Terry Gross

Historian Hugh Thomas has written a new major work on the history of slavery, "The Slave Trade: The Story of the Atlantic Slave Trade: 1440-1870" (Simon & Schuster). It's based on his thirty years of research in archives and libraries throughout the world. His book includes written accounts, published for the first time, and an examination of the traders and the countries who profited most. Kirkus Reviews calls the book "A masterful survey." Thomas is a former professor of history and Chairman of the Centre for Policy Studies in Britain.

A 1995 study by the American Psychiatric Association reports that families play a significant part in the recovery of depressed people. Mary Wallace and Rose Styron are the wives of journalist Mike Wallace and writer William Styron, who both suffered from bouts of depression. They'll talk about what it was like to help their husbands thru depression. Mike Wallace and William Styron will appear in the upcoming documentary "Dead Blue: Surviving Depression"

Richard Landes is Assistant Professor of History at Boston University and the executive director of the Center for Millennial Studies at Boston University. The center is keeping track of and analyzing apocalyptic and messianic movements related to the coming millennium. Landes will talk with Terry Gross about the upcoming millennium as well as past millennia.