William D. McEachern

William D. McEachern's sixth novel, The Founding Fathers at Odds, won the Book Excellence Award for Historic Fiction for 2024. Four of his other novels have been finalists for Historic Fiction of the Year. He lives in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, with his wife. He is a father and a grandfather. As an attorney, he practiced trusts and estates and tax law for over 45 years, before becoming a full time historian, writing novels of historical fiction.

His latest novel continues the trilogy of the Founding of the U.S. Navy by telling the exciting tale of the War against the Barbary Pirates. Read about daring ship raids upon the Harbor of Tripoli. Follow William Eat as he crosses the desert with a small body of Marines and an army of exiles to besiege the city of Derna. This is sure to be another award winner!

As an avid reader of history, McEachern thoroughly researches and travels extensively to lend authenticity and realism to his works. His areas of expertise include the Roman Empire, Early Christianity, Scotland, and United States History with a particular emphasis on the American Revolution and the Civil War.

His last novel, The Founding Fathers at Odds: The Quasi-War, is the first in a new and exciting trilogy chronicling the founding of the U. S. Navy. James is a boy from South Carolina just after the American Revolution. His dream is to venture to sea. The sea, as always, is a fickle mistress. After a few years of working on merchant ship and dreaming of marrying his intended, Patience, he is impressed into the British Navy. There, under the cruel tutelage of a British officer, he blockades French ports, faces a mutiny, and fights in the Battle of Aboukir Bay under Lord Nelson. Meanwhile, the United States is sliding towards war with France. This novel also follows the exploits of Captain John Truxtun who fights and wins two separate solo-ship fights with superior French ships. Come taste the sea spray and smell the gun powder!

Mr. McEachern’s first novel, Casting Lots, which is the life story of the Centurion who presided over the Crucifixion, garnered excellent reviews and appeared in the New York Times Sunday Book Review.

His second novel, Caledonia: A Song of Scotland, explored Scottish history until the Battle of Culloden and the beginning of the Highland Clearances.

New Caledonia: A Song of America, his third novel overall and the second novel in the Caledonia series, follows the Scots migration from Scotland to America, as they walk the Great Wagon Road and finally settle in North and South Carolina during the era of the French and Indian War and the America Revolution. To write New Caledonia: A Song of America, Mr. McEachern travelled both Braddock’s Road and the Great Wagon Road and visited, among other battlefields, King’s Mountain and Cowpens. This novel was a Finalist for Best Historical Novel by the Book Excellence Awards in 2018.

His fourth novel overall and third in the Caledonia series, Caledonia: Fall of the Confederacy required days of exploration of Pamplin Park in Petersburg, Virginia, as well as the expertise of historian, Tim Talbott. It is the story of a boy becoming a man during the Civil War. This novel was a Finalist for Best Historical Novel by the Book Excellence Awards in 2019.

His fifth novel, The Life of Levi, continues the Casting Lots series. It is the tale of a Hebrew tax collector in Capernaum in the times of Jesus. This novel was a Finalist for Best Historical Novel by the Book Excellence Awards in 2021.

Five of Mr. McEachern's novels have been recognized by the Book Excellence Awards, which is quite a feat.