We are former journalists, long-time residents of France and authors of several books, three of them wine-related but based around wars that shook the world.

Our first, Wine & War: the French, the Nazis and the Battle for France’s Greatest Treasure, is an international best-seller and tells the story of how French wine producers in World War II struggled to survive under the Nazi occupation. It’s been optioned by film-makers. 

Our second book, Champagne: How the World’s Most Glamorous Wine Triumphed Over War and Hard Times, revolves around World War I when nearly everything in that part of France was destroyed. Like Wine & War, it's been translated into more than a dozen languages and become a hit worldwide.

In our third book, Champagne Charlie: the Frenchman Who Taught Americans to Love Champagne, we retreated further in time to tell how a daring young Frenchman set off for America to seek his fortune but ended up being arrested as a spy for the South in the U.S. Civil War.

Don and Petie Kladstrup

Our books

Forthcoming

The Last Empress of France: the Rebellious Life of Eugénie de Montijo by Petie and historian Evelyne Resnick. 

Married to Napoléon III, the fiery, headstrong Eugénie was a woman far ahead of her time, whose way of governing rocked France's Second Empire—and nearly cost her life.  It will be published by Harper Collins July 8.

“Kladstrup and Resnick offer a wonderful portrait of Empress Eugénie: a trailblazing feminist, rebel, diplomat and cultural powerhouse who championed science and the arts, and who transformed Paris into the world capital of luxury and style. Unjustly forgotten by history, she emerges here as a visionary woman — and as a delight for lovers of history featuring strong, complex women.”  – Ross King, New York Times bestselling author of Michelangelo and the Pope’s Ceiling and The Judgment of Paris

And there’s more…

A fourth book that might sound like pure fantasy except that it’s real. In the Presence of Forever: the Story of the White Dove, Petie follows a family legend to its origin and finds truth really is stranger than fiction.

Ahead are two or three books that are completely different. 

An offshoot of the Eugénie book is a children’s story by Petie about the empress’s pet turtle, Reine, the Turtle Who Protected the Pyramids. Publishers are reading the manuscript now, so hopefully Reine will appear soon.

Another of our books to come is Almost Home: Playing Baseball in France. It's about Don who dreamed of playing professionally when he was young and, after suffering an injury and taking a 45-year break, took up the game again at age 64 in a country better known for soccer, tennis and bike racing. It's also about two world wars and why France, once hailed as "the next great baseball country," never quite made it to first base. 

Also fermenting is Cellar Book, a memoir of Don’s wine collection and what those bottles came to mean to him.

Upcoming events and podcasts

April 12
“Wine Talks with Paul K.”, podcast with Paul Kalemkiarian

May 16
Meet and Greet at Valke Vleug Winery, Liezele, Belgium

June (date to be determined)
In conversation with war correspondent Rudi Vranckx on wine in war-torn regions at Valke Vleug Winery, Liezele, Belgium

About us

Don was a television news correspondent for CBS and ABC News, covering major events including the fall of the Berlin Wall, wars in the Middle East and Afghanistan, and the battle against apartheid.  He is the recipient of three Emmys for international reporting as well as the winner of The Robert F. Kennedy Award for Humanitarian Service, four Overseas Press Club of America awards; the Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Award (Gold Baton) and, the National Association of Black Journalists Award.

Petie is the recipient of the Overseas Press Club of America Award for international reporting, and a former assistant to the U.S. ambassador to UNESCO.