Which of Alabama author W.E.B. Griffin's books is your personal favorite?

When it comes to Alabama authors, W.E.B. Griffin is one of the biggest and best. As many of you probably know, “W.E.B. Griffin” is actually a pen name used by 84-year-old William Edmund Butterworth III, who once worked at Fort Rucker and has lived in Ozark and Fairhope. Butterworth has published dozens of books under as many 14 different pen names, but his most popular books have been published under the name of W.E.B. Griffin.

By my count (and according to his official Web site www.webgriffin.com), Butterworth has published 52 books under the name of W.E.B. Griffin. Of those 52, they all fall into one of six best-selling series of books that Griffin is well known for. Those series include the “Presidential Agent” series, “The Corps” series, the “Honor Bound” series, the “Badge of Honor” series, the “Brotherhood of War” series and the “Men at War” series.

What follows is a complete list of those books in order of publication, which I pulled from a printable list on Griffin’s Web site:

1. The Captains (1982)
2. The Lieutenants (1982)
3. The Colonels (1983)
4. The Majors (1983)
5. The Last Heroes (1984)
6. The Berets (1985)
7. The Secret Warriors (1985)
8. The Generals (1986)
9. Semper Fi (1986)
10. The Soldiers Spies (1986)
11. Call to Arms (1987)
12. The New Breed (1987)
13. The Aviators (1988)
14. Men in Blue (1988)
15. The Fighting Agents (1989)
16. Special Operations (1989)
17. Counterattack (1990)
18. Battleground (1991)
19. The Victim (1991)
20. Line of Fire (1992)
21. The Witness (1992)
22. The Assassin (1993)
23. Close Combat (1993)
24. Honor Bound (1993)
25. The Murderers (1994)
26. Behind the Lines (1995)
27. Blood and Honor (1996)
28. The Investigators (1997)
29. In Danger’s Path (1998)
30. Secret Honor (1999)
31. Special Ops (2001)
32. Under Fire (2002)
33. Final Justice (2003)
34. Retreat, Hell! (2004)
35. By Order of the President (2005)
36. The Hostage (2006)
37. The Hunters (2007)
38. The Saboteurs (2007)
39. Death and Honor (2008)
40. The Double Agents (2008)
41. The Shooters (2008)
42. Black Ops (2009)
43. The Honor of Spies (2009)
44. The Traffickers (2009)
45. The Outlaws (2010)
46. The Vigilantes (2010)
47. Covert Warriors (2011)
48. Victory and Honor (2011)
49. Empire and Honor (2012)
50. The Spymasters (2012)
51. Hazardous Duty (2013)
52. The Last Witness (2013)

Some of Butterworth’s other pen names have included Alex Baldwin, Webb Beech, Walter E. Black, James McM. Douglas, Jack Dugan, John Kevin Dugan, Eden Hughes, Allison Mitchell, Edmund O. Scholefield, Blakely St. James and Patrick J. Williams. He has also worked with a number of co-authors, including his son, William E. Butterworth IV and Richard Hooker.

Probably the best known of Butterworth’s “other” books was the children’s book “Leroy and the Old Man,” which he published under the name of W.E. Butterworth. That book came out in 1980, and in 1982 Griffin received the Alabama Author Award from the Alabama Library Association for the book.

In the end, how many of Griffin’s books have you read? Which did you like or dislike? Which was your personal favorite? Let us know in the comments section below.