Customer Reviews
waging of the peace - By: Paul Tapner, 11 Mar 2008 
this is the latest & possibly lastin a long series of alternate history novels that have shown us an america where the south won the civil war, & history has taken a different turn as a result.
This started with a book called how few remain that detailed a second civil warin the 1880's.
the following trilogy the great war showed us world war onein america with the north versus the south again.
the next trilogy american empire showed us this world from the 20's to the 30's with the south falling under control of a fascist leader.
and this book is the fourth volumein the series return engagement, which details a new war between the twoin the 1940's.
It actually is very easy to read & you might be able to pick it up without having read the former volumes, but I would recommend going right back to the start of the series as you'll get more out of that way.
harry turtledove as usual writes prose which is not great literature but is very readable, & uses a fair few characters as his viewpoints, scenes shifting between each on regular occasions.
the war actually ends two hundred pages before the end of this six hundred & eight page book, & what the last two hundred pages cover is the aftermath. the war may have finished but all the hatreds haven't gone away. & like real wars, it doesn't end with a last minute attack on the villains base & everyone living happily ever after, it ends with peace treaties & people wondering what the future will hold. the writer doesnt shy away from depicting all the hatreds & it does make you think about the resulting moral issues, which is good writing.
I've followed these characters through a lot of books now, & if this is the end of the story I will be sorry to see them go. A good read.
Ordinary, but fun - By: Teemacs, 07 Mar 2008 
So Mr. Turtledove's epic comes finally to an end (or does it?). It is, like its predecessors, a piece of rather ordinary writing with much language repetition - there are times when I thought that, if Mr. Turtledove wrote one more variation on either "He was not wrong" or "Ain't that the truth", I'd use the book to light the fire.
OK, the writing is ordinary & the characterisation flat. Mr. Turtledove will not win the Nobel Prize for Literature any time soon. However, for me, the interest lay entirelyin seeing how far he could push the parallels between his World War 2 & the one that actually happened. The overall shape was predictable &in the end, there were few surprises. For me, the parallels are often pushed too far - it's hard to believe that an essentially rural, aristocratic society such as the original Confederacy could have developed technological advantagesin weaponry over the industrial North. But then, Japan came from a feudal state at the time of Commodore Perry's 1860s' visit to sinking the Imperial Russian Fleet at Tsushimain 1905, a time gap shorter than that between Mr. Turtledove's Civil & Great Wars. Mr. Turtledove also has found it necessary to split the credit - thus the Confederacy develops V2-type long-range rockets (without intervening V1s) while the USA develops something clearly modelled on the equally German Messerschmitt 262 jet fighter.
There is also some odd inconsistenciesin names. While tank (sorry, barrel) commander Irving Morrell (= Erwin Rommel) is a necessary change, why call Patton Patton, but Eisenhower Ironhewer ("Eisen" is German for iron)?
To me, Mr. Turtledove does perform, perhaps inadvertently, one major service. There is a tendency to look at the Holocaust & say, "It couldn't happen here" & then forget about it. Mr. Turtledove's clear answer is, yes it could. He was not wrong ;-). Given similar circumstances as existedin Germanyin the early part of the 20th century & a charismatic leader who appealed to the country's sense of pride, betrayal & injustice, plus an "inferior" group to act as scapegoat, it could all happen again, evenin a country that prides itself on its civilised values. We have seen the USA, a country proudly run by laws & not by men, discard those laws & turn to torture & murder, when confronted by an enemy that isin large part a product of fevered right-wing imaginations. Imagine what would happen if the enemy were real.
Mr. Turtledove has left the door open for a sequel, the way he did with his "Invasion" series, & one eventually materialised, set some yearsin the future. Will the same thing happen here, given that his cast of characters are now mainly old & retired? And on what international events would it be based? One could envisage a cold war between Imperial Germany & the bitterly reunited USA, with perhaps an updated version of the 1917 Zimmermann Affair (where Germany offered to Mexico the return of the states taken from Mexicoin the 1840s,in return for the Mexicans fomenting problems on the border & this keeping the USA out of the European war). But I'm sure that, if a sequel does eventuate, Mr. Turtledove will come up with something ingenious, & we'll all read it. Ain't that the sad & sorry truth? ;-)
all over - By: J. Doody, 12 Feb 2008 
over at last, though with turtledove he may decide to milk the series further, having initially been a big fan of his i have to say i can't see myself buying another of his books due mainly to the repetitive storeyline, i found myself skipping entire sections of the book, & groaned out loud. It's all be said beforein earlier booksin the series..
Should have quit whilst he was ahead - By: Dr. T. Flynn, 29 Jan 2008 
Turtledove, that is. As other reviewers have noted, he's just going through the motions these days. I think control-c & control-v have been used a lotin writing this book. In essence, tedious.
Fine end to a fine series - By: Bill Kelly, 16 Aug 2007 Well, now we know...
This has been one of the most monumental achievementsin the alternate history canon. Meticulousin plotting,and steadyin pace it manages to be thoughtful, exciting, humorus & thought provoking. I do not want to spoil any future reading but feel compelled to highlight the very adroit way he drawsin real events & deftly changes or transports them, events like the 1945 British election & the 1948 Presidential election, to the quiet asides to "Gone with the Wind".
The only thing that stops it being a 5 star is the amount of repitition as mentioned by other readers; particuallryin irrelevant areas such as tobacco quality or sunburn!
