial standards that had been blessed by the pope.”

From Napoleon and The Christ, due out in 2019 in the U.S. and France, commemorating the 250th anniversary of Napoleon Bonaparte’s birth.

DID NAPOLEON UNVEIL an astonishing truth concealed for centuries? When Napoleon came to power he had the Musée du Louvre, located on Paris’ Right Bank, renamed in his honor — and soon the Musée Napoleon was overflowing with the artistic spoils of war as Bonaparte’s Grand Army swept across the continent. Among the cultural artifacts that made their way to Paris were hundreds of paintings and sculptures, including every image Napoleon could find of Jesus Christ,as well as the sacred relics from the crucifixion. Why? Why this obsession from the conqueror who had fought endlessly with Pope Pius VII who ultimately excommunicated him? What did Napoleon know that had eluded everyone else for over seventeen centuries?

 

Happy New Year!

May everyone be blessed with happiness, answered prayers and fulfilled dreams in the coming year. Happy New Year's wishes and in the words of one of my favorite writers, Simone de Beauvoir: Change your life today. Don't gamble on the future, act now, without delay... Change ta vie aujourd'hui. Ne pariez pas sur le futur, agissez maintenant, sans délai.

Napoleon Book Deal Done!

Part of my Christmas came early. We just finalized the deal on my Napoleon biography, working title 'Napoleon and The Shroud,' to be published by Lyons Press, an imprint of Rowman & Littlefield. http://NapoleonTheChrist.com