Watson, William E. 1962–

PERSONAL: Born October 25, 1962, in New York, NY; son of William (a musician) and Mary (a musician; maiden name, Tripician) Watson; married Debra Bartoletti (a nurse), May 30, 1987; children: Laura, William E., Jr., Margaret. Ethnicity: "Celtic-American." Education: Eastern College, B.A., 1984; University of Pennsylvania, M.A., 1986, Ph.D., 1990. Politics: Republican. Religion: Roman Catholic.

ADDRESSES: Office—Department of History, Immaculata University, 1145 King Rd., Immaculata, PA 19345. E-mail—wwatson@immaculata.edu.

CAREER: Writer. Immaculata University, Immaculata, PA, associate professor of history, 1998–.

MEMBER: Society of Colonial Wars, Sons of the American Revolution, De Re Militari.

WRITINGS:

(With Alexander V. Riasanovsky) Readings in Russian History, Kendall-Hunt (Dubuque, IA), 1991.

The Collapse of Communism in the Soviet Union, Greenwood Press (Westport, CT), 1998.

Tricolor and Crescent, Praeger Publishers (Westport, CT), 2003.

Contributor to reference books. Contributor of articles and reviews to periodicals, including Providence: Studies in Western Civilization, International Journal of Historical Studies, Pennsylvania Gazette, Pennsylvania Minuteman, America's Civil War, Naval History, and Canadian-American Slavic Studies.

WORK IN PROGRESS: The Ghosts of Duffy's Cut, publication by Praeger Publishers (Westport, CT) expected in 2006; archival and archaeological research on the Duffy's Cut Mass Grave in Malvern, PA.

SIDELIGHTS: William E. Watson told CA: "Much of my research and writing is in the field of cross-cultural contact and conflict in history (medieval and modern). In my medieval fields, my work has focused on Frankish-Arab contacts through the era of the Crusades, in particular the period from Charles Martel through Charlemagne (especially the Battle of Tours), and Russo-Arab contacts, in particular the early medieval Arabic literature on the Rus and the Vikings in the East. In my modern fields I have focused on military history and on international relations in the period of World War II and the Cold War. I have an interest in the study of the rise and fall of empires over time—the causes and consequences of their places in history."