Newt Gingrich

Newt Gingrich (born 1943) is an American historian, author and former politician whose writing reflects a longstanding interest in military history, leadership and turning points in American history. He studied at Emory University before earning an MA and PhD in European history from Tulane University, and taught at West Georgia College before entering national politics. Gingrich represented Georgia in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1979 to 1999 and served as Speaker of the House from 1995 to 1999. Alongside his political and nonfiction writing, he has produced a substantial body of historical and alternate-history fiction, much of it in collaboration with historian and novelist William R. Forstchen.

Gingrich and Forstchen’s historical novels concentrate on major American wars and the decisions of commanders and political leaders. The Gettysburg Trilogy—Gettysburg, Grant Comes East and Never Call Retreat—creates an alternative version of the American Civil War in which Robert E. Lee wins at Gettysburg and the subsequent course of the war changes dramatically. Their Pacific War series, beginning with Pearl Harbor and continuing with Days of Infamy, similarly reimagines the opening of the war against Japan. By contrast, the George Washington trilogy—To Try Men’s Souls, Valley Forge and Victory at Yorktown—stays closer to recorded history, following Washington and the Continental Army through the American Revolution. Across these series, Gingrich’s fiction emphasises battlefield command, logistics, political decision-making and the consequences that individual choices can have upon the outcome of wars.