Edward H. Bonekemper

Edward H. Bonekemper III is a military historian, teacher, and writer. He writes frequently about slavery, the American Civil War, and Union and Confederate generals. Bonekemper is currently the book reviewer for the online magazine Civil War News.

Education
In 1964, Bonekemper graduated cum laude from Muhlenberg College with a bachelor's degree in American history. While attending Muhlenberg, he was give two awards based on his educational performance. Bonekemper later earned his master's degree in history at Old Dominion University. He completed his Juris Doctorate from Yale Law School.

He is a native of Pennsylvania, and currently lives in Willow Street, Pennsylvania. He is very involved in the community.

Career
In January 2003, Bonekemper retired as federal government attorney after 34 years. Within these 34 years, he worked 16 years as a lead hazardous materials attorney for the United States Department of Transportation, and 4 years as the lead coal strip mining regulatory attorney at the United States Department of Interior. During this time, he was also writing for Navy and Coast Guard publications. He was a speaker for the Coast Guard and Interior and Transportation Departments.

Bonekemper is also a retired Coast Guard Reserve Commander.

For eight years, he taught military history part-time and was a visiting lecturer at his alma mater, Muhlenberg College in Pennsylvania. Bonekemper also was an instructor in American Constitutional History and Maritime Law at the United States Coast Guard Academy. He is an adjunct professor of Constitutional History at the American Military University.

Bonekemper has written articles for many publications including The Washington Times, The Journal of Afro-American History, and The Journal of Negro History.

Since 1998, Bonekemper has been publishing non-fiction books about the Civil War. His interest in Civil War history grew after multiple conversations with his father-in-law about this particular topic. His first book took him 7 years to complete.

In 2010, he was named book review editor at Civil War News.

Bonekemper has given lectures at the Smithsonian Institution about the Civil War. He also has given debates at Civil War round tables, the Delta Queen, the Lincoln Forum of the District Columbia, and the Chatauqua Institution. Bonekemper has made appearances on C-SPAN to discuss Grant and Lee's Civil war generalship.

Awards
Throughout his career, Bonekmper has earned numerous awards. These include:
 * Distinguished Career Service Award
 * Secretary of Transportation's Silver Medal
 * Coast Guard Commendation and Achievement Medals (1974, 1979)
 * Federal Bar Association's Younger Federal Lawyer Award
 * Transportation Attorney of the Year Award
 * Alumni Lifetime Achievement Award (2009)

His book about Robert E. Lee was nominated for the Virginia Book of the Year award.

Publications
Books
 * How Robert E. Lee Lost the Civil War (1998) ISBN 978-1887901154
 * McClellan and Failure: A Study of Civil War Fear, Incompetence and Worse (2007) ISBN 978-0786428946
 * Ulysses S. Grant: A Victor, Not a Butcher: The Military Genius of the Man Who Won the Civil War (2010) ISBN 978-1596986411
 * Grant and Lee: Victorious American and Vanquished Virginian (2012) ISBN 978-1621570103
 * Lincoln and Grant: The Westerners Who Won the Civil War (2012) ISBN 978-1439286135
 * The Myth of the Lost Cause: Why the South Fought the Civil War and Why the North Won (2015) ISBN 1621574547