William R. Forstchen
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William R. Forstchen (born 1950) is an American science fiction author who began publishing in 1983 with the novel Ice Prophet. He is an associate professor of history at Montreat College, in Montreat, North Carolina. He received his doctorate from Purdue University with a specialization in the American Civil War.
Forstchen is the author of more than forty books, including 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. His best known works may be the "Lost Regiment" books which transport a regiment of Union soldiers from the American Civil War to a medieval style world.
Several of his novels have tied in to computer games, most notably a cycle of four novels and two novelizations based on Wing Commander chronicling the rise and fall of Admiral Geoffrey Tolwyn: the original novels Action Stations, End Run, Fleet Action and False Colors and the novelizations Heart of the Tiger (of Wing Commander III) and The Price of Freedom (of Wing Commander IV).
In 1995, he collaborated with Newt Gingrich on the alternate history novel 1945, describing a 1945 where the US fought against (and defeated) Japan only, Nazi Germany defeated the Soviet Union and the two confront each other in a cold war which swiftly turns hot.
The book drew many negative reviews which Gingrich supporters claimed were biased and politically-motivated (see [1]).Among other things it was described as being "a disguised tract against gun control", as the key scene depicts an armed Tennessee civilian militia, led by Alvin York, defeating Otto Scorzeny's commandos who raid Oak Ridge. It ended with a cliffhanger - Rommel invading Scotland and the British facing a desperate fight - but a promised sequel, provisionally called "Fortress Europa", was never written.
Instead, Forstchen and Gingrich turned to co-authoring an alternative history of the American Civil War; the trilogy consists of Gettysburg: A Novel of the Civil War, Grant Comes East, and Never Call Retreat: Lee and Grant - The Final Victory.
