Robert Conroy was an American writer known primarily for alternate history novels built around military turning points. Instead of creating one continuing fictional universe, he repeatedly asked a new historical question: What if one battle, political decision, invasion, or surrender had gone differently?
That distinction makes his reading order unusually simple.
Affiliate Disclosure
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. This article may contain affiliate links. If you click one of these links, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.
There is no Robert Conroy series that must be read from Book 1 through a finale. His alternate histories are separate scenarios, even when two books cover the same war or use nearby dates in their titles.
For most readers, publication order is the most useful complete route. Readers interested in a particular historical period can just as easily choose one novel and begin there.
Quick Answer
Robert Conroy’s novels are predominantly standalones.
The complete publication order is:
- 1901
- 1862
- 1945
- 1942
- Red Inferno: 1945
- Castro’s Bomb
- Himmler’s War
- North Reich
- Rising Sun
- 1920: America’s Great War
- Liberty: 1784
- 1882: Custer in Chains
- Germanica
- Storm Front
- The Day After Gettysburg, with J. R. Dunn
- Interregnum
You do not have to read them in this order for continuity.
The only strong reason to use publication order is if you want to follow Conroy’s development as an alternate history writer.
Robert Conroy Books in Publication Order
1901
1901 was Conroy’s first novel, originally published in 1995.
The divergence imagines Imperial Germany invading the United States during the presidency of William McKinley.
Conroy’s interest in the premise grew from historical German planning for a possible conflict with the United States.
Status: Standalone alternate history.
Later editions may show newer publication dates, so readers should not mistake a reissue for a later novel.
1862
1862 was published in 2006.
The novel changes the outcome of the Trent Affair during the American Civil War. Instead of avoiding direct war with Britain, the United States finds itself confronting British intervention.
Status: Standalone alternate history.
It has no story connection to The Day After Gettysburg, despite both changing the Civil War.
1945
1945 was published in 2007.
Its central divergence occurs at the end of World War II. Japan does not surrender after the atomic bombings, forcing the United States toward the planned invasion of the Japanese home islands.
Status: Standalone alternate history.
1942
1942 was published in 2009.
Here, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor is more devastating than it was historically, and Japan succeeds in occupying Hawaii.
The novel won the Sidewise Award for Alternate History.
Status: Standalone alternate history.
Despite its Pacific War setting, it is not a prequel to Rising Sun.
Red Inferno: 1945
Red Inferno: 1945 was published in 2010.
The novel imagines the Western Allies and the Soviet Union moving from uneasy alliance into direct conflict near the end of World War II.
Status: Standalone alternate history.
The shared year in the title does not make it a sequel to 1945. The two novels explore different alternate timelines.
Castro’s Bomb
Castro’s Bomb was published digitally in 2011.
The story extends the Cuban Missile Crisis into a new confrontation after Fidel Castro obtains control of Soviet nuclear weapons left in Cuba.
It was initially notable as a digital release rather than one of Conroy’s standard print novels.
Status: Standalone alternate history.
Himmler’s War
Himmler’s War was published in 2011.
The divergence comes shortly after D-Day. Adolf Hitler is removed from the equation, leaving Heinrich Himmler to take control of Nazi Germany and change German strategy.
Status: Standalone alternate history.
It does not continue 1945, Red Inferno: 1945, or any other Conroy World War II novel.
North Reich
North Reich appeared in 2012 as a digital publication.
Its alternate history imagines a world in which Nazi Germany did not declare war on the United States in December 1941, allowing a dramatically different conflict to develop later in North America.
Canada becomes central to the confrontation.
Status: Standalone alternate history.
Rising Sun
Rising Sun was published in 2012.
Its premise reverses the historical American victory at Midway. The United States loses vital aircraft carriers, leaving Japan in a far stronger position in the Pacific and opening the way for attacks against North America.
Status: Standalone alternate history.
Are 1942 and Rising Sun Connected?
No.
This is one of the easiest mistakes to make in Robert Conroy’s bibliography.
Both novels concern a more successful Japanese campaign against the United States during World War II, but they begin from different alternate historical events.
In 1942, the changed Pearl Harbor attack leads toward the Japanese conquest of Hawaii.
In Rising Sun, the Battle of Midway becomes a major American defeat.
They are alternate versions of history, not two stages of one fictional war.
Read either one first.
1920: America’s Great War
1920: America’s Great War was published in 2013.
Conroy imagines Germany winning the First World War after the United States remains neutral. Several years later, a dominant Imperial Germany uses Mexico as a base for an invasion of the United States.
Status: Standalone alternate history.
Its German invasion premise may recall 1901, but the books belong to entirely different timelines.
Liberty: 1784
Liberty: 1784 was published in 2014.
The American Revolution fails after events around Yorktown turn against George Washington and the revolutionaries.
Surviving Americans attempt to establish a new center of resistance farther west.
Status: Standalone alternate history.
This is Conroy’s principal Revolutionary War alternate history.
1882: Custer in Chains
1882: Custer in Chains was published posthumously in 2015.
The premise allows George Armstrong Custer to survive and win at the Little Bighorn. His increased fame ultimately sends him to the presidency, where his ambitions push the United States toward war with Spain.
Status: Standalone alternate history.
The title is sometimes incorrectly rendered as 1864: Custer in Chains in catalog copy. The published novel is 1882: Custer in Chains.
Germanica
Germanica was published posthumously in 2015.
Instead of ending cleanly with the collapse of Nazi Germany, the novel imagines Joseph Goebbels and German forces attempting to continue resistance from an Alpine stronghold.
Status: Standalone alternate history.
Is Germanica a Sequel to Himmler’s War?
No.
Both alter the closing stages of World War II, but they use different premises and do not share one continuing timeline.
Readers can choose either novel independently.
Storm Front
Storm Front was another posthumously published Conroy novel, released by Baen after his death.
It stands apart from almost everything else in his bibliography.
Rather than changing a major historical event, the novel focuses on a severe blizzard striking a Michigan community while escaped criminals create an additional threat.
Status: Standalone contemporary thriller.
For readers who want Robert Conroy without alternate history, this is the clearest choice.
The Day After Gettysburg
The Day After Gettysburg was published posthumously in 2017 and is credited to Robert Conroy and J. R. Dunn.
Conroy died before the book was completed, and J. R. Dunn finished the novel.
The historical divergence comes after the Battle of Gettysburg. Rather than retreating in the familiar historical manner, Robert E. Lee launches another offensive.
Status: Standalone alternate history.
Co-author: J. R. Dunn.
Is The Day After Gettysburg a Sequel to 1862?
No.
Both involve alternate versions of the American Civil War, but each creates its own independent history.
1862 diverges around British involvement following the Trent Affair.
The Day After Gettysburg changes events after Gettysburg in 1863.
There are no recurring fictional characters or continuity requirements connecting them.
Interregnum
Interregnum was published posthumously in 2018.
Rather than revising a single familiar battle or political choice, the novel moves into a devastated North America following nuclear war.
Status: Standalone speculative novel.
It is currently the final published Robert Conroy novel.
Robert Conroy Books by Historical Era
Because the novels are independent, choosing by historical subject is often more useful than following publication dates.
American Revolution
- Liberty: 1784
The American Revolution fails, producing an entirely different struggle for independence.
American Civil War
- 1862
- The Day After Gettysburg
These are separate alternatives.
Read 1862 for a scenario involving Britain and the Confederacy.
Choose The Day After Gettysburg for a divergence centered on Lee’s actions following Gettysburg.
There is no required order between them.
Late Nineteenth Century
- 1882: Custer in Chains
- 1901
These books are also separate.
Custer in Chains changes Custer’s fate and American politics.
1901 imagines a German invasion of the United States under Kaiser Wilhelm II.
World War I and Its Aftermath
- 1920: America’s Great War
This novel imagines a victorious Imperial Germany turning its attention toward North America.
It does not share the timeline of 1901.
World War II: Pacific Theater
Conroy wrote several independent alternatives involving Japan and the United States:
- 1942
- Rising Sun
- 1945
Do not read these as a trilogy.
Each starts from a different counterfactual premise.
If You Want Pearl Harbor
Read 1942.
If You Want Midway
Read Rising Sun.
If You Want Operation Downfall
Read 1945.
World War II: European Theater
Several novels explore different European outcomes:
- Himmler’s War
- Red Inferno: 1945
- Germanica
- North Reich
Again, this is a thematic grouping, not a series.
Himmler’s War changes Nazi leadership.
Red Inferno: 1945 turns the Soviet and Western alliance into open conflict.
Germanica imagines continued Nazi resistance from an Alpine redoubt.
North Reich changes the relationship between Germany, Britain, Canada, and the United States.
No continuity joins the four.
Cold War
- Castro’s Bomb
The novel builds its alternate crisis around Cuba, Soviet nuclear weapons, and the Kennedy administration.
Status: Independent.
Post-Nuclear Future
- Interregnum
This belongs outside Conroy’s usual battle-specific alternate histories and depicts a radically changed North America.
Contemporary Thriller
- Storm Front
This is the significant non-alternate-history exception in Conroy’s novel catalog.
Recommended Robert Conroy Reading Order
Since there is no continuing series, the best order depends on what you want from his work.
For the Classic Conroy Experience
- 1901
- 1862
- 1945
- 1942
- Red Inferno: 1945
This route follows his early development from German invasion scenarios into Civil War and World War II alternatives.
It is not required for continuity.
For World War II Readers
Choose according to the historical question that interests you:
- 1942
- Rising Sun
- Himmler’s War
- Red Inferno: 1945
- 1945
- Germanica
- North Reich
The order within this list is flexible because each novel resets history.
For American War Alternate History
Try:
- Liberty: 1784
- 1862
- The Day After Gettysburg
- 1882: Custer in Chains
- 1901
- 1920: America’s Great War
This gives a rough progression through American historical periods, but it is not one chronology.
For One Book Only
There is no continuity reason to favor an early novel.
1901 is the logical choice if you want to begin where Conroy’s published career began.
1942 is a convenient choice for Pacific War alternate history.
Himmler’s War works independently for European World War II.
Liberty: 1784 is the obvious choice for the Revolutionary era.
Publication Order Versus Chronological Order
Publication order is useful for following Conroy as a writer.
Historical chronological order is useful only as a thematic exercise.
It would be misleading to arrange Liberty: 1784, 1862, 1882: Custer in Chains, 1901, 1920: America’s Great War, and the World War II books as though each occurred in the same alternative United States.
They do not.
Every major alternate history novel establishes its own divergence from real history.
For a new reader, that means there are no spoilers created by choosing a later historical period first.
Do Robert Conroy’s World War II Books Form a Series?
No.
Titles such as 1942, Rising Sun, 1945, Red Inferno: 1945, Himmler’s War, and Germanica are frequently displayed together because of their subject matter.
They should not be numbered as one series.
They contradict one another by design because each asks a different alternate-history question.
Classification: Separate continuities.
Are 1945 and Red Inferno: 1945 Connected?
No.
The repeated year can make the books look like companions or sequels.
1945 focuses on Japan refusing to surrender and an American invasion of the Japanese home islands.
Red Inferno: 1945 focuses on a breakdown between the Soviet Union and the Western Allies in Europe.
They can be read in either order.
Are 1901 and 1920: America’s Great War Connected?
No.
Both involve Germany threatening or invading the United States, but their histories are incompatible.
1901 begins from Imperial German ambitions around the turn of the century.
1920: America’s Great War assumes Germany won World War I before launching a later invasion through North America.
Treat them as separate thought experiments.
Robert Conroy Short Fiction
Conroy also published shorter fiction, including pieces made available through Baen.
One example is The Aristocrat and the Free Man.
Another is The Teacher, credited to Robert Conroy and J. R. Dunn and set during the closing period of Nazi Germany.
These stories are not required before any of Conroy’s novels.
Status: Optional shorter fiction.
They are better treated as supplemental reading rather than inserted into the numbered novel list.
Was The Day After Gettysburg Finished by Another Author?
Yes.
Robert Conroy died in 2014, before The Day After Gettysburg was published.
J. R. Dunn completed the novel, and the published book credits both Robert Conroy and J. R. Dunn.
That makes it different from Conroy’s other posthumously released books, which may have appeared after his death but are not necessarily presented as co-authored novels.
Robert Conroy’s Posthumous Books
Conroy died on December 30, 2014.
Several books appeared afterward:
- 1882: Custer in Chains (2015)
- Germanica (2015)
- Storm Front (posthumous Baen publication)
- The Day After Gettysburg (2017), with J. R. Dunn
- Interregnum (2018)
A publication date after 2014 therefore does not indicate that Conroy was still producing new manuscripts at that time.
This distinction is useful when interpreting “latest book” listings.
Robert Conroy’s Latest Book
The latest published Robert Conroy novel is Interregnum, released in 2018.
It was published several years after Conroy’s death.
No newer Robert Conroy novel has been reliably confirmed as of August 8, 2026.
Readers should therefore treat Interregnum as the final currently published novel rather than expect a continuing series after it.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Robert Conroy book should I read first?
1901 is the natural choice if you want to begin with his first novel.
However, his books are standalone, so you can begin with whichever historical period interests you most.
Does Robert Conroy have any book series?
Not in the conventional sense.
His novels repeatedly use alternate American and military history, but they generally create separate timelines.
There is no required Book 1, Book 2, Book 3 sequence.
What order should I read Robert Conroy’s books?
For a complete read, publication order is the cleanest approach.
For casual reading, choose by historical era.
Is 1942 connected to Rising Sun?
No.
Both imagine stronger Japanese success in World War II, but the points of divergence are different.
They are separate alternate histories.
Does 1945 come after 1942?
It came later in historical time but was actually published before 1942.
More importantly, the novels are not connected.
You can read either one first.
Is Red Inferno: 1945 a sequel to 1945?
No.
The repeated year refers to their historical settings, not a shared fictional timeline.
Is Germanica connected to Himmler’s War?
No.
Both alter the final phase of Nazi Germany, but they construct different versions of events.
Are 1862 and The Day After Gettysburg connected?
No.
They are two separate Civil War alternate histories.
Is Storm Front an alternate history novel?
No.
Storm Front is a contemporary disaster and crime thriller centered on a severe Michigan blizzard.
It is the major exception to Conroy’s alternate history dominated bibliography.
Who completed The Day After Gettysburg?
J. R. Dunn completed the novel after Robert Conroy’s death.
The published book credits Robert Conroy and J. R. Dunn.
What was Robert Conroy’s final book?
If “final” means latest published novel, it is Interregnum, published posthumously in 2018.
Is there a new Robert Conroy book coming?
No new Robert Conroy novel with a confirmed publication date was identified as of August 8, 2026.
Because Conroy died in 2014, any future publication would necessarily involve previously unpublished or posthumously prepared material.
Where to Begin With Robert Conroy
Robert Conroy is one of the easier alternate history authors to approach because almost every novel offers a fresh entry point.
There is no need to read 1942 before Rising Sun, 1945 before Red Inferno: 1945, or 1862 before The Day After Gettysburg. Similar wars and dates do not indicate sequel relationships.
For a complete bibliography, publication order beginning with 1901 works well. For everyone else, choose the historical turning point that interests you most.
The main rule is simply not to manufacture a series where Conroy did not create one. His books work as separate alternative histories, and that independence is what gives readers the freedom to start almost anywhere.
Frank is the editor of BookSeries.blog, focusing on publication order, chronological timelines, and spoiler-free reading guides for book series and fictional universes.