Book Review – Harry Turtledove’s “The Great War: American Front”

When it comes to history, you could always go back in time and ask yourself “what if this happened?” or “what if that happened?” or “what if . . . ” anything.

In this case, author and historian Harry Turtledove, went back to the American Civil War and asked a “what if . . . ” question.  What if the Battle of Antietam (one of the bloodiest battles and a turning point of the war) never occurred?

The Battle of Antietam was the result of a Confederate messenger losing General Robert E. Lee’s Special Order 191, plans that detailed an invasion of the north.  A Yankee soldier discovered the lost battle plans, gave them to General McClellan, and General McClellan forced the Confederate to turn back south at the Battle of Antietam.

In his alternative history novel, How Few Remain, Harry Turtledove ran with the notion that General Lee’s lost battle plans were rediscovered by a Confederate soldier.  The Confederate army continued with General Lee’s Special Order 191, and through a series of events the Confederacy defeats the Union army and wins the Civil War.  The Confederacy remains its own individual country.

The novel How Few Remain takes that a few steps further and ultimately has the Confederacy gaining territory westward to the Pacific Ocean.  Later in the novel, a scenario known as the Second Mexican War takes place, pitting the United States against the Confederacy once again.  It’s mainly a defensive war for the Confederates this time, and with battle locations stretching across the country and foreign armies and navies joining in the fight, it’s a massive war.  The war ultimately ends badly for the United States, and they’re forced to surrender.

So why all of this talk about How Few Remain?

The answer is that The Great War: American Front is actually the second book in a large series of alternative history books starting with the Civil War and lasting through World War 2.

Unfortunately, I was not aware of the scope of the entire series when I began reading The Great War: American Front.  I knew that it was the first book of an alternative history series, but Turtledove has several series in part of this massive storyline.  It wasn’t until later that I learned that another book came before this one and helps explain a lot of the story.

The Great War: American Front starts with a prologue taking you to the ending of the alternate version of the Civil War.  It doesn’t go into a whole lot of detail (you’ll have to read How Few Remain for that information), but General Lee is finishing the Army of the Potomac in Pennsylvania in October of 1862.  United States’ President Lincoln is forced to the negotiation table to discuss the surrender of his country.  The Confederate States of America is officially recognized as an independent country.

American Front jumps forward to June 28, 1914.

American Front takes a big look at life throughout both the United States (also known as damnyankees to the Confederates) and the Confederates (known as Rebs to the Americans).  President Theodore Roosevelt is in charge of the U.S. while President Woodrow Wilson is in charge of the Confederacy.

We’re introduced to a wide variety of characters, from a fisherman in New England to a restaurant owner in Washington D.C. to factory workers in Virginia to an art store owner in Charleston, S.C., to business owners in Louisville, KY to farmers in Canada.  I have the hardback edition of the book, and it took about 80 pages before I had a second encounter with a character.  In this series, Turtledove has a wide variety of characters and locations.

Along the way we’re introduced to familiar faces in history, though some of their locations and positions just don’t seem right.  For example, one of the top generals in the U.S. is General Custer (yes, the same Custer as we know from the infamous Battle of Little Big Horn in Montana), who’s leading an invasion across the river into Kentucky.

The culture and way of life depicted in American Front was also quite interesting.  For example, the Confederacy ultimately freed the slaves, but the free black men and women faced incredible problems towards racism and other laws.  They were still basically slaves, though they received money and could change jobs.  Changing states and relocating was a tougher challenge.  The poor attitude towards black people, from both the Confederates and Americans, is prevalent throughout the novel.

As it was stated, American Front begins on June 28, 1914.  The significance is that in this alternate storyline, war still breaks out in Europe for The Great War (a.k.a World War 1).  Archduke Franz Ferdinand is still assassinated by Serbian extremists, and Austria-Hungary declare war on Serbia.  Since Serbia was allied with Russia, this led to the chain reaction of Russia declaring war on Austria-Hungary, which was allied with Germany.  Germany declared war on Russia, and Russia’s allies on the other side of Europe (England and France), declared war on the German Empire.

Across the Atlantic Ocean, the United States is allied with Germany.  The Confederacy is allied with England and France along with Canada.  When England and France declare war on Germany, and the Germans respond, this means that the United States and the Confederacy are forced to declare war upon each other.  That’s just how it works with allies.  In this storyline, the U.S. and Confederacy clearly don’t like each other, but weren’t in a shooting war despite some of the residents and their feelings towards settling scores with the other side.  But when England-France and Germany went to war, so did the U.S. and Confederate States of America.

And so it begins.

American Front takes technology from World War 1 and uses it for yet another war between the states.  You see the relatively quick end of horse-mounted cavalry as the machine gun takes warfare to a new, and much deadlier, level.  Long-range artillery is capable of destroying cities from great distances.  The aeroplane is coming along as not just a reconnaissance tool but yet another instrument of war, capable of delivering bombs, strafing troops, and shooting down other aircraft.  And of course, both sides dig into the ground and conduct large-scale trench warfare.

Like history showed us in Europe, trench warfare is the dominant type of warfare involving troops in American Front.  Sure, you read about artillery crews firing upon targets including approaching troops and other artillery, but most of the action involving soldiers deals with trench warfare.  Artillery pounds the enemy lines until ground forces attack, only for them to be repealed by machine guns and surviving troops on the opposite side.

American Front isn’t just about warfare.  The book skips around to the different families on both sides who are affected by the war, whether they’re close or far from the front lines.  From dealing with their own government’s policies, or the policies set in place by occupying forces (such as Canadians now under control of U.S. troops), we see and understand their struggles.  Part of that leads to the rise of extremists, from the Mormons in Utah to a Marxist black rebellion in the Confederacy to the rise of Socialists in the United States.

While the subject material in The Great War: American Front is clearly fascinating and exciting, the style of writing used by Harry Turtledove can make the novel be very hard to follow.

For example, there’s a wide variety of characters.  Without the aid of maps or other references, it can be hard keeping track of who is who out there in his alternative version of North America.  Throw in the general lack of specific dates and times, and it’s a bit difficult to keep track of events in the book.

One moment you’re in the trenches in Virginia, the next you’re on a farm in Canada, then you’re out west, and then you’re in New England.  Add about a dozen more locations and there you go.  The variety of locations is great, it’s just difficult at times keeping track of where everybody is located and which side of the battle they’re fighting.  A few maps scattered here and there (this is large-scale warfare, after all) and mentioning locations clearly would definitely help the readers.  So would adding in some notion about the passage of time.

It’s Turtledove’s style of writing in this series that makes me question whether or not I want to pursue the other novels in this storyline.  The ideas he presents are quite fascinating, the warfare is great, and many of the events seem very plausible.  The problem here comes down to being able to read and follow the characters and events without being lost in a world of confusion.

If you love books about warfare and/or American history, AND can handle something very large in scale, then you’ll probably enjoy this alternate telling of American history by Harry Turtledove. Although it isn’t necessary to read How Few Remain before The Great War: American Front, you’ll get more out of the story if you do so.  Many events (and grudges) from the first book carry on to the second one.

Had it not been so hard to read and follow the characters and events in The Great War: American Front, then I’d bump up the rating by another star.