Valley Forge - George Washington and the Crucible of Victory

New York Times bestselling authors Newt Gingrich and William R. Forstchen present the triumphant conclusion to their George Washington series—a novel of leadership, brotherhood, loyalty, and the victory of the American cause.

It is 1781, and Washington and his army have spent three years in a bitter stalemate, engaging in near constant skirmishing against the British.  The enemy position in New York is far too strong, and all approaches covered by the Royal Navy.   At last two crucial reports reach Washington.   The first is that the French have briefly committed a fleet to the American coast to engage the British.  The second is that British General Cornwallis, driven to distraction by the protracted warfare in the Carolinas, has decided to withdraw into Yorktown to establish a new base.  

Washington decides to embark on one of the most audacious moves in American military history.  He will take nearly his entire army out of New Jersey and New York, and force march it more than three hundred miles in complete secrecy.  He must pray that the French navy is successful in blockading Chesapeake Bay, so that he can fall upon Cornwallis, lay siege to him, and capture his entire force.   It is a campaign ladened with “Ifs” but the stalemate must be broken, otherwise the American spirit, after six long years of war, will crumble.

Sergeant Peter Wellsley is tasked with “paving the way” for the rapid movement of the army, and above all else neutralizing any loyalists who might slip off to provide warning. The entire operation is predicated on complete, total surprise, a near-impossible task for an army moving through areas that harbor strong loyalists.  On the other side, Allen Van Dorn, still mourning the loss of his friend Major Andre, receives bits and pieces of reports from civilians that something is afoot across New Jersey and is tasked to find out what.   When one of the former friends is captured, both must decide where their true loyalties lie during the heat of the Battle of Yorktown as Washington’s professional army, once a “rabble in arms,” executes the war’s most decisive contest.

With Victory at Yorktown, critically acclaimed authors Newt Gingrich and William R. Forstchen have reached the pinnacle of their talents in a tour de force narrative of one of America’s most important heroes.

With To Make Men Free (originally published as The Battle of the Crater), New York Times bestselling authors Newt Gingrich and William R. Forstchen take readers to the center of a nearly forgotten Civil War confrontation, a battle that was filled with controversy and misinterpretation even before the attack began.   June 1864: the Civil War is now into its fourth year of bloody conflict with no end in sight.  James O’Reilly—famed artist, correspondent, and former companion of Lincoln—is summoned discreetly to a meeting with the President.  His old friend gives him a difficult assignment: travel to the trenches outside of Richmond to be Lincoln’s eyes and ears amongst the men, sending back an honest account of the front.

Meanwhile, General Ambrose Burnside, a hard luck commander out of favor with his superiors, has an ingenious plan to break through the closest point on the Confederate line by tunneling forward from the Union position beneath the fort to explode its defenses. The risks are high, and Burnside needs a brave division of the United States Colored Troops for one desperate rush that just might bring victory.  As the battleground drama unfolds, this must-read work rewrites our understanding of one of the great battles of the war, providing a sharp, rousing and harshly realistic view of politics and combat during the darkest year of the Civil War.

“Masterful storytelling.” --William E. Butterworth IV, New York Times bestselling author of The Saboteurs

“Compelling narrative force and meticulous detail.” --The Atlanta Journal Constitution

For the first time ever The Gettysburg Trilogy combines all three books in the Civil War Series.  Gettysburg, the series’ first installment, opens in 1863 as General Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia are poised to attack the North and claim the victory that could end the brutal conflict.  The soldiers in the line, Yank and Reb, know that this will be the great challenge, the decisive moment that will decide whether a nation will die, or be created, and both sides are ready and willing to lay down their lives for their Cause.  Grant Comes East continues the story of a Confederate victory at Gettysburg, as General Lee marches on Washington, DC, and launches an assault against one of the largest fortifications in the world.  At the same time, Lincoln appoints General Ulysses S. Grant 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.  Finally, Never Call Retreat concludes this tour de force story of true heroism and glory in America’s most trying hour with an epic, week-long showdown between Grant and Lee as each man struggles to bring victory to his name, his men, and his country.

Also included are excerpts from the first two books in Newt Gingrich and William F. Forstchen’s Revolutionary War Series: To Try Men’s Souls and Valley Forge.