Owen Parry / Ralph Peters Books In Order

Publication Order of Abel Jones Books

Publication Order of Battle Hymn Cycle Books

Publication Order of Stonewall Jackson's Triumph and Tragedy Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Collections

Publication Order of Owen Parry Collections

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

Ralph Peters is a career soldier, linguist, adventurer and author best known for historical fiction, policy analysis, and political thriller novels. In his career, his travels have taken him from roadblocks in the Caucuses, demonstrations in the Baltics and right across the former Soviet Union. The former American Army military intelligence officer has also written novels about the Civil War under the pen name Owen Perry. Peters asserts that he spent much of his career trying to understand the link between ideologies and actions and this he published in a range of articles, essays, and novels. Ralph Peters grew up in Schuylkill Haven in Pennsylvania and has asserted that given that his training as a writer gained a lot from the German and other European accents common in the area. Growing up in the 1950s and 60s, it was easy to tell where someone came from by their accents since it was not a highly literate culture. However, many of the adults he grew up with were great storytellers and this got him interested in various languages that got him to study German and Russian while he was in the military. This later led to postings and missions in the former Soviet Union and Europe and it is from his experiences that he gets the stories for his novels.

Peters’s debut novel was “Brave Romeo” that was about a poetry writing guerilla fighter named Jack Thorne. Jack became an intelligence officer and in the course of his work uncovered evidence of a conspiracy from right-wing extremists in Germany. Ralph followed that up with a story set in World War III titled “Red Army “and then a third titled “The War in 2020” both of which were described as excellent depictions of modern warfare. He also wrote two more successful thrillers before he decided to write historical fiction on the Civil War under Owen Perry his pseudonym. Under his new pseudonym, he won the Herodotus Award for the novel “Faded Coat of Blue” in which he introduced one of his most popular characters, Abel Jones. Abel is a Union supply office clerk that investigates and solves the murder mystery of the murder of a Washington DC abolitionist that was active at the start of the Civil War. According to Publishers Weekly, the novel combines the best of the likes of Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot with a bit of Miss Marple. Having found a character that readers loved, he wrote more titles featuring the character in “Call Each River Jordan,” “Shadows of Glory” and the Dashiell Hammett Award-winning “Honor’s Kingdom.”

Using his expertise as a former Foreign Service and intelligence officer, he has also penned several non-fiction works on terrorism and American military endeavors across the globe. His first nonfiction work was “Fighting for the Future” that he published in 1999. In the work, he analyzes the future of military conflicts which he believes will involve political and social battles in addition to the conventional military confrontations. The Washington Monthly believed that the prescriptions and predictions in the novel were entertaining yet provided insightful perspectives that the US as the military, cultural and economic superpower could use going into the twenty first century. Special Warfare’s Robert B. Adolph said that Ralph Peters writes with unusual artistry, integrity and conviction and that he is the most talented theorizer of his generation.

“Cain at Gettysburg” the first novel of the “Battle Hymn Cycle” series by Ralph Peters opens to two armies blundering towards each other on the battlefield. One is led by George Mead the dour general and the other by the beloved and confident Robert E. Lee. The battleground is on a crossroads town in Pennsylvania where none of them had expected to fight. The greatest battle to be fought in American history explodes in a savagely realistic depiction of Gettysburg. Tragedy unfolds for the blue-clad immigrants and the Rebels without shoes even as the staffs err and generals squabble. The fate of the United States will be decided on a few square miles of ground in Pennsylvania. Involved in the war are an Irish survivor of the Great Famine, a Blue Ridge Confederate sergeant, gun crews in gray and blue and a German political refugee. The novel is as grand in scale just like its representations of battle are unflinching. The battle is fought over three days and as it lasts, all James Longstreet can think of is a fateful feud with Robert E. Lee. Dan Sickles thinks he is the best schemer but nearly destroys his army while the fiery Barksdale, the undisciplined Win Hancock and the flamboyant James Pettigrew dash towards their destinies.

Ralph Peters’s “To Hell or Richmond” harks back to the Civil War and tells of the battles that Grant fought seeking to break down Lee. Lee is a leader full of mystique and it will take a lot to break his spirit and that of his forces. The story is full of historical military figures that led armies into battle and also includes the toll of battle on both Confederate and Federal soldiers. It chronicles everything from the earthy soldiers who hail from the canal district in Pennsylvania, he riotous zealotry of Colonel Emory Upton, the intelligence of Gen George Mead of the Army of the Potomac to General Grant the Chief General of the Army. Everyone is stripped of their gentility and human glory as even the likes of Lee are shown with their infirmities, confusion and self-doubt, while Ramseur, Cullen and Johnston are depicted as reactive but resolute. All the men are caught up in the fog of war as they recover and make tactical and strategic errors that cause casualties on the enemy in some of the most brutal ways one could ever imagine.

“Valley of the Shadow” is the story of a daring battle by the Confederates that very nearly captured Washington D.C. But then a stunning reversal on the battlefields of Cedar Creek led to some of the fiercest fighting of the Civil War. It is a battle for who is going to become master of the breadbasket of the Confederate army – the Shenandoah Valley. It is also a key route into the North that several heroes in gray and blue will be engaged in a fierce battle to control. Among these are a charismatic Georgian named John Brown Gordon who has a great love story, George Armstrong Caster a dashing Yankee boy, and a deadly and raw mouthed Philip Sheridan who has a gift for inspiring his men. From hard-bitten and hungry rebel privates to union officers that fate has determined will become presidents. It is a story of the greatest military leaders and the brave men that fought under their command. The author brings to life the breathtaking battles with the insight, skill and authenticity we have come to associate with the best of his works.