From the Battlefield to the Stage: The Many Lives of General John Burgoyne

Part of Saratoga's Fall Lecture Series presented in partnership with the Friends of Saratoga Battlefield.

Norman S. Poser speaks on his recently published book, From the Battlefield to the Stage: The Many Lives of General John Burgoyne. Burgoyne is chiefly known to history for surrendering his army to the American forces at Saratoga in 1777, an event that turned out to be a turning point in the Revolutionary War. Both on and off the battlefield, Burgoyne led an action-packed life: as a young man, he eloped with the daughter of an English earl; a devotee of the theatre, he wrote plays that were successfully produced on the London stage; a Member of Parliament for thirty years, he fought corruption in India and advocated religious toleration; he was welcome in London’s elite gambling clubs and fashionable drawing rooms. One hundred years after Burgoyne’s death, the playwright George Bernard Shaw, impressed by his versatile talents and humane character, gave him the apt nickname of “Gentleman Johnny.” It has stuck. Reservations are required. Email us at sara_reservations@nps.gov to reserve your spot! Please include the date of the program you wish to attend.

In addition to his biography of John Burgoyne, Norman S. Poser is the author of two other non-fiction books about eighteenth-century England: a biography of the great judge, Lord Mansfield; and a book about the London stage in the time of the actor and theatre manager David Garrick. A retired law professor, Poser lives with his wife, Judy Cohn, in New York City.