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Summary: "A sweeping epic of a war that might have been"
Review: Harry Turtledove brillinatly captures the scope of this brutal, bloody war that could have happened if history had been a little different. You not only experience the horrors of war through the eyes of soldiers, sailors and flyers, but also from the civilian aspect. Find out how the war impacts the social and economic structure of the USA and CSA. And what happens to Southern Blacks is astounding. The one complaint about this book is not enough enough historical characters, but the story is done so well that this is just a very, very minor problem.
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Summary: This is the BEST book I have ever read!!!
Review: Turtledove has another best-seller with this book. He clearly shows views of this altered war from every walk of life and every angle. This is a masterpiece and a must read for all history buffs!
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Summary: a regular turtledove, good characters, intriguing plotlines
Review: well, as you probable know from all the synopsis and everything you've already read, this book is about how WWI might have happened had the Confederacy won the Civil War. just like most turtledove novels, this promises all the great characters and fasinating plotlines that you could hope for. from the first aeroplanes to the start of a red revolution in the CSA to submarines and poison gas. who could want more? of course, there are several questions left unanswered, but how does he expect to sell 3 more books in this series if he answers all the questions in the first book? it's a fantastic book and if you liked the Worldwar series, or guns of the south, or how few remain, or any of this great writer's other numerous books, you'll almost certainly like this too. a must read.
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Summary: I'LL GIVE IT MANY GOOD OL REBEL YELLS!
Review: As usual, Harry Turtledove delivers a good alternate history novel. It is a very good series opener, and I can't wait to read the second part. This is as good as his Worldwar Series.
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Summary: A wonderful depiction of actual life in an alternate war
Review: The way he jumps around through the characters really helped form this story. He takes a handful of characters from different areas of life and the countries and jumps around between then, piecing it all together into a picture of the war on all sides. I was very impressed not only by the depth of the tale, but also the amount of research that went into it. I recommend this for anyone that enjoys history, but also likes to theorize about what could have been.
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Summary: Good book, but "How Few Remain" was better!
Review: Overall, I loved the book. The books only problem was how all of the focus was on the Eastern Theater of the War (Big Lick a.k.a. Roanoke, PA, MD, Ontario, Quebec, KY, Seqouia) with the execptions of Sonora at the begining and Western Canada near Winnipeg. There was also hardly any focus on real historical characters. Pershing is mentioned, but never shown. The young George S. Patton, is he fighting for the US or CS, I'm also hoping to see Alvin C. York in a future book. I also think it would be interesting to bring a German to America to observe the war like Col. Von Schliefen in "How Few...". Otherwise, it was a good book. The good thing about it, is I don't know who to favor because both countries are bad guys. The US does not treat blacks much better than the CS. I'm a southerner, but the CSA isn't that great either. I can't cheer for Canada because I'm from the USA, or CSA in Turtledove's world. Can't wait to read "Walk in Hell" though.
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Summary: Incredibly intriguing look at the fragility of the U.S
Review: Good Book about the Second war between the states
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Summary: An intriguing story that never delivers
Review: Any student of history always wonders what would've happened during critical periods if the preceeding events had been different. In "The Great War: American Front," Harry Turtledove presents us with the legacy of a victorious Confederacy: the United States and the Confederate States fighting the First World War on the American Front. What results is a retelling of the story of the Western Front on an American stage using an all-American cast.Turtledove is an adequate writer who has an interest in giving his characters depth and who possesses several interesting ideas about what might have been. That he fails to deliver on these strengths is disappointing. "American Front" is a book that never seems to get going. The author spends too much time dwelling on the mundane lives of his characters and the impact that the war is having on them, and not enough devoted to the actual events that drives the rest of the storyline. Turtledove jumps from one scene to another with such regularity that the story turns into a large string of vignettes that often left me confused. His character sketches, while deep and revealing, are far too developed and only result in obscuring the story and slowing its momentum. If this were the kind of book that you could read without putting down, that wouldn't be a problem; but alas, with "American Front" Harry Turtledove has managed to cram a 300 page book into 562 pages. That I stayed with him until the end is testament to how intriguing his original idea is. The biggest disappointment, however, came as I neared the end of the book. With the remaining pages dwindling I came to realize that what I'd been reading was not a complete work, but rather the first installment of a series. There are no answers to history's "what ifs" here. Frankly, I doubt if I want to invest any more time finding out if Turtledove can provide them in his next episode.
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Summary: Premise spoiled by no denouement & boring characters.
Review: This book is part of an un-announced seriel and so it does not reach any resolution, a fact which I found annoying. Its one thing to buy a book knowing it is book 1 of a trilogy, and quite another to buy a book and not find out is part of a serial until about 3 quarters of the way through the book, when nothing of interest appears to be happening. The book lacks any focus on the grand picture, concentrating instead on "slice of life" glipses of uninteresting characters. The book's premise is interesting but the execution is terrible.
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Summary: This series is getting more tired all the time...
Review: I enjoyed "Guns of the South" for its novelty, and "How Few Remain" likewise, but this book, a sequel to "How Few..." bogs down pretty quickly. Too many little storylines, too many characters and too few speculations about historical figures. Where is Abraham Lincoln? Is he still alive and if so, what does he think of the impact of his writings in both the USA and the CSA? Teddy Roosevelt shows up in the trenches once or twice, but I wish the book stayed with him for a few chapters. How is he living now, if the White House is shuttered up? How does the government function? For that matter, what about Woodrow Wilson's daily life in the CSA? And how does the war progress in Europe, if no Americans are fighting there? I just couldn't get interested enough in the lives of the ordinary Joe characters to really enjoy this book. Oh, I'll probably read the next one, but I hope it's more like "How Few..." and less like "American Front".
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