Stay tuned for the fourth in Kristen's Echat With... series. Echat With... Michael Molkentin on 1 August 2013

In previous Echats I have spoken with aviation writers of diverse background and experience but none are professional historians. All bring special qualities to their writing but I was keen to discover more about the historian as popular (as opposed to academic) writer. I wondered about how Michael Molkenin—teacher, battlefield guide, contributor to key military documentaries, compiler of on-line teaching resources and acclaimed author of Fire in the Sky (Allen & Unwin 2010) and Flying the Southern Cross (National Library of Australia 2012)— made the leap from historian to engaging recorder of key aspects of Australian aviation history and whether he had set out to be a writer or whether he just fell into it. Read all about Michael Molkentin, historian and author, in the fourth of my Echat With... series on 1 August 2013.

If you haven't yet read any of Michael's books, check out my review of Fire in the Sky to whet your appetite http://www.kristenalexander.com.au/reviews#233