Ralph Peters is a highly accomplished author, known for his works in historical fiction, policy analysis, and political thriller novels. Born and raised in Schuylkill Haven, Pennsylvania, he developed an interest in languages and storytelling during his childhood. His training as a writer was influenced by the various German and other European accents present in his hometown, which was not highly literate at the time. Many of the adults he grew up with were great storytellers, which sparked his curiosity in different languages and led him to study German and Russian while he was in the military. These linguistic skills later provided him with opportunities to travel and work in various parts of the world, including the former Soviet Union and Europe, where he gathered stories and inspiration for his novels.
In addition to his work as a novelist, Peters is also an essayist, a retired career soldier, and an adventurer in the 19th-century sense. He has written a dozen critically acclaimed novels under his own name, as well as under the pen name "Owen Parry." His works have been published in various media outlets, and he frequently appears as a commentator on television and radio networks. Peters is a prize-winning, bestselling novelist and the author of innovative works on strategy and security. After leaving the military, he worked as a columnist, a popular media commentator, and a "strategic scout" in the developing world. His military background and experiences have greatly influenced his writing, and he is known for his accurate and honest portrayals of historical events in his novels.
Peters' early works had contemporary military themes, but after leaving uniformed service, he concentrated largely on the American Civil War. Under the pen-name "Owen Parry," he wrote six award-winning mystery novels set during the Civil War, as well as two collections of Christmas tales for adults. He then embarked upon the five-book Battle Hymn Cycle, works he describes as "dramatized history, but, above all, accurate, honest history." The books take the reader from Gettysburg to Appomattox, capturing the brutal reality and high drama of the war in Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. The first three volumes in the cycle, "Cain at Gettysburg," "Hell or Richmond," and "Valley of the Shadow," each won the American Library Association's Boyd Award. Peters has also written a novel about playing rock music in the late 1960s under the pen-name "Robert Paston."
Peters has received numerous accolades for his work, including induction into the U.S. Army's Officer Candidate School Hall of Fame and the Goodpaster Award as an outstanding American soldier-scholar. After more than two decades in the military and a further two decades of media work and research, he now concentrates on writing and pursues his long-time hobbies of travel, languages, classic literature, history, and fitness. Throughout his career, Peters has sought to understand the link between ideologies and actions, and he has published his insights in a range of articles, essays, and novels. His works are a testament to his curiosity, intelligence, and dedication to his craft.