Alexander Rossino

Alexander Brian Rossino (born 1966) is an American historian and author known for his works on the Second World War and the American Civil War. He is best known for his historical analysis in Hitler Strikes Poland: Blitzkrieg, Ideology, and Atrocity (2003) and his historical fiction, Six Days in September: A Novel of Lee's Army in Maryland, 1862 (2017).

He is also the co-author of The Tale Untwisted: George McClellan and the Discovery of Lee's Lost Orders, 13 September 1862 (2019).

Alexander Rossino holds a B.A. in history from Canisius College in Buffalo, New York, and an M.A. and Ph.D. from Syracuse University. In 1999, while completing his Ph.D., Rossino was awarded a fellowship at the Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

His dissertation, entitled "September 1939: The German Army and the Invasion of Poland," laid the groundwork for his later research on the Third Reich's brutal policies in Poland.

In 2003, Rossino published Hitler Strikes Poland, a detailed study of the Nazi campaign in Poland, including the atrocities committed by the Wehrmacht. As the historian Christopher Browning noted, "Rossino's fine study provides the 'missing link' between the traditional German expansionism of the First World War and the 'war of annihilation' against the Soviet Union in 1941".

Throughout the book, the author examines the ideological motives behind the Nazi invasion and the connection between military strategy and genocide.

After his work on the Second World War, Rossino shifted his focus to the American Civil War, particularly the 1862 Maryland Campaign. His novel Six Days in September (2017) presents the perspective of Confederate soldiers during this pivotal campaign. The success of this work led to a sequel, The Guns of September (2024), which explores the same events from the perspective of the Union army.

Rossino's research into the Maryland Campaign has challenged traditional narratives. With Gene M. Thorp, he co-authored The Tale Untwisted (2019), which explores the mystery surrounding Gen. Robert E. Lee's lost orders. His later non-fiction books, including Their Maryland (2021) and Calamity at Frederick (2023), further examine Lee's tactics and decisions during the campaign.

Photo credit: alexanderrossinocom.wordpress.com
years of life: 1966 present
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