Historical Novels by Bob O'Connor

About the Author, Bob O'Connor

Here’s a little background on me.

I live in Charles Town, West Virginia, close to most of the sites of these books. I write about the Civil War, so my area of influence is probably somewhere between Gettysburg, PA and Lexington, VA. I have been involved in public speaking for years and years. Since 2006, my speaking engagements have spanned 18 states and the District of Columbia. I speak at libraries, schools, civic organizations, Civil War Round Tables, book clubs, and to most anyone who will listen. I speak for free to nearby locations and schools but do require a fee and expenses when I have to travel far or stay overnight.

My interest in history goes back to a trip in 1958 to Galesburg, IL where I attended the 100th anniversary of the Lincoln-Douglas debates. Carl Sandburg was the featured speaker. I have worked full time and part time as a newspaper reporter, and at various jobs -- many that required writing press releases, news articles, or reports. My first publish article was when I was in 7th grade – in an Illinois Historical Society for junior high students.

While director of Tourism in Washington County, Maryland, I became involved in touring local places like Antietam Battlefield and Harpers Ferry National Historical Park. I was hooked. My staff thought I was an expert, but really I knew just enough to get by. The more I learned, the more I wanted to learn.

Along the way I was privileged to work with Superintendent Rich Rambur, and he allowed me to start two marvelous events at the Antietam Battlefield that are still going strong. They are the Independence Concert at Antietam Battlefield in July and the Memorial Illumination at Antietam Battlefield in December. Fortunately for me and the community, Rich was an “out of the box thinker” and didn’t get the government manual out and just say “those things aren’t allowed in National Parks”.

I have always collected books on three historical characters — Abraham Lincoln, John Wilkes Booth and John Brown. Imagine my surprise when I ended up living in Charles Town, West Virginia — a place John Brown and John Wilkes Booth had both visited in late 1859. Thus, the inspiration for the first novel “The Perfect Steel Trap Harpers Ferry 1859”. The book has been named a Finalist in the 2006 Best Book Awards by USA Book News.

The inspiration for my second novel “The Virginian Who Might Have Saved Lincoln” was the intrigue of finding a local man, Ward Hill Lamon, who was a close friend of Abraham Lincoln. Most people I talked to had never heard about him. Even though he is mentioned in most non-fiction books about Lincoln (there are 44,781 listed on Amazon.com), no book has ever been written about him. I think it is my charge to bring his name to light. That book is also available as an unabridged audio book – with 5 CDs and a running time of 6:01. The audio book has been given two national awards – it was named runner-up in the National Indie Excellence Awards and was named a finalist in the 2008 Best Book Awards by USA Book News. Since that time I have also found Lamon’s unpublished manuscript at The Huntington Library in California and purchased rights to publish it. The book “The Life of Abraham Lincoln As President” was published in 2010. I did the editing, adding over 1,700 footnotes to his work and an extensive bibliography. That book was also named a finalist in the Indie Book Awards for 2011.

My third novel, “Catesby: Eyewitness to the Civil War” is my best book. (I should be getting better, shouldn’t I?) Catesby has been called “the Forest Gump of the Civil War”. Catesby, a blacksmith and slave to Lewis Washington, great grand-nephew of George Washington, is a real man who I put in real situations so he can tell you what happened there. One of those places is on the wagons driving Alexander Gardner, photographer at Antietam battlefield. Another of those real places is Andersonville Prison. My latest book and fourth novel “The Return of Catesby” is the sequel to that book.

I have also published two other non-fiction books. “The U.S. Colored Troops at Andersonville Prison” is the untold story of 105 black prisoners in that famous Confederate prison. Since then I am also tracking black prisoners at all the other Confederate prisons (there were 32 prisons) and have found over 1,500. A book will be published on that topic too. My other non-fiction book was a tribute to Ranson for their Centennial called “The History of Ranson, WV –1910-2010.”

I graduated from Dixon High School in Dixon, Illinois and have a Biology degree (go figure) from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois. I live close to my son, Craig, and my daughter, Kelli, and my six grandchildren.

Besides writing, I also do volunteer work for Harper s Ferry National Historical Park and write for several local and regional publications. I blog at http://lincolnsbodyguardblog.blogspot.com and write for a national website at http://examiner.com/civil-war-in-national/bob-o-connor.

My next book will be a compilation of the events leading up to the formation of West Virginia called “Countdown to West Virginia Statehood”. It will be finished in early 2013 in time for the 150th anniversary of statehood (June 20, 1863).