Monte Akers is the author of several books, including The Accidental Historian: Tales of Trash and Treasure (2010) and Flames After Midnight: Murder, Vengeance and the Desolation of a Texas Community (1999). He followed up the highly-praised Year of Glory with Year of Desperate Struggle: Jeb Stuart and His Cavalry, from Gettysburg to Yellow Tavern, 1863-1864 (Casemate 2015). An attorney as well as historian, a collector of Civil War artifacts, song lyricist (since age nine), and an admirer of Jeb Stuart, he currently lives near Austin, Texas.