55 ratings | 22 reviews | avg rating:4.38

Steve’s Year In Books

Steve’s 2025 Year in Books

Take a look at Steve’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.

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Steve Procko

Goodreads Author

Born

in Miami Beach, The United States

Website

https://www.CapturedFreedom.com

Genre

Biography, History, Nonfiction

Influences

Laura Hillenbrand; Erik Larson; Charles Frazier

Member Since

March 2021

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Steve Procko is an Emmy Award–winning filmmaker, historical nonfiction author, and documentary storyteller with a passion for uncovering America's forgotten histories. After founding and leading a successful production company for more than thirty years, he turned his deep love of research and narrative storytelling toward the written word.

His latest book, Captured Freedom (2023), explores the daring Civil War escapes of Union officers from Confederate prison camps — a true story of endurance and ingenuity that won an Independent Press Award. More about the project can be found at CapturedFreedom.com.

His earlier work, Rebel Correspondent (2021), reveals the remarkable story of a little-known Confederate journalist and also earned an Indepen ...more

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Popular Answered Questions

What are you currently working on?

Steve Procko My last book “Captured Freedom” released in the fall of 2023 - CapturedFreedom.com

Since then, I have begun writing another fascinating historic non-fi…moreMy last book “Captured Freedom” released in the fall of 2023 - CapturedFreedom.com

Since then, I have begun writing another fascinating historic non-fiction story that takes place between 1880 through 1920.

"Gilded Breeze" tells the story of the Breese family in New York.

The patriarch, James L. Breese Sr, known to his friends as Jimmie, is a wealthy man of many talents - architect with an engineering degree, amateur photographer in Alfred Stieglitz's circle, early racer of automobiles and the first sports cars, and social climber constantly craving fame. His family dates back to before the Revolutionary War and included many notable members including the Roosevelts and Samuel F. B. Morse, inventor of the telegraph.

His wife Fannie is the daughter of a Civil War General Robert B. Potter and has a family lineage as equally impressive as her husband.

But it was his close friendship with the architect Stanford White, with whom he threw notorious parties at The Carbon Studio, his Sixteenth Street photography studio, for which he became infamous. At the end of the Victorian era, many well-known members of society attended Stanny and Jimmie's soirées, Augustus St. Gaudens, Nikola Tesla, Charles Dana Gibson and Henry W. Poor to name a few. The wild affairs often featured scantly-clad underaged girls. When word got out, scandal followed. It cost Jimmy his reputation. It cost White his life.

The Breese's had four children - three boys, who all become successful engineers, and a daughter who becomes a successful artist and author. They all turned their backs on the social mores of the elite as they became adults.

Then in 1919, Jimmie's son Navy Lt. James L. Breese Jr. is a member of the crew of the NC4, the first plane to successfully accomplish a transatlantic flight].

His progeny's successes eclipse his penchant for fame, leaving his legacy fading in the "Gilded Breeze." (less)

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How do you get inspired to write?

Steve Procko I am very organized in my approach. I build a full outline on what I am working on and often write the beginning and ending at the same time.

My work i…moreI am very organized in my approach. I build a full outline on what I am working on and often write the beginning and ending at the same time.

My work is non-fiction and requires a lot of research. It's a scavenger hunt and I love doing the detective-work. Finding the unexpected while researching the facts is great inspiration for me.(less)

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Combine Editions
Steve Procko’s books

Average rating: 4.4 · 40 ratings · 10 reviews · 3 distinct works • Similar authors

	Rebel Correspondent 4.31 avg rating — 26 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
	Captured Freedom: The Epic True Civil War Story of Union POW Officers Escaping from a Southern Prison 4.57 avg rating — 14 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
	There's History Around Every Bend: Historic Stories to Amaze and Intrigue You by Steve Procko (Goodreads Author), Kathy Thompson (Goodreads Author) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	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

* Note: these are all the books on Goodreads for this author. To add more, click here.

17 posts
Steve Procko's Blog

The Photograph That Started It All

Every story has a beginning, and for Captured Freedom, it was a single photograph shared with me in 2022 by a descendant of one of the men it depicted.

Taken on January 2, 1865, the image showed twelve figures — nine Union officers and soldiers who had escaped Confederate imprisonment, and three mountain guides who risked everything to help them.

The soldiers had endured brutal conditions, walking n Read more of this blog post »

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Published on April 26, 2025 10:32

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Steve’s Recent Updates

Steve Procko rated a book it was amazing Fever Beach: A Novel by Carl Hiaasen (Goodreads Author)	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
Sep 08, 2025 11:27AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Fever Beach by Carl Hiaasen. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Fever Beach by Carl Hiaasen <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Steve Procko made a comment in the group Goodreads Librarians Group — Merge two editions topic " Hi! I updated the links so they are now correct - Can you please merge these two editions? Correct Edition https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... Incor ...more "
May 05, 2025 02:37PM
Steve Procko rated a book it was amazing The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War by Erik Larson (Goodreads Author)	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
Reading Erik Larson’s latest, I was completely absorbed from the very first page. The Demon of Unrest plunges you into the chaotic, nerve-wracking months between Lincoln’s election and the first shots at Fort Sumter—months I thought I understood but ...more
Apr 26, 2025 12:53PM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Demon of Unrest by Erik Larson. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Demon of Unrest by Erik Larson <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Steve Procko made a comment in the group Biography, Autobiography, Memoir — What Are You Reading Now (anything goes) 2025 topic " Been reading "Stanny: The Gilded Life of Stanford White" by Paul Baker for some research for a Gilded Age book I have been writing the last year. Quit ...more "
Apr 26, 2025 11:36AM
Steve Procko made a comment in the group The American Civil War — currently reading? topic " What is everyone's thoughts on Erik Larson's "The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War"? I am a big ...more "
Apr 26, 2025 11:20AM
Steve Procko rated a book it was amazing The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War by Erik Larson (Goodreads Author)	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
Reading Erik Larson’s latest, I was completely absorbed from the very first page. The Demon of Unrest plunges you into the chaotic, nerve-wracking months between Lincoln’s election and the first shots at Fort Sumter—months I thought I understood but ...more
Apr 26, 2025 11:10AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Demon of Unrest by Erik Larson. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Demon of Unrest by Erik Larson <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Steve Procko made a comment in the group Authors & Reviewers — R&R Sign Up topic " 1. Name: Steve Procko 2. Email address: sprocko@steveprocko.com 3. Book Title: Captured Freedom 4. Book Synopsis: In January 1865, nine Union soldiers an ...more "
Apr 26, 2025 10:15AM
Steve Procko rated a book it was amazing Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts (Goodreads Author)	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
Apr 26, 2025 09:24AM · like
Steve Procko rated a book really liked it Holly (Holly Gibney #3) by Stephen King (Goodreads Author)	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
Apr 26, 2025 09:23AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Holly by Stephen King. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Holly by Stephen King <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Steve Procko rated a book really liked it Crossing the Hudson: Historic Bridges and Tunnels of the River (Rivergate Books (Hardcover)) by Donald E. Wolf	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
Apr 26, 2025 09:23AM · like