Thomas J. Ryan’s Spies, Scouts, and Secrets in the Gettysburg Campaign Awarded the 2015 Bachelder-Coddington Literary Award

EL DORADO HILLS, CA: June 9, 2016 – Spies, Scouts, and Secrets in the Gettysburg Campaign: How the Critical Role of Intelligence Impacted the Outcome of Lee’s Invasion of the North, June – July 1863, by Thomas J. Ryan, was just selected to receive the Robert E. Lee Civil War Round Table of Central New Jersey’s prestigious Bachelder-Coddington Literary Award.

The award is presented annually to the work that most significantly contributes to the knowledge of the Gettysburg Campaign or to its memorialization. Named for the two most preeminent historians of Gettysburg, this award encourages the continuation of their legacy. This year brought forward several excellent candidates, and for the first time in the award’s history, all the finalists were from the same publisher, Savas Beatie.

“While this year’s decision was a challenge, our members found one winner to be most true to our tradition,” explained John Zervas, the award’s Chairman, a Licensed Battlefield Guide, and one of the judges. “The level of new scholarship on a subject matter that has not received much attention pushed Ryan’s book to the top. The level of research and the critical analysis is exceptional.”

“I cannot tell you how pleased I am for Tom,” explained Managing Director Theodore P. Savas. “He spent decades with the U.S. Department of Defense in various intelligence operations-related capacities, which gave him the hands-on training that dovetailed so nicely with his many years of research and writing. This is a monumental study, Tom’s magnum opus, and we are pleased the award committee appreciated its merits.”

About the Book: Spies, Scouts, and Secrets in the Gettysburg Campaign is the first book to offer a unique and incisive comparative study of intelligence operations during what many consider the war’s decisive campaign. Based upon years of indefatigable research, Ryan evaluates how Gen. Robert E. Lee used intelligence resources, including cavalry, civilians, newspapers, and spies to gather information about Union activities during his invasion of the North, and how this intelligence influenced Lee’s decisions. Simultaneously, Ryan explores the effectiveness of the Union army’s intelligence and counterintelligence operations, and how that dictated how both Gens. Joe Hooker and George Meade responded. After reading this book, no one will look at Gettysburg the same way again.

About the Author: Thomas J. Ryan is the former president of the Central Delaware Civil War Round Table and a longtime member of the Gettysburg Foundation and the Civil War Trust. He has published more than 125 articles and book reviews on Civil War subjects. Ryan served three years in the Army and decades in intelligence operations-related capacities. He is now retired.

About Savas Beatie: Savas Beatie is a leading independent military and general history publishing company. Read more about all of our books and Spies, Scouts, and Secrets (including excerpts and an interview with the author) at http://tinyurl.com/j7na4cq.

Contact: Michele Sams, Savas Beatie LLC
Email: [email protected]

Phone: 916-941-6896, Fax: 916-941-6895