Cody C. Engdahl was born and raised in Detroit but lives in Nashville, Tennessee. He's a practitioner of the "Southern Gentlemanly Arts." In addition to writing a series of historical novels focusing mostly on the Civil War, he is also an amateur fiddler, cook, whiskey connoisseur, and armchair historian.
I’ve been into history for as long as I can remember. I think it must have started when I was a child watching old swashbuckling movies. I remember making swords out of sticks and pretending I was a knight, a Roman legionnaire, or Errol Flynn on a pirate ship. I remember thinking that I had been born too late as I fantasized about the time when men wore swords on their hips and had dashing adventures.
2. What role does history play or has it played in your personal life?
It’s the source of all my entertainment and passion. I feel sorry for my girlfriend because I never want to watch anything unless it has swords or possibly spaceships. All the novels I read are historical fiction. I can spend hours online looking at the succession of English kings or reading about some ancient battle for no other reason than satisfying my own fascination.
3. How does history play a part of your professional life/career?
It’s at the core now of my professional life. I started writing historical novels after I left my career as a TV reporter. Researching, writing, editing, and marketing take up much of my time. I also do as many book talks and signing as I can. I play old-time fiddle, which works nicely with the era in which I write. My banjo player and I play a lot of gigs at historical events and sites, often in period clothing. I typically play my fiddle at Civil War shows as well to attract people to my table. It helps me sell books!
4. Why is studying/knowing history important?
History is the story of who we are and how we got here. It’s difficult to solve the problems of today and tomorrow if we don’t understand those two things. You can also see repeating patterns in history and human behavior. The study of history is really the best way of predicting the future.
5. What is your favorite period or aspect of history to learn about and why?
That’s the toughest question yet. I like it all! My writing focuses on the “Long 19th Century,” which is roughly the French Revolution to the onset of World War I. It’s the story of modernity. Most of our worldview is born from this age. It’s a time of great turmoil and transition. It’s both familiar and exotic to us.
I’m also very much a twelve-year-old boy at heart so I tend to obsess over military, weapons, war, adventure, and honor culture. But that’s just because I’m immature and not for any profound reason.
6. What drew you to writing historical fiction in general and about the Civil War in particular?
Because I’m a fan. Like many historical novelists, I am a big fan of Bernard Cornwell as well as too many others to name, but I must say it was Arturo Perez-Reverte’s Alatriste series that finally prompted me to write. I felt the American Civil War was the best place to start because I was familiar with it, there's a ton of resources, and a huge built-in audience. I practically live on a battlefield.
7. Please tell us about Mexico, My Love, your latest novel?
That’s a prequel to my Civil War trilogy that I had planned from the very beginning. You can see me setting it up in Chapter One of my first novel, Rampage on the River: The Battle for Island No. 10. It’s the story of the parents of my main character in the trilogy. It’s about how they meet, fall in love, run away together, and go on a grand adventure that’ll take them through the deserts of Africa, across the pirate-infested seas, and ultimately to the Battle of Mexico City in the Mexican-American War.
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