When the Author was a young boy, he first saw the Fort Sumter Centennial stamp issued by the Post Office. Fascinated with the picture he began to read anything he could find about the American civil War. Family trips to the Virginia Civil War sites sharpened his interest. Over the years he eventually expanded the scope of his historical interests to American, European, Latin American, and Japanese histories. In At the Mercy of Passion and Madness: The Coming of the Civil War to Rockbridge County, Virginia, the Author recounts the tragic story as to why this pro-Union loving people felt they had to defend Virginia's rights as a state, and thereby also defend slavery. In the end the secession of Virginia only caused the rapid destruction of their institutions and wealth, and maimed, killed, or wounded about a third of the men who served.In The Brilliance of a Meteor: The Life and Times of R. M. T. Hunter of Virginia, the Author provides the biography of one of the most influential politicians of the 19th Century, but one who is mostly forgotten today. Hunter was a prominent Congressman and Senator responsible for many of the tax, tariff, banking, commercial, and customs laws of the nation before the War. Often considered a potential future President, Hunter's belief in white supremacy and slavery destroyed his chances to enter the White House. In the end he served as the Confederate Secretary of State and as a Confederate Senator. The biography then recounts Hunter's active political life after the War, something usually not covered in brief sketches of his life.In Lee's Artillery Chief: William Nelson Pendleton, the Author reviews the life of this enigmatic character. A West Point graduate Pendleton left the Army to become a teacher and a priest. Despite his age when the War erupted Pendleton joined as a field artillery battery commander and through his organization and administrative skills, combat experience, and personal contacts rose to be R. E. Lee's chief of artillery. Recent historians have improperly criticized Pendleton. With his experience in Army management and combat training the Author reviews as to why Pendleton was not the failure recent historians imply, rather he single-handedly provided Lee with an effective artillery arm to the end of the War. In Hunter's Raid: Grant's Failed Peripheral Strategy in Virginia, the true story of Hunter's Raid is told. It was not merely a destructive raid to punish the Virginians, but part of a detailed strategy to force Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia out of its defensive works and into the open field for Grant's superior army to destroy. The book follows Hunter on his expedition to Lynchburg and Phil Sheridan's failed cavalry raid sent to support Hunter's campaign.Thomas Rittenburg is a fourth generation Southern Californian, born in Los Angeles County, California in 1953. the third of four children. In 1960 the family moved to East Cleveland, Ohio where he grew up and graduated from high school in 1971. He attended Washington & Lee University in Virginia on a Four-Year Army ROTC scholarship graduating in 1975 with a Bachelor of Arts degree with Honors in History, magna cum laude, and a commission as a Second Lieutenant in the Army Reserve and was later assigned to the Field Artillery. Rittenburg attended the University of Tennessee College of Law graduating in 1978 with a Juris Doctor degree and became a member of the Tennessee and California Bars. He served as an Army JAG officer in Washington, D.C. and Fort Dix, New Jersey before returning to California in 1982, settling in Los Angeles. There he became a senior litigation partner at Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith, LLP and retired from the practice of law in 2017. He completed his first book, published by Mariner Media as Compelled to Fight in 2009. Since then, he has written extensively on the Civil War. Rittenburg married the former Mary Ann Maize in 1985 and together they raised three children. After Mary Ann retired as a teacher in 2020 the couple moved to the old historic town of Genoa, Nevada at the base of the eastern Sierra Mountains just east of Lake Tahoe. Read more about this authorRead less about this author