Tony Perrottet

Globe trotter and popular historian, Tony Perrottet is a regular television guest on NPR, CNN, the Travel Channel, and the History Channel, where he has spoken about everything from the Crusades to the birth of disco. He has lectured for the Smithsonian Magazine, Globus Travel, the Princeton Club in New York, and the Birmingham Museum of Art. His books include Off the Deep End: Travels in Forgotten Frontiers, a collection of travel stories; Pagan Holiday: On the Trail of Ancient Roman Tourists, a historical travel narrative set in the Mediterranean; The Naked Olympics: The True Story of the Greek Games, a vivid study of the world’s longest-running festival; and the literary equivalent of a Cabinet of Curiosities, Napoleon’s Privates: 2500 Years of History Unzipped (HarperEntertainment).  Perrottet’s books have been translated into eight languages and his stories have been widely anthologized – three of his latest essays have been selected for the Best American Travel Writing series. 

In recent years, he has contributed to a range of international publications, including Smithsonian Magazine, The New York Times, Condé Nast Traveler, Esquire, Outside, National Geographic Adventure, The Believer, The Village Voice, and the London Sunday Times.

The need for perpetual motion has always been Perrottet’s most obvious personality disorder. While studying history at Sydney University, the Australian-born Perrottet regularly disappeared hitch-hiking through the Outback, sailing the coast of Sumatra, or traveling through rural India (enjoying a brief and inglorious career as a film extra in Rajasthan). After graduation, he moved to South America to work as a “roving correspondent,” where he covered the Shining Path war in Peru, drug running in Colombia, and several military rebellions in Argentina.

A brief visit to Manhattan 17 years ago convinced him that New York was the ideal place for a rootless wanderer to be based.From his current home in the East Village of Manhattan, he has continued to commute to Iceland, Tierra del Fuego, Montana, Tasmania, and Zanzibar while researching stories that are a unique blend of history and travel.

Napoleon’s Privates: 2500 Years of History Unzipped

Pagan Holidays: How Ancient Roman Tourists Invented Travel as We Know It

The Naked Olympics: How the Ancient Greek Games Shaped Our Sports Culture

Bringing History to Life: Studying Sex, Celebrity, Food, Drink, Fashion, Real Estate (and more sex) Through the Ages

History’s Secret Cabinet: Celebrity Scandals from Alexander the Great to J. Edgar Hoover

Famous Fragments: the World’s Strangest Historical Relics

Was Lincoln Gay? History’s Greatest Myths, and What They Tell Us About Ourselves