Bob Kalasky, Antietam photo expert

The Antietam and Beyond Podcast

On Episode 20 of "The Antietam And Beyond Podcast," Bob Kalasky, author of Shadows of Antietam, talks with co-host John Banks about his groundbreaking photographic work on the battlefield. (Co-host Tom McMillan is on vacation in Ireland.)

Kalasky — “The Shadow King” — is a leader in a unique subset of Civil War buffs and historians: the photo nerd. Several times a year, the professional massage therapist makes a 3 1/2-hour drive from his home in Ohio to the Antietam battlefield in western Maryland to prove or disprove a photo theory.

At Antietam, he has slept in his car, endured the landing nearby of a tornado and even watched in awe as three banks of fog moved around him and living historians. A supernatural force, perhaps?

True story: After John purchased Kalasky’s book, family CFO Mrs. B spied “massage” on his credit card bill. She gave him the side eye for at least 24 hours.

Buy Kalasky's book from The Kent State University Press.

The podcast is sponsored by Civil War Trails, which since 1994 has connected visitors with small towns and big stories across a network that now spans six states.

Join McMillan and Banks for regular podcasts about Antietam, the Maryland Campaign and the Civil War — the most compelling period in American history.

McMillan is author of Our Flag Was Still There and other books. Banks is author of A Civil War Road Trip Of A Lifetime. Find them on Facebook at Author Tom McMillan and John Banks' Civil War Blog. Banks' popular Civil War blog is here.