Janet E. Croon holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science, Modern European History, and Russian Language and Area Studies from the Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (1983), and a Master’s Degree in International Studies from the Univ. of Dayton (1985). She taught International Baccalaureate History for nearly two decades for Fairfax County Public Schools and developed a deep interest in the Civil War by living in northern Virginia. She is also the author of The War Outside My Window: The Civil War Diary of LeRoy Wiley Gresham, 1860-1865: A Comprehensive Curriculum Guide for Teachers (with Kimberly Conrad).