Richard Wayne Lykes

Richard Wayne Lykes was an American historical writer whose best-known work centers on the Civil War campaign at Petersburg, Virginia. National Park Service materials identify him as the author of Petersburg Battlefields in the Historical Handbook series, and later editions of his work on the Petersburg campaign continued to bring that history to a broad audience.

His writing is practical and accessible, aimed at readers who want a solid sense of place, sequence, and significance without getting lost in jargon. That makes his books a natural fit for listeners interested in military history, battlefield interpretation, and the closing phase of the Civil War in the East.

Available public records indicate he was born in 1919 and died in 1996. While detailed biographical information appears limited in the sources reviewed, his published work remains a useful introduction to Petersburg and its importance in the final year of the war.