Mark A. Lause is a retired professor of history from the University of Cincinnati who remains an active researcher and scholar. A boomer from a mid-twentieth century factory town, he became a historian of the economic, social, and political aspirations of nineteenth century laboring people. His nearly twenty books explore the class dimensions of antislavery and egalitarian movements and currents, including: land reform, women’s rights, and insurgent politics, as well the cultural challenges of bohemianism, spiritualism, and secret societies. Such interests infuse his work on aspects of the American Civil War and Reconstruction, and the Franco-Prussian Wars.