UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Ed Glantz, senior lecturer of Information Sciences and Technology (IST) at Penn State, has lent his expertise to author a chapter in the recently published “Guide to the Study of Intelligence.”
The guide features 82 articles spanning multiple disciplines, including political science and international relations, and is published by the Association of Former Intelligence Officers. It was created to be a resource for instructors in the intelligence field.
Glantz’s contribution centers around the emergence of espionage and intelligence during the American Civil War. The topic is one that fascinates Glantz, who is a Civil War re-enactor in his spare time. “I volunteered to do this chapter; it was a really interesting project for me,” he said.
His writing details the early development of intelligence methods, like espionage and intercepting enemy battle plans. Glantz said, “When the American Civil War began in 1861, there was no precedent for having an organization dedicated to intelligence.” Only after World War II would the United States form permanent intelligence organizations like the CIA.
Among those profiled in the chapter, whom Glantz writes about, is LaFayette Baker, a Union spy tasked with finding the conspirators of the Lincoln assassination. The chapter also depicts several women who were crucial to the intelligence operations of the war. In fact, Confederate spy Rose Greenhow was given a full military burial for her service to the Confederacy.
“During the Civil War, women were some of the best spies. They were able to do a tremendous amount of intelligence gathering,” he said. “Whenever I came across the stories involving female spies, I was always amazed!”
As an instructor in IST’s Security Risk and Analysis program, Glantz believes it’s important to bring historical context into his classes. “I always go back into the history. We live in a world where security and intelligence are always evolving, often very quickly,” he noted. “You need to understand how we got to where we are today if you can ever hope to understand what’s coming next.”