William R. Forstchen – författare

The Battle of Gettyburg was, even before the guns fell silent, a focal point of debate, and it has become the great "what if" of American history. The highly-acclaimed New York Times bestseller Gettysburg unfolds an alternate path and creates for General Robert E. Lee and his Army the victory they might have won on the fields of Gettysburg. Thoroughly researched for five years, Gingrich and Forstchen infuse this masterwork with dramatic battle scenes, military strategy, and captivating period details. An important entry in the pantheon of civil war literature, Gettysburg is a vivid novel of the realities of war.

As "Grant Comes East" opens, the forces of General Robert E. Lee march to Washington, D.C., to launch an assault against one of the largest fortifications in the world. Lee knows that a frontal assault against such fortifications could devastate his army, but it is a price he fears must be paid for final victory. Beyond a military victory in the field, Lee must also overcome the defiant stand of President Abraham Lincoln, who vows that regardless of the defeat at Gettysburg, his solemn pledge to preserve the Union will be honoured. Lincoln will mobilize the garrison of Washington to hold on no matter what the costs. At the same time, Lincoln has appointed General Ulysses S. Grant as commander of all Union forces. Grant, fresh from his triumph at Vicksburg, races east, bringing with him his hardened veterans from Mississippi to confront Lee.

This work is set in August 1863. Having pursued the remnants of the defeated Army of the Potomac up to the banks of the Susquehanna, General Robert E. Lee is caught off balance when news arrives that General Ulysses S. Grant, in command of over seventy thousand men, has crossed that same river, and is advancing down the Cumberland Valley towards Virginia. The two brilliant generals will now meet in a massive battle that will decide the outcome of the war. As with "Gettysburg", "Never Call Retreat" will focus on an operational battle, a slugging match between two armies, this time with both armies led by brilliant commanders.

"Pearl Harbor" covers the full spectrum of character and events of that historic moment, from national leaders and admirals to the views of ordinary citizens caught in the chaos of war. From the chambers of the Emperor of Japan to the American White House, from the decks of aircraft carriers to the playing fields of the Japanese Naval Academy, this powerful story stretches from the nightmare slaughter of China in the 1930s to the lonely office of Commander James Watson, an American cryptographer, who suspects the impending catastrophic attack. It is a story of intrigue, double-dealing, the horrific brutality of war, and the desperate efforts by men of reason on both sides to prevent a titanic struggle that becomes inevitable.A compelling, meticulously researched saga, "Pearl Harbor" is also a novel of valour about those who took party in this cataclysmic moment in world history. It inaugurates a dramatic new Pacific War series that begins with the terrifying account of the day that started it all.

"Days of Infamy" starts minutes after the close of the first installment of the Pacific War Series, Pearl Harbor, as both sides react to the monumental events triggered by the presence of Admiral Yamamoto. In direct command of the six carriers of the attacking fleet, Yamamoto decides to launch a fateful 'third wave attack' on the island of Oahu, and then keeps his fleet in the area to hunt down the surviving American aircraft carriers, which by luck and fate, were not anchored in the harbor on that day. Historians have often speculated about what might have transpired from legendary match ups of great generals and admirals. In this story of the aftermath of Pearl Harbor, the notorious gambler, Yamamoto, is pitted against the equally legendary American Admiral Bill Halsey in a battle of wits, nerve, and skill. Using their critically acclaimed 'active history', which examines how a change in but one decision might have profoundly altered American history, Gingrich and Forstchen have written a sequel that's as much an homage to the survivors of the real Pearl Harbor attack as it is an imaginative and thrilling take on America's entry into World War II.

"Valley Forge" picks up the unputdownable narrative of America's birth one year after Washington's triumphant surprise attack on Trenton, and much has changed since then. It's the winter of 1777, and Washington's battered, demoralized army retreats from Philadelphia. Arriving at Valley Forge, they discover that their repeated requests for a stockpile of food, winter clothing, and building tools have been ignored by Congress. With no other options available, the men settle down for a season of agony. For weeks the dwindling army freezes under tents in the bitter cold. The men are on the point of collapse, while in Philadelphia the British, joined by Allen van Dorn, the Loyalist brother of the dead patriot, Jonathan van Dorn, live in luxury. In spite of the suffering and deceit, Washington endures all, joined at last by a volunteer from Germany, Baron Friederich von Steuben. With precious few supplies and even less time, von Steuben begins the hard task of recasting the army as a professional fighting force capable of facing the British head-on - something it has never accomplished before - and in the process changing the course of history.