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The Great War: American Front

The Great War: American Front

List Price: $7.99
Your Price: $7.19
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Very Good Alternative History of WWI
Review: I thought this was a very good alternative history. It is intriguing how Mr. Turtledove lays the groudwork for the alliance in How Few Remain (if you are going to read this series, read that paperback first). This book is similar to the earlier World War tetrology, in terms of story flow and number of characters that it follows, it can get confusing at times, but is a great way to fully develop alot of the story. One overridding frustration will be how long it will take for the others to follow (I remember waiting for the WorldWar series). Now with him doing this AND the 2nd WW series I worry that it will be longer waits, and/or rushed lower quality. You may want to wait a few years to pick this series up %^). I do (at the risk of sounding like a prude) find his little forays into the intimate lives of the characters pretty pointless. This seems to be a strong thread through most of the Turtledove I've read, and as far as I'm concerned his most glaring flaw, maybe he writes romance novels under a secret pen name... ;-) Be a little careful about these reviews, as many contain spoilers. In fact stop reading this one here to avoid possible spoilers. I don't totally understand the criticisms as to how he handled the mormon issues, I disagree with a previous post that it places the mormons in a bad light, rather it places the the government in the book in a very bad light. I'm not mormon, so I can't speak authoritively, but I think the book paints them to be a sympathetic group, driven to their current actions by excessive persecution.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Turtledove does it again!
Review: I admit that i am a bit biased, because ever since i started reading Turtledove i cant put his books down, but this book is AMAZING! I understand that this is the second book in a four book series, and I didn't even read the first book, but the book still made sense. Turtledove also has a way of writing that introduces 10 or 11 charecters and follows them (until 1 or 2 die). It was confusing at first, but after 50 pages, you don't mind anymore. I love history, so i was excited to see how Turtledove could change WWI, and change it he did. I'm not spoiling anything (because all this stuff is on the cover flaps) by saying that I think that it's neat to see how he made all of the ethnic groups in the north have to kind of band together in order to fight the war, and how the north is Germany's ally instead of England and France. It's also interesting to see how the war forces the south to be fairer with blacks so they can make materials to fight the war. I can't wait untill the next installment!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: I liked it
Review: I liked this book. I couldn't put it down. I wonder what does he have against Mormons. If he had taken any time to study the Mormaon religion he would have found that they never would have fought against the United States. I think if he is going to make a religion look bad he might as well learn all the facts.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Turtledove's done it again!
Review: Once again, Harry Turtledove has crafted a wonderful book. I must admit, after reading both Guns of the South and How Few Remain, I wasn't sure if this was a sequal or not. I was thrilled to discover that this is a sequal, 30 years later. It's wonderful to hear that there will be more from Turtledove about the "Great War."

As a science fiction fan, I find this series just as believable as his World War II series. It COULD have happened.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: There is more to Modern War than fighting
Review: Harry Turtledove is a talented writer. His characterizations are often excellent and his battle scenes gripping. GUNS OF THE SOUTH showed those strengths to great affect. However, like in his World War Series, he does not understand that there is more to modern war than good characters and fighting. A problem he shares with a number of other science fiction alternate history writers.

The foundation of modern war is a nation's economy. Few people really understand how big the American economy was, in relation to the WW1 European Powers, either then or now. Assuming a per capita wealth only 3/4 the size it was in those states historically. The Rump USA could have afforded a standing army the size of a mobilized Germany and a standing navy the size of Great Britian's for _two percent_ of gross domestic product.

The CSA was less than 1/3 the Rump USA's demographic and economic size (remember all those repressed black citizens?), with a huge land frontier to defend. It could not have afforded an adequate army, an adequate system of river and coastal defense fortifications plus a large blue water navy, simultaniously.

The military implications of that are chillingly clear. Canada outside of perminent fortifications would have fallen in 10 weeks. England, caught between the millstones of the US Atlantic and German High Seas fleets, would have been starved to surrender in six months.

Unfortunately, that is not the story Harry wanted to write and it shows.

We are instead treated to an American Socialist Party founded by a martyred Lincoln, Mormon uprisings, Black uprisings, Indian Wars, Hawaiian naval expeditions and throw away lines about Atlantic convoy fighting.

If you like Harry Turtledove's World War series and do not care a fig about economics, military strategy or logistics, this book is for you.

As for me, I will stick with Harry's Videssoss books -- and one off efforts like THE CASE OF THE TOXIC SPELL DUMP -- in paperback.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Totally blown off my feet!
Review: This was the first Harry Turtledove book I read, and I can't wait to get into "How Few Remain". I also can't wait to get the sequel to "American Front". I especially loved the tales of George Enos on the Ripple, and the pilot who compared himself to a knight. At 14 years old, this book bit into my homework time! I just couldn't put it down!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: An excellent example of "What If...?"
Review: After picking up "How few Remain" I was expecting a great follow up. And that is what I got!!! By far, this is perhaps one of his greatest books, though it is still questionable whether or not this series will surpass his "World War" series. Still, even if it does not (which I think it will) it was a great read. Why? First, it was very realistic. The only problem with "World War" was that the idea was some what off the wall (an alien invasion during WW II) . Here,we have a somewhat plausible alternative history. Also, you don't really need to know a whole lot about the Great War (ours I should say!) to under- stand this book. In away, it explains a lot of what really happened in Europe.

If you happen to run across this book, I would deeply recommend it. I am greatly anticipating the next installation in this series!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: War From The Trenches, War From The Airplanes
Review: Turtledove's fans has come to expect the kind of writing The World War introduces. Thank you, Harry, you didn't let us down once again!!! The unmatched ability of the author to portray a continent-wide conflict from the point of view of ordinary and not-so-ordinary people in their everyday lives - the so-called view from the trenches - is what makes this book a must-read, along with Guns of the South, How Few Remains, and the Worldwar series. My only complaint is that the pace of this book is a little too fast, although I understand that, unlike Guns of the South, this is a multi-book engagement and therefore should not drag.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: And so it begins...Turtledove's WWI four part epic
Review: For those of you that think The American Civil War is all just dusty old history best forgotten, THINK AGAIN! Here in Mr. Harry Turtledove's THE GREAT WAR: AMERICAN FRONT, he proves the politics of the past can and does haunt us today. Did you know how close the U.S. was to siding with Germany during the First World War? On THE GREAT WAR, that question is answered and in very dark and graphic detail. The gassings, the raids on the CSA and Canada, Pearl Harbor about thirty years ahead of its time, the budding Communist revolution, everything in this book could have happened by a twist of bizarre fate. It's such works like this that make me appreciate my love for the real history. I do hope Book II is as good as the first one. I want to know about how the Revolution turns out, the assault on the Creek Nation's city of Jennings, more of the cultural mix including what movie would D.W. Griffith make since the events that spawned THE BIRTH OF A NATION never came to be?, and even the eventual finish of the war with the creation of the League of Nations and the birth of a different kind of Hitler...possibly known as FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT! (Now there's an alternate history I'd like to read.) GET THIS BOOK AND GET ON WITH THE SERIES!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: This is a very good book!
Review: This book is very interesting in that the story is pushed from one view point to another, going from person to person and back, each involved yet giving you a unique view of how the imaginary war touched thier life. Dear Mr. Turtledove, When is the next book in the series comming? I cannot wait until it hits the shelves, be it internet shelves or real ones.


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