A veteran, published author, and a past board member of both the Friends of Cedar Mountain Battlefield and the Brandy Station Foundations.
Mike is a life-long student of the American Civil War, moved to southern Fauquier County in 2004, and developed a deep appreciation and love of Culpeper County and what transpired on that historic ground during the Civil War.
As a public historian, he has led battlefield tours and lectured for over two decades, focusing on the stirring events in Culpeper, Orange, and Fauquier Counties. He also developed and led Civil War Staff Rides at Gettysburg for a government agency, with a focus on the intelligence and geospatial information available to the participants
“To truly understand an action or event, you must walk the ground and read accounts from those who were there. This places you in the moment of the event, and you begin to visualize what the soldier or participant experienced, seeing what they saw. The clarity raises your appreciation of the moment.” – Mike Block
Mike will personalize your tours, so you can get the most out of your experience.
In January 2022, his first book, “The Carnage Was Fearful: The Battle of Cedar Mountain, August 9, 1862” was part of the Emerging Civil War Series published by Savas Beatie. Additionally, Mike has had articles appear in Blue & Gray Magazine, Hallowed Ground Magazine, and North and South Magazine.
Mike presents at Civil War Roundtables, museums, historic groups, and civic organizations on topics that include Cedar Mountain, Rappahannock Station, Brandy Station, and Civil War Photography.
Mike is a past board member of both the Friends of Cedar Mountain Battlefield and the Brandy Station Foundation and served on the Culpeper and Fauquier Counties Civil War Sesquicentennial Committees during the 150th-anniversary celebrations. Mike continues to volunteer for the Friends of Cedar Mountain and has been a tour guide for Battlefield Tours of Virginia since 2021.
Mike, a retired military veteran, also retired from government contracting positions after completing nearly 40 years of service, now devoting his time to Civil War Studies. He has been married for 41 years to best-selling Romance Novelist Caryn Moya Block. They have two married sons and three granddaughters and currently reside in Orange, Virginia.
The Carnage Was Fearful
Emerging Civil War
December 2021
Friends of Culpeper Battlefields Formed
Emerging Civil War
July 2020
The Battle of Cedar Mountain
Blue & Gray Magazine
February 2016
The Pontoon Bridge at Rappahannock Station
Emerging Civil War
November 2015
Berdan’s Sharpshooters at Kelly’s Ford
Emerging Civil War
November 2015
Robert E. Lee and Certain Young Ladies
Emerging Civil War
October 2015
