I’m the author of three books: The Lost Indictment of Robert E. Lee, A Fire in the Wilderness, and Soldier of Destiny: Slavery, Secession, and the Redemption of Ulysses S. Grant. I’ve also been a teacher, editor, and writer for over thirty years.
The Civil War has been my passion since I first read Bruce Catton’s The American Heritage Picture History of the Civil War as an elementary school student in the 1960s. My articles on Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant have been featured in The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Review of Books, and on the History News Network. I’ve also been interviewed on the Civil War by NPR’s All Things Considered, the BBC, and The History Channel.
Earlier in my career, I taught European and American history at Lehman College, Bronx Community College, and Southbank University in London. I graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a BA in Economics from Syracuse University in 1984. Later, I received an MA in European History from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and pursued a PhD in History at the University of Illinois at Chicago. I’ve tried to make history lively and accessible for students and general readers. I live in Washington, D.C., with my wife, two children, and a poorly behaved dog.
You can find me on Twitter @reevesjw.
