The concluding volume of Newt Gingrich and William Forstschen's best-selling, alternative civil war trilogy opens with Grant's army pursuing Robert E. Lee's confederates deep into Maryland territory after a surprising rebel victory near Gettysburg and a massive assault against Washington D.C. The main battle in Never Call Retreat offers a parallel history of the events at Appomattox on April 9, 1865, and imagines the historic discussion between Lee and Grant about terms, and the ceremony of surrender several days later.