William R. Forstchen

William R. Forstchen
Born	October 11, 1950 (1950-10-11) (age 70) Millburn, New Jersey
Occupation	historian, novelist
Title	Professor

William R. Forstchen (born October 11, 1950) is an American historian and author who began publishing in 1978 as a contributor to Boys' Life. He is a Professor of History and Faculty Fellow at Montreat College, in Montreat, North Carolina. He received his doctorate from Purdue University, studying under the historian Professor Gunther E. Rothenberg, with specializations in Military History, the American Civil War, and the History of Technology.

Writing

Forstchen is the author of nearly fifty 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. It is based on material he researched and developed for his doctoral dissertation, The 28th USCTs: Indiana's African-Americans go to War, 1863–1865.

Since the late 20th century, Forstchen has shifted toward writing historical fiction, alternate history, and non-fiction and technological issues.

John Matherson series

In March 2009, Dr. Forstchen's novel, One Second After (Tor/Forge/St. Martin's books) was published and quickly reached the New York Times best seller list; it was on the list for twelve weeks. The sequel, One Year After, was released on September 15, 2015. The concluding work of the trilogy, The Final Day, was released January 4, 2017. All three of the books in what is now called The John Matherson Series achieved NYT best seller status. The book has been translated and printed in over a dozen countries.

Forstchen based his research for One Second After on the 2004 bipartisan Congressional study of the potential threat to the continental United States from an EMP attack: Report of the Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack. Drawing on this and other government and private studies, Forstchen explores by fiction what might happen in a "typical" American town in the wake of an attack on the United States with electro-magnetic pulse (EMP) weapons.^[2] Forstchen has been invited to make presentations regarding the threat of EMP before members of Congress, and at STRATCOM, Sandia Labs, and NASA.

Other works

Forstchen's novel Pillar to the Sky (2014) is an exploration of the concept of a Space Elevator. The tower would rise from the equator to geostationary orbit and beyond in order to revolutionize space transportation in the 21st century. Forstchen’s thesis is that the building of such a permanent transportation system to high earth orbit would reignite America’s economic and technological prominence in the 21st century. He promoted the idea that such a tower could be used to "hot wire” limitless non-polluting energy from solar panels deployed in space and free peoples on earth from dependence on greenhouse gas-emitting energy production.

Forstchen has also self-published two novellas. Day of Wrath (2014) is about an ISIS-inspired attack on United States public schools. Twin Flame (2017), co-authored with friend and author Nora D'Ecclesis, is a "biographical novella". He explores meeting, courting and marrying his now ex-wife Robin.

Bibliography

Magic: The Gathering

1. Arena (1994)

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

• Wing Commander: End Run (1993)
• Wing Commander: Fleet Action (1994)
• Wing Commander: 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 alternate history trilogy

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

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) (with Newt Gingrich and Albert S. Hanser)

George Washington series

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)
• Victory at Yorktown (2012)

Star Trek: The Next Generation

• The Forgotten War (1999)

Shattered Light series

• Catseye (1999) (along with Jaki Demarest)

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) (with Jennie E. Chancey)
• Hot Shots: America's First Jet Aces (2002) ( 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 Fiascoes (2009)

Crystal series

With Greg Morrison.

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

John Matherson series

• One Second After (2009)
• One Year After (2011)
• The Final Day (2017)

Stand-alone

• Into the Sea of Stars (1986)
• 1945 (1995) (along with Newt Gingrich)
• The Four Magics (1996) (along with Larry Segriff)
• Doctors of the Night (2011)
• Pillar to the Sky (2014)
• Day of Wrath (2014)
• Twin Flame (2017)
• 48 Hours (2019)

Short stories & novellas

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

External links

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

• Modern Signed Books BlogTalkRadio Interview with William R. Forstchen Talking about "The Final Day", March 13, 2017