Robert Conroy

My next novel, "1882-Custer in Chains," will be published in May, 2015. I had hoped for sooner, but it's the publisher's decision. In my tale, Custer not only survives the fight at the Little Big Horn in 1876, but becomes a war hero and then President of the United States. Urged on by his ambitious wife Libbie, he gets us into a war with Spain with the conquest or liberation of Cuba as its goal. The result is a bloody invasion and a series of battles on both land and sea in which the outcome is never a sure thing. As always, there are a number of historical characters as well as fictional ones. Since 1882 was only seventeen years after the end of the Civil War, memories of that bloody conflict are always present. As I've written before, I want my alternate histories to be plausible; ergo, no time travel or magic. Now, could Custer have survived? Absolutely yes. He had two Gatling guns that he felt would have slowed him down; therefore, he left them behind. What if some energetic young officer had defied him and brought them just in time to save Custer and what remained of his force from annihilation? Victory for Custer, of course and that is the take off point for 1882-Custer in Chains. Following on the heels of "Liberty-1784" and "1820-America's Great War," Custer will be my twelfth published novel and it's still a thrill. I wonder what the nuns at now closed St. Ambrose High School would have thought. Why not check out my website at robertconroybooks.com or email me at conroybooks.net?