People like William R. Forstchen

William R. Forstchen (born October 11, 1950) is an American historian and author. A Professor of History and Faculty Fellow at Montreat College, in Montreat, North Carolina, he received his doctorate from Purdue University.

He has published numerous popular novels and non-fiction works about military and alternative history, thrillers, and speculative events. His three alternate novels of the Civil War were co-written with politician Newt Gingrich; two also had the participation of writer Albert S. Hanser. He and the other two men have also written three novels about General George Washington during the American Revolutionary War.

Forstchen was born and grew up in Millburn, New Jersey. He attended Hightstown High School. He completed his doctorate at Purdue University, studying under the historian Gunther E. Rothenberg. He specialized in Military History, the American Civil War, and the History of Technology. His doctoral dissertation was The 28th USCTs: Indiana's African-Americans Go to War, 1863–1865.