Reporter's Notebook

Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

David McCullough asked historians and history educators to imagine the scene here 225 years ago, as American troops marched into this town, bloodied but triumphant after the Battle of Saratoga. The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Truman and John Adams has been acclaimed for his skill in bringing history to life for his readers.

Mr. McCullough, speaking before some 600 attendees of the National Council for History Education's annual conference this month, shared some of the struggles and heroics of the early patriots that he uncovered in researching his upcoming book, 1776. The 69-year-old author said the drama of the pivotal battle of the Revolutionary War, held here in the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains, illustrates how teachers can tap their passion for the past, and the rich body of detail that has been gathered on central figures and events, to engage students in a more substantive study of history.

Borrowing from Theodore Roosevelt, Mr. McCullough urged teachers to "embody ghosts, to put flesh and blood on dry bones, to make dead men living before our eyes," to use narrative and literary forms to help...