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Denise Kiernan

Goodreads Author

Website

http://www.denisekiernan.com

Twitter

DeniseKiernan

Genre

History, Biographies & Memoirs, Children's Books

Member Since

January 2010

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Denise Kiernan writes narrative nonfiction about the people history tends to overlook—most often the women who reshaped America while their names stayed in the footnotes. That thread runs from “The Girls of Atomic City,” her instant New York Times bestseller about the women who enriched uranium for the Manhattan Project, to “The Last Castle,” the story of the Vanderbilt family and the building of Biltmore, to her newest book, “Obstinate Daughters: The Rebels, Writers, and Renegade Women Who Ignited the American Revolution,” a national bestseller.

Both “The Last Castle” and “The Girls of Atomic City” were instant New York Times bestsellers in hardcover and paperback. “The Girls of Atomic City” was also an NPR and Los Angeles Times bestseller, ...more

612 posts
Denise Kiernan's Blog

Talking Independence and Messy History on NPR’s “Throughline”

Rioters topple the statue of King George III in Lower Manhattan on July 9, 1776.

NPR Throughline Podcast with Denise Kiernan and Walter Isaacson

Doing interviews for media outlets is nothing new. I have spent decades now on both sides of the microphone, telephone, camera, reporter’s notebook… But no matter how many times I participate, I am never quite sure what the end result is going to sound l

Combine Editions
Denise Kiernan’s books

Average rating: 3.74 · 50,084 ratings · 6,162 reviews · 32 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II 3.73 avg rating — 32,634 ratings — published 2013 — 25 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Last Castle 3.73 avg rating — 13,899 ratings — published 2017 — 15 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Signing Their Lives Away: The Fame and Misfortune of the Men Who Signed the Declaration of Independence by Denise Kiernan (Goodreads Author), Joseph D'Agnese (Goodreads Author) 3.93 avg rating — 1,889 ratings — published 2006 — 18 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Obstinate Daughters: The Rebels, Writers, and Renegade Women Who Ignited the American Revolution 3.57 avg rating — 271 ratings — published 2026 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Stuff Every American Should Know by Denise Kiernan (Goodreads Author), Joseph D'Agnese (Goodreads Author) 3.65 avg rating — 257 ratings — published 2012 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	We Gather Together: The True Story of Thanksgiving and the Woman Who Fought to Make It an American Holiday 3.61 avg rating — 240 ratings — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Indiana Jones Handbook: The Complete Adventurer's Guide by Denise Kiernan (Goodreads Author), Joseph D'Agnese (Goodreads Author) really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 215 ratings — published 2008 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Giving Thanks: How Thanksgiving Became a National Holiday by Denise Kiernan (Goodreads Author), Jamey Christoph (Illustrator) 3.56 avg rating — 142 ratings — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	24: The Official CTU Operations Manual by Denise Kiernan (Goodreads Author), Joseph D'Agnese (Goodreads Author) 4.22 avg rating — 37 ratings — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	We Gather Together (Young Readers Edition): Stories of Thanksgiving from Then to Now 3.76 avg rating — 29 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Denise Kiernan is currently reading

Ragtime

by E.L. Doctorow

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Sep 20, 2011 10:00AM

Denise Kiernan is currently reading

The Postmistress

by Sarah Blake (Goodreads Author)

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Jul 07, 2011 05:21AM

Denise’s Recent Updates

Denise Kiernan wrote a new blog post Talking Independence and Messy History on NPR’s “Throughline” Rioters topple the statue of King George III in Lower Manhattan on July 9, 1776. NPR Throughline Podcast with Denise Kiernan and Walter Isaacson Doin Read more of this blog post »
Jul 08, 2026 12:43AM · 1 like · like

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Quotes by Denise Kiernan (?)

“They fought to smile through the lines and the mud and the long hours, dancing under the stars and under the watchful eyes of their government, an Orwellian backdrop for a Rockwellian world.”
― Denise Kiernan, The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II

7 likes

“So the Next time September 17 rolls around, eat a hot dog, watch some fireworks, and celebrate Constitution Day - that fateful date in 1787 when thirty-nine sweaty men dressed in stockings signed their names to the United States Constitution.”
― Denise Kiernan, Signing Their Lives Away: The Fame and Misfortune of the Men Who Signed the Declaration of Independence

6 likes

“A dictator decrees,” she later wrote, “a president asks Congress for permission to organize.”
― Denise Kiernan, The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II

4 likes

See all Denise Kiernan's quotes »

Polls

September BoTM Nominations ~ Non-Fiction ~ 1st Poll
Top 5 Books move onto final poll

I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer

by Michelle McNamara

9 votes, 20.5%

Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood

by Trevor Noah

8 votes, 18.2%

A Walk in the Woods

by Bill Bryson

5 votes, 11.4%

American Heiress: The Wild Saga of the Kidnapping, Crimes and Trial of Patty Hearst

by Jeffrey Toobin

5 votes, 11.4%

After the Eclipse: A Mother's Murder, a Daughter's Search

by Sarah Perry

4 votes, 9.1%

Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania

by Erik Larson

3 votes, 6.8%

Code Girls: The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers Who Helped Win World War II

by Liza Mundy

3 votes, 6.8%

Janesville: An American Story

by Amy Goldstein

2 votes, 4.5%

The Blood of Emmett Till

by Timothy B. Tyson

2 votes, 4.5%

The Last Castle: The Epic Story of Love, Loss, and American Royalty in the Nation's Largest Home

by Denise Kiernan

2 votes, 4.5%

Of Mess and Moxie: Wrangling Delight Out of This Wild and Glorious Life

by Jen Hatmaker

1 vote, 2.3%

44 total votes

1 comment

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