Childhood and education
Don Nardo was born in Columbia, Missouri.
With his younger brother, Philip (born 1949), Nardo spent the first few years of his life on the road as his parents, who were popular nightclub entertainers, traveled throughout the country.
In the early 1950s, the family settled in Natick, Massachusetts, where Nardo was at first home-schooled but later attended the local public schools. As he grew older, he developed an interest in many of the fields he would later pursue professionally, including acting, music, history, and writing. In high school, he performed in numerous plays and was voted best actor in his senior class. Outside of school, he learned to play the trumpet and began composing chamber and orchestral music, including a four-movement symphony at age fourteen. However, having little formal musical training, he was initially unable to notate these pieces properly, so in the next few years he taught himself to do so by studying books on orchestration.
After graduating from high school in 1965, Nardo majored in theater at Syracuse University, but left after a few semesters to pursue an acting career in New York City. Later, in the 1970s, he returned to school, obtaining a degree in history from Worcester State College (and graduating magna cum laude).
As a young character actor, Nardo appeared in numerous stage productions, including work in summer stock in upstate New York and dinner theater in the American South. He also worked with the National Shakespeare Company under producer-director Philip Meister, including productions of Macbeth, Othello, and As You Like It. Later, Nardo's theatrical interests shifted more to writing screenplays and teleplays. While working on his first few scripts, he taught high school social studies and English in Barnstable, Massachusetts. One of these screenplays, The Bet, won a $5,000 award from the Massachusetts Artists Foundation in 1982. Among the teleplays was an episode of ABC’s Spenser: For Hire, starring Robert Urich. Titled "Skeletons in the Closet," it guest starred E.G. Marshall and Boyd Gaines. Nardo also co-wrote, produced and directed a low-budget feature film, In Deadly Heat, which was distributed as Stuff Stephanie in the Incinerator by Troma Entertainment and released to the video market in 1990 by Media Home Entertainment.
Although Nardo had avidly studied history informally since childhood and had acquired a degree in history in the 1970s, he did not begin writing history books until the 1980s. A chance assignment by a Boston-based publisher to write several chapters of a new high-school-level history textbook led to offers from several young adult publishers. In the years that followed, the offers kept coming, as did positive reviews from School Library Journal, Booklist, and other noted journals. He joined the Association of Ancient Historians in the 1990s. And by 2004, he had penned more than a hundred books about the Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, and other ancient peoples. In that same year, noted classical historian Victor Davis Hanson stated online: “There is an entire series of great children’s books [about ancient history] by Don Nardo, who has emerged as the premier practitioner of that important craft." At the request of Chelsea House, Scholastic, Lucent Books, Compass Point Books, Morgan Reynolds, and other publishers, Nardo also wrote numerous books about medieval civilization, among them a biography of the eccentric Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe that won a special commendation by the National Science Teachers Association. In addition, he fulfilled numerous requests to write books about modern history, including several studies of Native American culture, America's wars, and the U.S. founders and their writings. His 2012 book Migrant Mother was nominated for numerous best book of the year awards and won the Spur Award for Best Western Juvenile Nonfiction,as well as citations from the Bank Street Children's Book Committee, the Midwest Independent Publishers Association, and the Pennsylvania School Librarians Association. Another 2012 volume, Destined for Space, won an award from the American Astronautical Society. Moreover, in September 2014, for the first time Nardo briefly switched his focus from nonfiction to fiction by publishing his first novel, titled Cloak of Destiny. He calls it a "cosmic mystery." One of its main story lines, he says, deals with a modern archaeologist who "has discovered an astonishing secret in the deserts of Israel, revealing some startling previously unknown truths about humankind’s place in the universe." That excavator has "no doubt in his mind" that when the public finds out about these mind-bending discoveries, "the world as people now know it will change forever."
Meanwhile, Nardo continued to compose music, including a second symphony; concertos for violin, cello, piano, clarinet, French horn, and trumpet; four string quartets; a musical tribute to Thomas Jefferson; incidental music for stage plays, including a large-scale school production of The Hobbit, for which he also conducted the pit orchestra; several romances arranged for strings or orchestra; an oratorio based on the King Arthur legends, and other works. In 1987 the Cape Cod Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Royston Nash, commissioned him to compose a concert piece for children based on H.G. Wells's The War of the Worlds. A more recent commission came in 2008 from Portuguese-American violinist Peter M. Ferreira—a double concerto for violin and Portuguese guitar, the first major concert piece ever written for the latter instrument. Between 2008 and 2010, Nardo was the resident composer and arranger for Ferreira’s Connecticut-based Amadis Orchestra. Another commission from the Cape Cod Symphony, now under conductor Jung-Ho Pak, came in 2011, part of the orchestra's 50th anniversary celebration. Titled Cape Cod Impressions, the large-scale orchestral piece was accompanied by photos of the Cape projected onto huge screens and received standing ovations at all performances. In 2013, Nardo completed another commission from Peter Ferreira, this time a set of more than a dozen orchestral arrangements of popular songs for a special pops concert in which Ferreira performed with Connecticut's Cheshire Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Richard Brooks.
Nardo has been married twice. The first union produced a son, Dana (born 1972), who became a graphic artist and animator. Nardo and his second wife, Christine, are avid animal lovers who have a particular fondness for dogs and presently share their home in Massachusetts with a yellow lab named Daisy. They also enjoy traveling and have made frequent trips to Greece and other countries that Nardo frequently writes about.
Krakatoa. Lucent Books, 1990. ISBN 1-56006-011-5Gravity: The Universal Force. Lucent Books, 1990. ISBN 1-56006-204-5World War II: The War in the Pacific. Lucent Books, 1991. ISBN 1-56006-408-0Eating Disorders. Lucent Books, 1991. ISBN 1-56006-129-4The Persian Gulf War. Lucent Books, 1991. ISBN 1-56006-411-0The War of 1812. Lucent Books, 1991. ISBN 1-56006-401-3Anxiety and Phobias. Chelsea House, 1992. ISBN 0-7910-0041-9Charles Darwin. Chelsea House, 1993. ISBN 0-7910-1729-XMedical Diagnosis. Chelsea House, 1993. ISBN 0-7910-0067-2Greek and Roman Theater. Lucent Books, 1994. ISBN 1-56006-249-5The Battle of Marathon. Lucent Books, 1995. ISBN 1-56006-412-9Traditional Japan. Lucent Books, 1995. ISBN 1-56006-244-4Modern Japan. Lucent Books, 1995. ISBN 1-56006-281-9Braving the New World: 1619–1784, From the Arrival of the Enslaved Africans to the End of the American Revolution. Chelsea House, 1995. ISBN 0-7910-2259-5The Age of Pericles. Lucent Books, 1996. ISBN 1-56006-303-3The Age of Augustus. Lucent Books, 1996. ISBN 1-56006-306-8Franklin D. Roosevelt, U.S. President. Chelsea House, 1996. ISBN 0-7910-2407-5The Punic Wars. Lucent Books, 1996. ISBN 1-56006-417-XLife on a Medieval Pilgrimage. Lucent Books, 1996. ISBN 1-56006-325-4The Bill of Rights. Greenhaven Press, 1997. ISBN 1-56510-740-3The Collapse of the Roman Republic. Lucent Books, 1997. ISBN 1-56006-456-0Readings on A Tale of Two Cities. Editor, Greenhaven Press, 1997. ISBN 1-56510-648-2The Trial of Socrates. Lucent Books, 1997. ISBN 1-56006-267-3Readings on the Canterbury Tales. Editor, Greenhaven Press, 1997. ISBN 1-56510-585-0The Scopes Trial. Lucent Books, 1997. ISBN 1-56006-268-1The Medieval Castle. Lucent Books, 1998. ISBN 1-56006-430-7Readings on Romeo and Juliet. Editor, Greenhaven Press, 1998. ISBN 1-56510-646-6The Rise of Nazi Germany. Editor, Greenhaven Press, 1998. ISBN 1-56510-965-1Women Leaders of Nations. Lucent Books, 1998. ISBN 1-56006-397-1Life of a Roman Slave. Lucent Books, 1998. ISBN 1-56006-388-2The Assyrian Empire. Lucent Books, 1998. ISBN 1-56006-313-0Readings on Homer. Editor, Greenhaven Press, 1998. ISBN 1-56510-638-5Rulers of Ancient Rome. Lucent Books, 1998. ISBN 1-56006-356-4Readings on Sophocles' Antigone. Editor, Greenhaven Press, 1999. ISBN 1-56510-969-4Greek and Roman Sport. Lucent Books, 1999. ISBN 1-56006-436-6The Declaration of Independence: A Model for Individual Rights. Lucent Books, 1999. ISBN 1-56006-368-8Readings on Julius Caesar. Editor, Greenhaven Press, 1999. ISBN 1-56510-852-3The Mexican-American War. Lucent Books, 1999. ISBN 1-56006-495-1Readings on Hamlet. Editor, Greenhaven Press, 1999. ISBN 1-56510-836-1Readings on Othello. Editor, Greenhaven Press, 2000. ISBN 0-7377-0187-0Games of Ancient Rome. Lucent Books, 2000. ISBN 1-56006-655-5Greek Drama. Editor, Greenhaven Press, 2000. ISBN 0-7377-0206-0Women of Ancient Greece. Lucent Books, 2000. ISBN 1-56006-646-6Readings on Frankenstein. Editor, Greenhaven Press, 2000. ISBN 0-7377-0182-XLife in Ancient Athens. Lucent Books, 2000. ISBN 1-56006-494-3Francisco Coronado. Franklin Watts, 2001. ISBN 0-531-11974-2The Ancient Romans. Lucent Books, 2001. ISBN 1-56006-706-3The End of Ancient Rome. Greenhaven Press, 2001. ISBN 0-7377-0372-5The Ancient Greeks. Lucent Books, 2001. ISBN 1-56006-705-5The Complete History of Ancient Greece. Greenhaven Press, 2001. ISBN 0-7377-0425-XGreenhaven Encyclopedia of Ancient Rome. Greenhaven Press, 2001. ISBN 0-7377-0551-5Egyptian Mythology. Enslow Publishers, 2001. ISBN 0-7660-1407-XRoman Roads and Aqueducts. Lucent Books, 2001. ISBN 1-56006-721-7Readings on Euripides' Medea. Editor, Greenhaven Press, 2001. ISBN 0-7377-0402-0Understanding Hamlet. Lucent Books, 2001. ISBN 1-56006-830-2Daily Life in Ancient Rome. KidHaven Press, 2002. ISBN 0-7377-0612-0Greek Temples. Franklin Watts, 2002. ISBN 0-531-16225-7Greenhaven Encyclopedia of Greek and Roman Mythology. Greenhaven Press, 2002. ISBN 0-7377-0719-4Wrestling. Lucent books, 2002. ISBN 1-56006-893-0The Solar System. KidHaven Press, 2002. ISBN 0-7377-1290-2Pyramids of Egypt. Franklin Watts, 2002. ISBN 0-531-20359-XThe Indian Wars: From Frontier to Reservation. Lucent Books, 2002. ISBN 1-56006-891-4Roman Amphitheaters. Franklin Watts, 2002. ISBN 0-531-16224-9Life of a Roman Gladiator. Lucent Books, 2003. ISBN 1-59018-253-7From Founding to Fall: A History of Rome. Lucent Books, 2003. ISBN 1-59018-254-5Ancient Persia. Blackbirch Press, 2003. ISBN 1-56711-740-6Great Elizabethan Playwrights. Lucent Books, 2003. ISBN 1-59018-017-8Adolf Hitler. Lucent Books, 2003. ISBN 1-56006-951-1The Italian Renaissance. KidHaven Press, 2003. ISBN 0-7377-1036-5Women of Ancient Rome. Lucent Books, 2003. ISBN 1-59018-169-7Andrew Johnson. Children’s Press, 2004. ISBN 0-516-24242-3The Roman Army: Instrument of Power. Lucent Books, 2oo4. ISBN 1-59018-316-9Philosophy and Science in Ancient Greece: The Pursuit of Knowledge. Lucent Books, 2004. ISBN 1-59018-566-8The Ancient Greeks At Home and At Work. Lucent Books, 2004. ISBN 1-59018-526-9The Trial of Galileo. Lucent Books, 2004. ISBN 1-59018-423-8The 1940s. KidHaven Press, 2004. ISBN 0-7377-1516-2Black Holes. Lucent Books, 2004. ISBN 1-59018-101-8The Byzantine Empire. Blackbirch Press, 2005. ISBN 1-4103-0586-4The Etruscans. Lucent Books, 2005. ISBN 1-59018-564-1The Ice Ages. KidHaven Press, 2005. ISBN 0-7377-3055-2The Minoans. Lucent Books, 2005. ISBN 1-59018-565-XThe Globe Theater. Blackbirch Press, 2005. ISBN 1-4103-0560-0Cleopatra: Egypt's Last Pharaoh. Lucent Books, 2005. ISBN 1-59018-660-5Mummies, Myth, and Magic: Religion in Ancient Egypt. Lucent Books, 2005. ISBN 1-59018-707-5Artistry in Stone: Great Structures of Ancient Egypt. Lucent Books, 2005. ISBN 1-59018-661-3The Creation of the U.S. Constitution. Greenhaven Press, 2005. ISBN 0-7377-2580-XA Travel Guide to Ancient Pompeii. Lucent Books, 2005. ISBN 1-59018-457-2King Tut’s Tomb. KidHaven Press, 2005. ISBN 0-7377-2352-1The Age of Colonialism. Lucent Books, 2006. ISBN 1-59018-833-0Pericles: Great Leader of Athens. Enslow Books, 2006. ISBN 0-7660-2561-6The Search for Extraterrestrial Life. Lucent books, 2006. ISBN 1-59018-832-2The Roman Republic. Lucent Books, 2006. ISBN 1-59018-658-3The Roman Empire. Lucent Books, 2006. ISBN 1-59018-657-5Greenhaven Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece. Greenhaven Press, 2007. 0737733888Greenhaven Encyclopedia of Ancient Mesopotamia. Greenhaven Press, 2007. ISBN 0-7377-3441-8The Salem Witch Trials. Lucent Books, 2007. ISBN 1-59018-950-7History of Architecture. Lucent Books, 2008. ISBN 1-4205-0003-1France. Children’s Press, 2008. ISBN 0-516-25948-2The Civil War. Lucent Books, 2008. ISBN 1-4205-0065-1Clara Barton: "Face Danger, But Never Fear It." Enslow Publishers, 2008. ISBN 0-7660-3024-5Ancient India. Lucent Books, 2008. ISBN 1-4205-0061-9The Battle of Saratoga. Compass Point Books, 2008. ISBN 0-7565-3342-2Mathew Brady: The Camera is the Eye of History. Enslow Publishers, 2008. ISBN 0-7660-3023-7Tycho Brahe: Pioneer of Astronomy. Compass Point Books, 2008. ISBN 0-7565-3309-0The Atlantic Slave Trade. Lucent Books, 2008. ISBN 1-4205-0007-4Early Native North Americans. Lucent Books, 2008. ISBN 1-4205-0034-1Julius Caesar: Roman General and Statesman. Compass Point Books, 2009. ISBN 978-0-7565-3834-7Peoples and Empires of Ancient Mesopotamia. Lucent Books, 2009. ISBN 1-4205-0101-1Arts and Literature in Ancient Mesopotamia. Lucent Books, 2009. ISBN 1-4205-0099-6The Industrial Revolution in Britain. Lucent Books, 2009. ISBN 1-4205-0152-6The Industrial Revolution in the United States. Lucent Books, 2009. ISBN 1-4205-0153-4Maya Angelou: Poet, Performer, Activist. Compass Point Books, 2009. ISBN 0-7565-1889-XAlexander the Great: Conqueror of the Known World. Morgan Reynolds, 2010. ISBN 1-59935-126-9Buddhism. Compass Point Books, 2010. ISBN 978-0-7565-4236-8The History of Television. Gale, Cengage, 2010. ISBN 978-1-4205-0162-9Extreme Threats: Climate Change. Morgan Reynolds, 2010. ISBN 1-59935-119-6Extreme Threats: Asteroids and Comets. Morgan Reynolds, 2010. ISBN 1-59935-121-8Extreme Threats: Volcanoes. Morgan Reynolds, 2010. ISBN 1-59935-118-8The Vikings. Lucent Books, 2010. ISBN 1-4205-0316-2Religious Beliefs in Colonial America. Gale, Cengage, 2010. ISBN 1-4205-0266-2The History of Terrorism. Compass Point Books, 2010. ISBN 978-0-7565-4310-5Aztec Civilization. Lucent Books, 2010. ISBN 1-4205-0242-5The Theory of Evolution: A History of Life on Earth. Compass Point Books, 2010. ISBN 978-0-7565-4214-6United in Cause: The Sons of Liberty. Compass Point Books, 2010. ISBN 978-0-7565-4299-3The Islamic Empire. Gale, Cengage, 2011. ISBN 1-4205-0634-XMigrant Mother. Compass Point Books, 2011. ISBN 978-0-7565-4397-6The Rwandan Genocide. Gale, Cengage, 2011. ISBN 1-4205-0567-XThe Women's Movement. Lucent Books, 2011. ISBN 1-4205-0592-0The Black Death. Gale, Cengage, 2011. ISBN 1-4205-0348-0Bull Run to Gettysburg: Early Battles of the Civil War. Compass Point Books, 2011. ISBN 978-0-7565-4368-6History of Painting. Gale, Cengage, 2011. ISBN 1-4205-0549-1Medieval Europe. Morgan Reynolds, 2011. ISBN 1-59935-172-2The Scientific Revolution. Gale, Cengage, 2011. ISBN 1-4205-0613-7Ancient Egyptian Arts and Architecture. Gale, Cengage, 2011. ISBN P78-142050674-7Classical Civilization: Greece. Morgan Reynolds, 2011. ISBN 1-59935-173-0Classical Civilization: Rome. Morgan Reynolds, 2011. ISBN 1-59935-174-9Polar Explorations. Gale, Cengage, 2011. ISBN 1-4205-0360-XThe Birth of Christianity. Morgan Reynolds, 2012. ISBN 1-59935-145-5The Gods and Goddesses of Greek Mythology. Compass Point Books, 2012. ISBN 978-0-7565-4479-9The Heroes and Mortals of Greek Mythology. Compass Point Books, 2012. ISBN 978-0-7565-4480-5The Epics of Greek Mythology. Compass Point Books, 2012. ISBN 978-0-7565-4482-9The Mortals and Creatures of Greek Mythology. Compass Point Books, 2012. ISBN 978-0-7565-4481-2India. Children's Press, 2012. ISBN 0-531-25310-4The Birth of Islam. Morgan Reynolds, 2012. ISBN 1-59935-146-3Medieval European Art and Architecture. Lucent Books, 2012. ISBN 1-42050715-XDestined for Space: The Story of Space Travel. Capstone Press, 2012. ISBN 978-1-4296-7540-6Ancient Greek Arts and Architecture. Lucent Books, 2012. ISBN 1-420-50685-4Ancient Roman Arts and Architecture. Lucent Books, 2012. ISBN 1-420-50714-1Frank Lloyd Wright. Lucent Books, 2012. ISBN 1-420-50813-XLeonardo da Vinci. Lucent Books, 2012. ISBN 978-1-4205-0735-5Ancient Greece. Compass Point Books, 2012. ISBN 978-0-756-54566-6Mesopotamia. Compass Point Books, 2012. ISBN 978-0-7565-4567-3Ancient Greek Mythology. Gale, Cengage, 2012. ISBN 978-1-4205-0633-4Ancient Roman Mythology. Gale, Cengage, 2012. ISBN 978-1-4205-0746-1Persian Mythology. Gale, Cengage, 2013. ISBN 1-420-50794-XAmerican Mythology. Gale, Cengage, 2013. ISBN 1-420-50904-7Babylonian Mythology. Gale, Cengage, 2013. ISBN 978-142050832-1The Alamo. Lucent Books, 2013. ISBN 1-420-50861-XSpecial Operations: Training. Morgan Reynolds, 2013. ISBN 1-599-35356-3Special Operations: Weapons. Morgan Reynolds, 2013. ISBN 1-599-35358-XSpecial Operations: Paratroopers. Morgan Reynolds, 2013. ISBN 1-599-35360-1Special Operations: Snipers. Morgan Reynolds, 2013. ISBN 1-599-35368-7The Pyramids of Giza. Norwood House Press, 2013. ISBN 978-159953593-7Life in a Nazi Concentration Camp. Reference Point Press, 2013. ISBN 978-160152510-9The Parthenon of Ancient Greece. Reference Point Press, 2013. ISBN 978-160152538-3Life in Ancient Mesopotamia. Reference Point Press, 2013. ISBN 978-1-60152-572-7British Mythology. Gale, Cengage, 2013. ISBN 978-142050833-8The Presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Compass Point Books, 2014. ISBN 978-075654927-5The Presidency of Abraham Lincoln. Compass Point Books, 2014. ISBN 978-075654934-3Medieval Knights and Chivalry. Reference Point Press, 2014. ISBN 978-160152636-6The Relocation of the American Indian. Reference Point Press, 2014. ISBN 978-160152646-5Slavery Through the Ages. Lucent Books, 2014. ISBN 978-142050860-4Blue Marble. Compass Point Books, 2014. ISBN 978-0-7565-4732-5Hitler in Paris. Compass Point Books, 2014. ISBN 978-075654733-2Life in Ancient Egypt. Reference Point Press, 2014. ISBN 978-160152638-0Medieval Warfare. Reference Point Press, 2014. ISBN 978-160152682-3North African Cultures in Perspective. Mitchell Lane Publishers, 2014. ISBN 978-161228568-9Civil War Witness. Capstone, 2014. ISBN 978-075654693-9The Split History of the Women's Suffrage Movement. Compass Point Books, 2014. ISBN 978-075654791-2Understanding Afghanistan Today. Mitchell Lane Publishers, 2014. ISBN 978-161228652-5Assassination and Its Aftermath. Capstone Press, 2014. ISBN 978-075654692-2Cloak of Destiny. Create Space, 2014. ISBN 978-149433635-6In the Air: Drones. Morgan Reynolds, 2014. ISBN 978-159935384-5In the Air: Bombers. Morgan Reynolds, 2014. ISBN 978159935378-4In the Air: Missiles. Morgan Reynolds, 2014. ISBN 978-1-599-35386-9Daily Life in Ancient Egypt. Raintree (England), 2015. ISBN 978-140628807-0Daily Life in Ancient Greece. Raintree (England), 2015. ISBN 978-140628808-7Daily Life in Ancient Rome. Raintree (England), 2015. ISBN 978-140628806-3Daily Life in the Islamic Golden Age. Raintree (England), 2015. ISBN 978-140628809-4The Golden Spike. Compass Point Books, 2015. ISBN 978-075654997-8
