PHC's Dr. Aikman Releases Novel

May 25th, 2012

By Sarah Pride.

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David Halbrook Patrick Henry College (540) 441-8722 OfficeOfCommunications@phc.edu

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Combining his extensive journalistic experience with a vast knowledge of the Middle East, PHC history professor and Writer in Residence Dr. David Aikman has recently released his follow-up novel in the life of fictional journalist Richard Ireton. Kidnapped in Gaza is a thriller that follows Ireton’s kidnapping and possible rescue by Israeli special forces, accompanied, according to the book’s website, by a “strong undertone of romance” as he tracks down a story with the help of a female Israeli intelligence officer.

Dr. Aikman’s extensive experience in Jerusalem and first-hand knowledge of Israel, Gaza and the Middle East provide a dynamic setting for Kidnapped. As a senior correspondent for Time Magazine he worked for 23 years overseas, reporting from four continents and 55 countries.

The book’s cover was designed by 2012 PHC grad Ian Reid (Journalism), an accomplished video, film, and graphics entrepreneur who also recently filmed and produced Chancellor Farris’s constitutional literacy DVD series. Dr. Aikman calls Reid a “real boffo with Internet, web design, and everything else.” The beautiful, gold-brown cover reflects the dust and golden light of the Middle East.

Dr. David Aikman, PHC professor of history and Writer in Residence

The book will be available through its own website, and can currently be bought through the publisher.

Dr. Aikman will also release another book in September—this one non-fiction, entitled, One Nation Without God: The Battle for Christianity in an Age of Unbelief. The book, says Dr. Aikman, asks and attempts to explain two questions: first, was America ever a Christian country? And then, what has caused the decline in Christianity?

“Even in 1776,” says Dr. Aikman, “the most secular of the Founders, Jefferson, wanted a democratic republic based on moral virtue. From the earliest time in this country, Puritans and the rest were aware of a community covenant with the Almighty that existed separate from their individual ones.”