Matthew Speiser is author of the novels To the Manor Born and Sons of Liberty, in addition to numerous pieces grappling with American history, in publications ranging from the Tennessee Historical Quarterly to McSweeney's. His doctoral dissertation examined battles over our national memory of the Civil War, which were waged long after the actual battlefields had quieted. As the former Chair of the History department at the Marymount School in Manhattan, and now the Associate Head of the Upper School for Academics, Dr. Speiser engages with the legacy of America's past every day. He holds a PhD in U.S. History from the University of Virginia.