Do You like book Walk In Hell (2000)?
This is the second book in Harry Turtledove's Great War series, following "American Front", telling the story of an alternate World War I, where in North America the United States is entangled in total war against the Confederate States and Canada.The book follows the same characters from the previous one, but now as the war has dragged on longer than expected, with far more brutality and destruction than originally imagined, many of them are experiencing increasingly greater hardship, and some characters die.The face of the war has changed with the use of new weapons such as the airplane and the barrel (the original ridiculous British name of "tank" never becomes popular in North America). The new weapons are used only imperfectly at this point in the war, but there are plenty of hints that they will be significant in the future. This is especially true of barrels, as the normally hide-bound General Custer has taken a liking to them and wishes to use them aggressively, against existing US doctrine.The Confederacy is reeling under continued US pressure and at the same time facing a Marxist uprising by oppressed black labourers, which started at the end of the previous book. Large sections of Canada are occupied by US troops, although their advance has been stopped by trench warfare. In general, the second book is a sort of turning point, where the Entente powers are slowly getting ground down, and the US is more and more likely to be victorious.Both the strengths and weaknesses of the previous book continue in this one. The typical Turtledove attention to detail brings the myriad of characters, technologies, and politics to life. At the same time, too slavish a devotion to real history creates many situations that are implausible in North America - e.g. the population density of Manitoba (in 1915!) is not going to support trench warfare of the sort that happened in real WWI Europe.This book is a strong continuation of a good series, but at the same time, I can't help but think a great opportunity has been missed.
—Chen-song Qin
This one's the second in The Great War trilogy, following on the heels of American Front. It picks up the tale of World War I fought in a world where the Confederate States of America had won the American Civil War--oh, excuse me. I mean, the War of Secession. Anyway, the USA and the CSA are on opposing sides in this conflict and North America gets to experience the full horrors of the "Great War". Like the first volume in the trilogy, the tale is told through the eyes of various folk. It's well written, but didn't excite me as much as its predecessor. Still, I'm glad I checked it out and look forward to reading part three.
—The other John
There seem to be a thousand and one books of the 'Confederacy wins the Civil War' types within the alternate history genre. It, along with WWII are the two 'go to' events in the genre, at least in the English speaking world. Harry Turtledove himself has touched on this ground a couple of times; most notably in 'Gun of the South' which treated the subject with a bit more Sci-fi elements that is typical.The Great War series is something I wish was done more; it's a 'what then?'. The confederacy wins the War and than what? It posits a future-past set in the 1910's, seeing a great war in which the alliance of Britain, France, the Confederacy and Russia(with Japan entering late) against the Austral-Hungarian Empire, Germany and the United States of America.In this time line America is more xenophobic, having been routed in two wars by the 'betrayal' of Britain and France. It and Germany have a much greater synergy that was common in our time-line(and it must be remembered that German was very prominent in terms of politics and society within the united state sin the period to begin with.) This second foray in the world continues the excellent initial volume. What makes it so engaging is it's multiple points of view and it's touching on so many facets of the war. From the uprising of southern blacks in a 'socialist' revolution, to the Submarine Captain who gets captured twice, the struggles of a sailor to deal with avoiding infidelity to his distant wife, each showcase the war, 'human nature' and the aspect of alt history he is dealing with in interested ways.
—Wise_owl
