Frequently asked questions
The questions readers, producers, and event planners actually ask — answered plainly.
Who is Gregg Roman?
Gregg Roman is the author of The Closing Window and The Carthage Doctrine. An IDF veteran who served in Israel’s Ministry of Defense and advised its deputy foreign minister, he has taught counterterrorism at West Point and appears in international media hundreds of times a year. He directs a Middle East–focused research organization in Philadelphia and writes about the volunteers history keeps forgetting — the citizens who go when the state will not.
Are the five books connected?
Yes — the books make one argument five ways. The Carthage Doctrine states it plainly: conflicts end in decisive victory, not managed decline. The citizen-volunteer trilogy — Repaying Lafayette, Contraband Patriots, and Alone in the Ranks — supplies two and a half centuries of evidence. And the novel, The Closing Window, carries the argument into the reader’s chest. Every book is one entry in the same ledger: the record of what it costs free people to stay free.
In what order should I read the books?
There is no required order. Reading for the story? Start with The Closing Window, the novel — it is out now. Reading for the argument? The Carthage Doctrine (October 2026). Reading for the history? Repaying Lafayette, the founding volume of the citizen-volunteer trilogy. All five keep one ledger, so any door leads to the same house.
Is The Closing Window based on real events?
It is fiction — but fiction not written at a safe distance. The Meridian Institute is invented; the choice it faces is not. The novel was built from years of conversations with Iranians who spoke at real risk, with methods and details altered to protect them. It is a thriller about the people who move when the state hesitates, set against protest in Iran and a thirty-nine-day war.
When is The Carthage Doctrine published?
The Carthage Doctrine: How the West Can Defeat the Enemies It Failed to Understand publishes in October 2026. The three history volumes — Repaying Lafayette, Contraband Patriots, and Alone in the Ranks — follow in 2027. Subscribers to the Ledger newsletter hear first.
Where can I buy The Closing Window?
The Closing Window (Middle East Forum Press, 2026; ISBN 979-8-9967558-0-6, ebook 979-8-9967558-1-3) is available in hardcover, paperback, and ebook from Amazon, Kindle, Barnes & Noble, and Apple Books. Retailer links are on the book’s page.
How do I book Gregg Roman for an interview or a speaking engagement?
Use the contact form and choose “Media / interview booking” or “Speaking engagement.” Five talks are on offer, spanning strategy, the citizen-volunteer tradition, and the fiction of the thirty-nine-day war. The press kit has bios in three lengths, photographs, and per-book fact sheets, ready to go.
Does he visit book clubs?
Yes. The contact form has a “Book club visit” option, and The Closing Window has a book-club guide. Reading with a group is one of the doors the books were built for.
What is the Ledger, and how do I subscribe?
The Ledger is Gregg Roman’s email newsletter — a short, regular entry that keeps the count on the freedom-fights of the present: Ukraine, Iran, the volunteers going now. Four fixed lines every time: the fight, who went, the price, the count. Losses included, nothing rounded up. Subscribe by email at greggroman.com/ledger.
Where can I read his essays and reporting?
The Writing archive collects his essays and reporting — for the Middle East Forum, JNS, The Times of Israel, Israel Hayom, The Hill, Newsweek, and more — with full text mirrored on this site and a link to each original outlet.
Is Gregg Roman the NFL football coach?
No. Greg Roman the American-football offensive coordinator is a different person (note the spelling: one “g”). Gregg Roman — two g’s, twice — is the author, IDF veteran, and Middle East analyst whose site this is.
What is his connection to the Middle East Forum?
He is executive director of the Middle East Forum, the Philadelphia-based research organization. This site is his author platform: inquiries about the Forum’s work should go through the Forum, while everything about the books comes through this site’s contact page.
Something not covered? Ask directly — for everything about the books, that is the door.