L. Douglas Keeney is the bestselling author of 22 books on American and world history. He is published by Simon & Schuster, St. Martin’s, Wm. Morrow, and Lyons Press. Keeney has been well reviewed by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, The Christian Science Monitor, salon, Newsweek, Gannet newspapers, and others.

Keeney has appeared on Fox TV, PBS, Discovery, and other cable networks. He has interviewed astronauts, celebrities, soldiers, politicians, entrepreneurs, sports stars, and many others.

Keeney is a frequent speaker at universities, corporate events, and on numerous cruise ships including Oceania, Viking, Celebrity, RCCL and Fred. Olsen. His talks are entertaining as well as informative.

His books include D-Day: Day of Destiny and This is Guadalcanal from Wm. Morrow, John F. Kennedy: Commander-in-Chief from Viking Penguin; 15 Minutes (The Cold War), The Eleventh Hour: Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin, Lights of Mankind: Earth at Night As Seen From Space (with NASA), The Lives They Saved: 9.11 and The Quest For Mach One with Chuck Yeager.
Keeney holds a Masters degree from the University of Southern California and is the founder of The Military Channel/American Heroes, now part of Discovery Communications.

Keeney is a pilot, ham radio operator, and scuba diver. He lives in Kentucky with his wife, the journalist Jill Johnson Keeney, with whom they have two sons, Alex and Doug, Jr. They are supporters of numerous causes including the visually impaired and the learning disabled.
"He packed the theater every day!” Oceania CD

2024 Talks
All talks are 45 minutes, with photos, audio and/or video. Most are customized to reflect specific itineraries/audiences.

1. Lights of Mankind: Earth at Night as Seen from Space
Tokyo. The Korean Peninsula. Europe at night. New York City. Istanbul. Earth: The only planet in the universe that lights up at night. This is Earth at night from space as only the author of the definitive book could show it. This captivating talk is based on Keeney’s bestselling book by the same title, written with five NASA astronauts. Audiences will see Earth’s glittering cities at night including cities based on specific destinations as well as the most famous cities in the world. “5 Stars.” 2022 World Cruise director. One of his most popular talks. Video. Photos.

2. Orbit! The Daring New Era in Human Space Travel.
Musk, Bezos, and Branson want to take us beyond our dreams. Will they?
The sequel to Lights of Mankind. People are fascinating, particularly those that want to take us into space. What does it take to go into space in 2024 and why is Mars a reality? Keeney begins this talk with little-known aspects of space flight and how missions are conducted today. Includes images of the new commercial space stations, the most recent footage from the Mars rover and helicopter, footage from SpaceX missions, and numerous animations. Concludes with aspirations of Musk, Bezos, and Branson. “Mesmerizing.” Celebrity.

3. Assassins In Every Port. U-Boats Below The Seas. Roosevelts and the Greatest Transatlantic Crossing Ever.
From The Eleventh Hour, Keeney’s bestselling book. In 1943 President Roosevelt raced crossed the Atlantic Ocean on the battleship USS Iowa at the height of WWII. He then flew to Tehran. What ensued were the three days of heated debates over when – and where – to launch D-Day. The crossing was filled with danger and a near miss -- plus meetings that would decide the fate of WWII. One of Keeney’s most captivating and dramatic talks.

5. Seven Wonders of The (Ancient/Modern/Engineering) World – And More.
“It was the ultimate bucket list talk!” Keeney starts this talk with the original Seven Wonders of the World then takes audiences on a docu-drama that explores the all-new man-made wonders of engineering, architecture, and the New 7 Wonders of the World (and how they were selected). Borrowing from his years of research, Keeney brings out unexpected and unusual features to make each destination come to life in an all new way. Like all of his talks, the final section has wonders customized to each itinerary.

6. Pearl Harbor. The Day Of. The Day After. “Simply stunning. An epoch presentation.” Audience review, 2024
We all know what happened on December 7th -- but what did happen -- and why was America so unprepared? From his numerous books on World War II, author Keeney presents the attack on Pearl Harbor using custom-built animations for his talk, period photography and first-person accounts. A moving lecture and one of his hallmark talks, Keeney has escorted hundreds to Pearl Harbor.

7. Destination Guide: The Complete Pearl Harbor. Visiting Pearl Harbor is not as easy as it looks, but there are tricks to get the most out of your time there. This talk highlights the things to see, and how to plan your day to make it more enjoyable.

8. Shifting Sands: Fortunes, Empires and the Suez Canal
A seminal talk with custom animations and visuals. Beginning with Ferdinand De Lesseps, Keeney traces the history of the Suez Canal including the controversies, the wars fought over it, the nationalization and the modernization that passengers will see today. Includes a mile-by-mile review of things to see during the transit. “One of our best lectures ever.” Oceania.

9. Gunboat Diplomacy and The Panama Canal. Companion to Shifting Sands. A history of the Panama Canal and how it was built. It includes video clips and period photography of the construction and concludes with a behind-the-scenes look at the massive locks and how Gatun Lake serves as a hydraulic engine of world commerce.

10. Vanished! Malaysia Flight 370 and The Unfinished Story of Transoceanic Flight.
As the author of Lost in The Pacific -- and a pilot himself -- Keeney traces the history of aviation from hair-raising barnstormers to international airlines to the lost flight of Malaysia 370 and what we know today.

11.. Berlin ’48: The Great Airlift. From Keeney’s top-rated program on The History Channel, an in-depth look at the Berlin crisis of 1948 and the airlift that kept a city alive.

13. D-Day: Day of Destiny. From Keeney’s three books on D-Day. Includes notes from visits to the beaches and anecdotal comments from his D-Day books.

14. Our Shared Century: Remembering the 20 and 21st Centuries Through Iconic Photos and Memorable Moments.
As only a historian can, Keeney makes connections and linkages that bring together often-forgotten but important moments from the 20th and 21st centuries. In addition to those seminal events that punctuated our shared experiences, Keeney shows how books like Harry Potter and hotels like Holiday Inn are connected to World War II; how innovations transformed our world in unexpected ways; and how words became timeless. Categories include I Remember Where I Was When, Great Love Affairs, The Digital Age, Entrepreneurs, The 70s, cultural forces, and more.

Author with Simon & Schuster, etc. in NYC. Reviewed by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, etc. Appear on Fox TV, Discovery Channel. Have interviewed celebrities, astronauts, athletes, etc. As such I am a frequent speaker at universities, corporate events, non-profits, and Viking, Oceania, Celebrity. Welcomes transatlantic, transpacific and cruises with multiple sea days.

A short demo of Keeney's talks with reviews from Cruise Directors, samples, and, in addition, some clips from Fox:

https://youtu.be/CIaPuFa5HGo

The following recent Cruise History has been recorded for this candidate.