Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jackson Speed: The Hero of El Teneria | 2012 | Robert Peecher | Buy |
| 2 | Jackson Speed and the Blood Tubs | 2013 | Robert Peecher | Buy |
| 3 | Jackson Speed on the Orange Turnpike | 2014 | Robert Peecher | Buy |
| 4 | Jackson Speed at the High Tide | 2015 | Robert Peecher | Buy |
| 5 | Jackson Speed and the Fugitive Slaves | 2016 | Robert Peecher | Buy |
| 6 | Jackson Speed In the Rush | 2017 | Robert Peecher | Buy |
The Jackson Speed Memoirs were Robert Peecher’s first series, and they remain among his most distinctive. Jackson Speed is a liar, a coward, and a cheat who stumbles his way through some of the biggest events in 19th-century America. The books are written as his memoirs, heavily footnoted with real historical context, so the reader gets both a rollicking adventure story and an education in the Mexican-American War, the Civil War, and westward expansion. Fans of George MacDonald Fraser’s Flashman will recognize the approach immediately.
The series begins with Jackson Speed: The Hero of El Teneria, set during the Mexican-American War, and runs through Jackson Speed In the Rush, which follows him to the California Gold Rush. Along the way, Speed crosses paths with historical figures and finds himself in famous battles, always looking for the nearest exit. The humor comes from the gap between Speed’s inflated reputation and his actual character, and Peecher uses that gap to tell stories that are both entertaining and grounded in real history.