William R. Forstchen

William R. Forstchen (born 1950) is an American author who began publishing in 1983 with the novel Ice Prophet. He is a Professor of History and Faculty Fellow at Montreat College, in Montreat, North Carolina. He received his doctorate from Purdue University with specializations in Military History, the American Civil War and the History of Technology.

Forstchen is the author of more than forty books, including the award winning We Look Like Men of War, a young adult novel about an African-American regiment that fought at the Battle of the Crater, which is based upon his doctoral dissertation, The 28th USCTs: Indiana’s African-Americans go to War, 1863-1865 and the "Lost Regiment" series which has been optioned by both Tom Cruise and M. Night Shyamalan.

Forstchen’s writing efforts have, in recent years, shifted towards historical fiction and non fiction. In 2002 he started the “Gettysburg” trilogy with former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich; the trilogy consists of Gettysburg, Grant Comes East, and Never Call Retreat. More recently, they have published two works on the events leading up to Pearl Harbor and immediately after that attack Pearl Harbor, and Days of Infamy. Their current focus is on the American Revolution with the publication in 2009 of "To Try Men's Souls," a novel about Washington's crossing of the Delaware and Tom Paine's writing "The American Crisis," and in 2010 will release a novel about Valley Forge and the Battle of Monmouth Court House. Forstchen and Gingrich previously collaborated on the alternate history novel 1945 (1995).

In March 2009, One Second After (Forge/St. Martin’s books) was released and immediately reached the New York Times best seller list where it remained for six weeks. Based upon several years of intensive research and interviews, it examines what might happen in a “typical” American town in the wake of an attack on the United States with “electro-magnetic pulse” (EMP) weapons. Similar in plotting to books such as On the Beach and Alas, Babylon, One Second After is set in a small college town in western North Carolina and is a cautionary tale of the collapse of social order in the wake of an EMP strike. The book was cited on the floor of Congress and before the House Armed Services Committee by Congressman Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD), chair of the House Committee tasked to evaluate EMP weapons, as a realistic portrayal of the potential damage rendered by an EMP attack on the continental United States.

Forstchen resides near Asheville, North Carolina with his daughter Meghan. His other interests include archaeology, and he has participated in several expeditions to Mongolia and Russia. He is a pilot and co-owns an original 1943 Aeronca L-3B recon plane used in World War II.

Bibliography

Magic: The Gathering

1. Arena (1993)

The Lost Regiment Series

Main article: The Lost Regiment

1. Rally Cry (1990)
2. Union Forever (1991)
3. Terrible Swift Sword (1992)
4. Fateful Lightning (1992)
5. Battle Hymn (1997)
6. Never Sound Retreat (1998)
7. A Band of Brothers (1999)
8. Men of War (1999)
9. Down to the Sea (2000)

Ice Prophet series

1. Ice Prophet (1983)
2. The Flame Upon the Ice (1984)
3. A Darkness upon the Ice (1985)

Wing Commander series

• End Run (1993)
• Fleet Action (1994)
• Heart of the Tiger (1995) (along with Andrew Keith)
• Action Stations (1998)

Star Voyager Academy series

• Star Voyager Academy (1994)
• Article 23 (1998)
• Prometheus (1999)

Civil War trilogy

Along with Newt Gingrich and Albert S. Hanser.

1. Gettysburg: A Novel of the Civil War (2003)
2. Grant Comes East (2004)
3. Never Call Retreat: Lee and Grant: The Final Victory (2005)

Pacific War series

Main article: Pacific War series

Along with Newt Gingrich.

1. Pearl Harbor (2007)
2. Days Of Infamy (2008)

Legends of the Riftwar

Along with Raymond E. Feist.

1. Honoured Enemy (2001)

Historical fiction

• We Look Like Men of War (2003)
• The Battle of the Crater: A Novel (2011) (along with Newt Gingrich and Albert S. Hanser)

George Washington series

Along with Newt Gingrich and Albert S. Hanser.

• To Try Men's Souls: A Novel of George Washington and the Fight for American Freedom (2009)
• Valley Forge: George Washington and the Crucible of Victory (2010)

Star Trek: The Next Generation

• The Forgotten War (1999)

Shattered Light series

• Catseye (1999) (along with Jaki Demarest)

The Gamester Wars trilogy

• The Alexandrian Ring (1987)
• The Assassin Gambit (1988)
• The Napoleon Wager (1993)

Non-fiction

• Hot Shots: An Oral History of the Air Force Combat Pilots of the Korean War (2000) (along with Jennie E. Chancey)
• Hot Shots: America's First Jet Aces (2002) (along with Jennie E. Chancey)
• Honor Untarnished: A West Point Graduate's Memoir of World War II (2003) (wrote introduction)
• It Seemed Like a Good Idea...: A Compendium Of Great Historical Fiascoe (2009)

The Crystal series

Along with Greg Morrison.

• The Crystal Warriors (1988)
• The Crystal Sorcerers (1991)

Stand-alone

• Into the Sea of Stars (1986)
• 1945 (1995) (along with Newt Gingrich)
• The Four Magics (1996) (along with Larry Segriff)
• One Second After (2009)
• Doctors of the Night (2011)

Short stories

• "A Hard Day for Mother", published in Alternate Generals (1998)
• "Lee's Victory at Gettysburg… and Then What?", published in Alternate Gettysburgs (2002)

External links

• "Forstchen.com". http://forstchen.com. 
• William R. Forstchen at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• Fantastic Fiction Author Page