Theodore P. Savas is a licensed attorney, former adjunct college instructor, entrepreneur, award-winning author, and publisher. He is the co-founder and majority partner of Savas Beatie, an award-winning independent book trade publishing company that specializes in military and general history, and especially the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. He writes and speaks about

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

topics, as well as the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

, and WWII German U-boats.

Background

Savas was born and raised on the

Northern Plains The Great Plains (french: Grandes Plaines), sometimes simply "the Plains", is a broad expanse of flatland in North America. It is located west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, and ...

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

. He graduated from

North Iowa Area Community College North Iowa Area Community College (NIACC) is a public community college in Mason City, Iowa. History NIACC began as Mason City Junior College in 1918, becoming the first public two-year college in Iowa. The college was located in the high school ...

(NIACC) in 1979, A.A. degree, and from the

University of Northern Iowa The University of Northern Iowa (UNI) is a public university in Cedar Falls, Iowa. UNI offers more than 90 majors across the colleges of Business Administration, Education, Humanities, Arts, and Sciences, Social and Behavioral Sciences and grad ...

(UNI) in 1981, B.A. History. He received his teaching credentials. After working on his Master's in

American History The history of the lands that became the United States began with the arrival of the first people in the Americas around 15,000 BC. Numerous indigenous cultures formed, and many saw transformations in the 16th century away from more densely ...

, he entered The University of Iowa College of Law in 1983 and graduated in 1986 (with Distinction).

Career

Savas practiced law in

Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that serves as a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical areas San Mateo County ...

for twelve years before becoming a full-time publisher and writer. In 1990, he and David A. Woodbury started the publishing company Regimental Studies, Inc., which became Savas Woodbury Publishers. Savas and Woodbury co-founded the quarterly journal ''Civil War Regiments,'' which produced 25 quarterly issues. Savas Woodbury became Savas Publishing in 1995, after which Savas added the ''Journal of the Indian Wars'', which published five issues. In 2000-2001, Savas Publishing was sold into a merger deal with Combined Publishing of Conshohocken, PA, and

Perseus Books Group Perseus Books Group was an American publishing company founded in 1996 by investor Frank Pearl. Perseus acquired the trade publishing division of Addison-Wesley (including the Merloyd Lawrence imprint) in 1997. It was named Publisher of the Ye ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

and NY. From 1992 until 2009, Savas taught legal, historical, political, and business-related college classes as an adjunct lecturer in the

Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Gov ...

and

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

region. Savas and the late New York-based attorney Russell H. Beatie founded the military publishing house Savas Beatie LLC in 2004, with Savas serving as its managing director in El Dorado Hills, CA. In addition to founding (with David Woodbury) The South Bay

Civil War Roundtable Civil War Roundtables (also referred to as Round Tables or CWRTs) are independent organizations that share a common objective in promoting and expanding interest in the study of the military, political and sociological history of the American Civil ...

in 1989, Savas enlisted Paul Sacra of Richmond, Virginia, to map the Civil War battlefield of Payne's Farm (part of the late Fall 1863

Mine Run Campaign The Battle of Mine Run, also known as Payne's Farm, or New Hope Church, or the Mine Run campaign (November 27 – December 2, 1863), was conducted in Orange County, Virginia, in the American Civil War. An unsuccessful attempt of the Union A ...

), in Orange County, Virginia. Savas thought that modern sources had improperly located the field and that the units involved were ill-positioned. Savas turned the maps and information over to a Fredericksburg-based preservation organization. This, in turn, prompted increased interest in both the battle and the battlefield, and eventually led to the land being preserved and interpreted. Savas was part of

Clive Cussler Clive Eric Cussler (July 15, 1931 – February 24, 2020) was an American adventure novelist and underwater explorer. His thriller novels, many featuring the character Dirk Pitt, have reached ''The New York Times'' fiction best-seller list ...

's expedition in 1994-1995 that found the Confederate submarine ''

CSS Hunley Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) is a style sheet language used for describing the presentation of a document written in a markup language such as HTML or XML (including XML dialects such as SVG, MathML or XHTML). CSS is a cornerstone techno ...

'' off Charleston, South Carolina. In addition to writing articles on a variety of historical topics and penning a regular column for a local newspaper, Savas has written, edited, or co-authored a dozen books (published in seven languages), and has ghostwritten nearly forty others. He is a regular guest on podcasts, online forum presentations, and in-person lectures, and offers the online class Write NOW! to help aspiring and veteran authors get on track, stay on track, and get published. Savas is married and lives in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. He has two children.

Books

*Savas (1993) ''The Campaign for Atlanta & Sherman's March to the Sea'' vol. 1., with David A. Woodbury, ed. * Savas (1994) ''The Campaign for Atlanta & Sherman's March to the Sea'' vol. 2., with David A. Woodbury, ed. * Savas (1994) ''The Campaign for Atlanta & Sherman's March to the Sea'' vols. 1-2 (combined)., with David A. Woodbury, ed. * Savas (1996) ''Blood on the Rappahannock: The Battle of Fredericksburg'' (''Civil War Regiments: A Journal of the American Civil War'', Volume 4, No. 4) * Savas (1997, 2003) ''Silent Hunters: German U-boat Commanders of World War II'' * Savas (1997) ''Charleston : Battles and Seacoast Operations in South Carolina,'' ''Civil War Regiments: A Journal of the American Civil War'', Volume 5, No. 2) * Savas (2000) ''Chickamauga & Chattanooga: Battles for the Confederate Heartland''. (''Civil War Regiments: A Journal of the American Civil War'', Volume 7, No 1) * Savas (2002) ''Nazi Millionaires: The Allied Search for Hidden SS Gold'', with co-author Kenneth D. Alford * Savas (2004) ''Hunt and Kill: U-505 and the U-Boat War in the Atlantic'', editor * Savas (2006) ''A Guide to the Battles of the American Revolution'', with co-author J. David Dameron * Savas (2007) ''Never for Want of Powder: The Confederate Powder Works in Augusta, Georgia'', with co-authors C. L. Bragg, Gordon A. Blaker, Charles D. Ross, and Stephanie A. T. Jacobe * Savas (2008) ''Brady's Civil War Journal: Photographing the War 1861-1865'' Skyhorse Publishing. * Savas (2010) ''The New American Revolution Handbook: Facts and Artwork for Readers of all Ages, 1775-1783'', with co-author J. David Dameron) *Savas (2017) ''The War's Biggest Blunder: Sherman and the Bypassing of Augusta on the March to the Sea.'' Aug 2017 in ''Civil War Times Magazine'' *Savas (2017) "Heartbeat of the Southern War Machine: The Augusta Powder Works." June 2017 in ''Civil War Times Magazine''

Articles

*Savas (2018) "AN ELEGANT GAME: The A Dying Southern Diarist, the Civil War, and his Fascination with Chess," in ''American Chess Magazine'' (Aug. 1, 2018). *Savas (2017) "The War's Biggest Blunder: Sherman and the Bypassing of Augusta on the March to the Sea," in ''Civil War Times Magazine'' (Aug. 1, 2017). *Savas (2017) "The Heart of the Confederate War Machine: The Augusta Powder Works," in ''Civil War Times Magazine'' (June 1, 2017). *Savas (2016) "The Business of History Books: An Interview with Theodore P. Savas" in ''The Civil War Monitor'' (July 2016). *Savas (1999) "Gauntlet of Fire: The ''USS Wyoming'' in the Shimonoseki Straits," in ''Naval History Magazine'' (Feb. 1, 1999). *Savas (1992)"The Battle of Payne's Farm, Nov. 27, 1863," in ''Civil War: The Magazine of the Civil War Society'' (May 1, 1992). *Savas (1991) "Bulwark of the Beleaguered Confederacy: The Augusta Powder Works," in ''Civil War: The Magazine of the Civil War Society'' (Sept. 1, 1991). *Savas (1991) "Foraging South of the James River: The Suffolk Campaign," in ''Confederate Veteran Magazine'' (March 1, 1991). *Savas (1990) "Longstreet Takes Command: The Suffolk Campaign," ''America's Civil War'' (March 1, 1990). *Savas (1989) "Last Clash of the Ironclads: The Bungled Affair in Trent's Reach," in ''Civil War: The Magazine of the Civil War Society'' (Jan. 1, 1989) *Savas (1988) Ironclads on the James River: The Battle of Trent's Reach," in ''Confederate Veteran Magazine'' (Nov. 1, 1988).

Awards

* ''A Guide to the Battles of the American Revolution'': Winner, 2006, Gold Star Book Award for History, Military Writers Society of America. A selection of the History and Military book clubs. * ''The New American Revolution Handbook'': Winner, Reference, 2010

Army Historical Foundation Army Historical Foundation is the designated fundraising institution for the National Museum of the United States Army. The foundation also has given out awards to authors of books on military history topics since 1997. The awards are known as th ...

Distinguished Book Award * ''Never for Want of Powder: The Confederate Powder Works in Augusta, Georgia'', with co-authors C. L. Bragg, Gordon A. Blaker, Charles D. Ross, and Stephanie A. T. Jacobe): Winner 2007 Lilla M. Hawes Award,

Georgia Historical Society The Georgia Historical Society (GHS) is a statewide historical society in Georgia. Headquartered in Savannah, Georgia, GHS is one of the oldest historical organizations in the United States. Since 1839, the society has collected, examined, and ta ...

. * The Iron Brigade Award for Civil War Scholarship, from The Milwaukee Civil War Round Table, Sept. 2020.

References

External links

Theodore P. Savas
at Savas Beatie
A Publisher's Perspective
blog at Savas Beatie * {{DEFAULTSORT:Savas, Theodore P. Living people American publishers (people) American male writers Year of birth missing (living people)