Rating: 
Summary: Excellent! Please keep 'em coming, Harry!
Review: Continuing the Great War series (which seems to me to really start with "How Few Remain"), "Breakthroughs" continues fighting WWI on North American soil with the Confederate States and Canada vs. the US. I won't give away the ending, but there is a conclusion of sorts. The book is excellent and continues to build on the characters from the earlier books. I found this book to be excellent and hard to put down. I, and hopefully many others, wish for Mr. Turtledove to continue the series further and to continue to build on these characters and this storyline. Please keep 'em coming Harry! It'll be interesting to see where the borders on the front map are in the next one. Will Adolf Hitler make an appearance and if so, as what? Will he be a janitor or a leader? Will the hatred between the US and the Confederates, Canadians, Brits, and French continue? What becomes of the blacks in the Confederacy? Hopefully we won't have to wait too long to find out!
Rating: 
Summary: The great war series
Review: I have read through this series begining with How Few Remain. I like the story telling and felt it was well written.,As such have bought the books.I gave it 3 stars though,Some of the story telling went to subjects that were not in the theater of battle.And must point out the caracter in the latest(Breakthroughs)Authur McGregor ,seems to be in east Quebec and south Manitoba otherwise a good story telling.
Rating: 
Summary: Colonization with funny hats
Review: For so promising a premise, the results are quite disappointing. Mr. Turtledove is clearly writing for the sake of quantity rather than quality. Just about every character wrapped himself in a blanket "more from the bugs than the cold." Cliches are repeated constantly by the same characters, by different characters, even by characters in his colonization series. In fact, if you've read both series you've recognized several of the same characters existing in each. The book is not a good piece of writing, but is an even poorer example of editing. Isn't it the editor's job to catch so many retreads of the same paragraphs? This is definitely a library book, not one that I would lay out my own cash for.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Yet!
Review: I was hoping Breakthroughs would be better than its predecessors, and I was not disappointed. By now I was familiar with all the characters and I found all their stories interesting. Jake Featherston, in particular, is becoming more and more interesting, as his bitterness towards the Confederate nation's ruling classes and its black population is intensifying. Especially, as he sees the way the War is going down the toilet for the Confederacy. He also seems to be taking down notes of all the inadequacies of the Confedrate war effort, an alternate Mein Kampf perhaps? We also witness Occupied-Canadian Arthur Macgregor carrying out a long list of terrorist activities against the occupying US forces. We also see General Custer put his Barrel (Tank) doctrine to good use in the US campaign in Tennessee, and an amusing argument between him and 'Teddy' Roosevelt towards the end of the book. Its a pity that two of the characters, on the Union side, were killed off in the last 100 pages! As they were hardly the most boring characters in the series and it would have been good to have seen them survive the war, after all they had been through! Anne Colleton keeps us entertained in hunting down the Red insurgents in the swamps of South Carolina, in order to avenge her brother Jacob. I have to echo the opinion of others, that Turtledove should give us some more information regarding the war in Europe. Maybe, there will be more information in the next book, in dealing with an alternate Versailles Treaty! All in all, a 1st class read and I can't wait for the next installment in this great series, and inevitable World War 2 series after that!
Rating: 
Summary: A very different America
Review: What is most striking about the Great War series, and is brought home in Breakthroughs, is that a world where there is no single United States (Turtledove consistently matches "United States" with the plural of verbs) is one where there is no single force consistently believing in progress. In this world, the United States is not only more regimented (brought out by all the various Boards and forms that rule over everyday lives), but also by the attitude of the people. Certainly, we don't expect the Southerners in this universe to believe much in progress. If anything, they are anti-progress, fighting tooth and nail against changes in society. What is striking, though, is the extent to which the United States, too, is mired in the past. From the description of Remembrance Day in American Front, to the statue of Remembrance on Bedloe's Island in Walk in Hell, to the revanchist sentiments everywhere in the US in Breakthroughs, this is an America that cannot let go of the past. Nor should it, given that in that past, it was sundered apart. Unfortunately, it is also one that has few hopes for the future, either. Unfortunately, the writing is inflated (did it really require three books and How Few Remain to get to this stage?). But for capturing the milieu, ethos, and fundamentally changed nature of a different America, this is an excellent series.
Rating:
Summary: Wow, well written and "real" alternative history.
Review: I loved this book mainly because of how the story of a World War I could have been. The story is told from many points of view. Not only that but the events that transpire are believeable and did actually happed (in a wierd way). I know there will be some World War II equivalent in this series. In the book the USA has totally disarmed the CSA (like the real-life Allies did to Germany) and like the real post WWI Germany, inflation is going on overdrive and many soldiers are homeless. Can't wait until the WWII happens.
Rating:
Summary: Turtledove's back on his game
Review: Turtledove has been writing too many books lately, and it has shown at times. But not here. He's definitely back on his game in "Breakthroughs" and manages to keep things moving -- but not confused -- through an awful lot of action and scene-shifting. Turtledove also offers gentle moral lessons along the way, without being overwhelming. And I'll be I know who Jake Featherston is going to turn out to be....
Rating:
Summary: The Best of the series so far.... (however)
Review: I thought that "The Great War : Breakthroughs " was the best of the series so far. Although I enjoyed all the books in the series, this one was the one that I couldn't put down. However, I feel that the book could be improved. The book is written largely as a novel of different people and their experiences with the war. As an Alternate history novel, everyone seems fairly unaware about how the war is going in Europe. I would have prefered that the book be written more like a history book. Somewhere between how this was written and "Fox on the Rhine" (an alternate history novel written like a traditional history book) was written would be good. I would have prefered to know a little more about the "Big Picture" and a little less about the characters sex lives. Perhaps in the next book Mr. Turtledove will introduce a character in the diplomatic service. He left some room for additional characters since he did some last minute "cleaning up the characters", and a number of characters died at the end of the war. The series is obviously setting itself up for a harsh treaty to end "The Great War" which will set up the next war, I would just ask that the book not be quite so American focused. However, one way or the other I am looking forward to the next installment.
Rating:
Summary: Pure Entertainment
Review: If I wanted to read an accurate history, I'd check out the reference section. While Mr. Turtledove's premises may be a little thin (I sincerely doubt the CSA could have won the Civil War even if McClelland hadn't had Lee's plans for his first invasion of the North), he tells a very interesting story, carrying it to it's logical conclusion given the "facts". He personalizes aspects of the story while effectively tying these aspects into the big piture. While following several different sub-stories as they weave together may be a little much at times, he leaves me always wanting more, and I found this installment in the series the hardest to put down yet. I can't wait to see how WWII plays out in this alternate reality (maybe aliens will show up?).
Rating: 
Summary: he can do better than this!
Review: I've always loved history, and I've always enjoyed Harry's books. "Breakthroughs,' though, was a HUGE letdown for me. This whole series hasn't really been his best work, but this one was worse than the two which came before it. I think I'll just stick to the 'Colonization' storyline from now on.
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