Thom Hatch is a Marine Corps Vietnam veteran and an award-winning American author and novelist who specializes in the history of the American West, the American Civil War, and the Plains Indian Wars. He is the author of twelve books, including The Last Outlaws: The Lives and Legends of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Custer Companion: A Comprehensive Guide to the Life of George Armstrong Custer and the Plains Indians Wars, and Black Kettle: the Cheyenne Chief Who Sought Peace But Found War, for which he received the Spur Award for literary excellence from the Western Writers of America. Hatch lives in Colorado with his wife and daughter.