Imagine discovering the locked diary of a long-ago prominent official who recorded in it his unvarnished stories of behind-the-scenes encounters with some of the most famous people of his generation: world leaders, explorers, iconic movie and sport stars-even two canonized saints. How badly would you want to locate that key? How hard would you look for it?

Your search is over.

In this, his fifth book, former Congressman James Rogan reminiscences about the greats, the near-greats, and the once great but now forgotten people he has known. In Shaking Hands with History, he again throws open the covers of his private journals and photo albums to share with you more of his stories of private celebrity encounters. Each page pulls names from the headlines and the history books: boxing legend Muhammad Ali, President Ronald Reagan, first man on the Moon Neil Armstrong, Senator Ted Kennedy, astronaut John Glenn, baseball icon Hank Aaron, and many more. You'll experience everything from the firsthand accounts of people Rogan knew that rode with John F. Kennedy in his fatal 1963 Dallas motorcade to recollections from the heroes and villains of America's greatest political scandal-Watergate.

If you like your history straight and with no chaser as revealed through the intimate recollections of a participant, you've come to the right place.