Author Talk: Nicholas Reynolds — Ortiz’s War - with Dr. Jeffrey Rogg

Watch author Nicholas Reynolds discuss "Ortiz’s War" at Politics and Prose bookstore in Washington, D.C.

Peter J. Ortiz’s path to becoming the most battle-decorated member of America’s first spy agency—and one of the most decorated Marines of World War II—was unlike any other. Born in New York and raised between California and France, he would have stints as a merchant seaman, dude ranch manager, race car driver, lion tamer, circus performer, and Hollywood stuntman and actor. As a teenager, Ortiz ran away from boarding school in France to join the French Foreign Legion. He first experienced combat in North Africa against tribesmen in the Sahara. Fighting on the front lines against the Germans in 1940, he was badly wounded and captured. He repeatedly escaped, one time fleeing a hospital train after assuming the identity of a dead soldier.

Nicholas Reynolds has worked in the fields of modern military history and intelligence off and on for 40 years, with some unusual detours. Freshly minted PhD from Oxford University in hand, he joined the Marine Corps in the 1970s, serving as an infantry officer and then as an historian. As a reservist, he became officer in charge of field history, deploying historians overseas to capture history as it was being made. Additionally, he edited The Journal of America’s Military Past, a scholarly publication at the intersection of military history and historic preservation. For years, he served as a CIA officer, most recently as the historian for the CIA Museum. Over the decades, he also tried his hand at farming, writing a novel, and mountain climbing. One of his proudest moments was making it to the glaciated peak of Mt Baker at the age of 64. He has taught at the graduate level, and still teaches for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. He and his wife Becky care for rescue dogs.

Reynolds is joined in conversation with Dr. Jeffrey Rogg, an assistant professor at the University of Texas at Austin’s Clements Center for National Security and associate director of scholarship for the Intelligence Studies Project. He previously held roles at the University of South Florida, Joint Special Operations University, and The Citadel, and completed a postdoc at the U.S. Naval War College. He is vice president of the Society for Intelligence History and an associate editor of Intelligence and National Security. His work appears in major academic and media outlets. His book, The Spy and the State, was published by Oxford University Press in 2025.

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