Customer Reviews

The Great War: Breakthroughs

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(28)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

The Great War series has been excellent, and this is undoubtedly the best so far! The pace of the action picks _way_ up, and doesn't slow down till the end.

I haven't reviewed the previous two books, so I'll start with a few words about the series in general, for the benefit of those who haven't read them. It is set in the same world as Turtledove's earlier (and highly recommended) "How Few Remain". In this world, the Confederates won the battle of Antietam, and went on to secede from the Union with help from Britain and France. The first book ("The Great War: American Front") opens up in 1914 with the beginning of World War I. The war in Europe goes much as it did in real life, with Britain, France, and Russia squaring off against Germany and Austro-Hungary. At this point, however, things get more complicated. The CSA is quick to join the war on the side of its old friends, Britain and France. The US is equally quick to join the war on the side of its one European ally, Germany. The result is a bloody, grinding trench war along the US-Confederate and US-Canadian borders, accompanied by battles between the US and British Pacific fleets. Like the real WWI, the result is slow, gory, and not terribly decisive. It is tense and well told, but not much land changes hands.

In "The Great War: Breakthroughs", this changes very quickly. What has long been a war of positions makes the slow but inexorable transformation into a war of mobility.

Throughout the series, many new tactics and technologies have been introduced. In this volume, they really begin to pay off. The result is some of the fastest, most exciting military-SF action to be found this year. Airplanes drop increasingly deadly and accurate payloads of bombs, wreaking destruction on both civilian and military targets. The US and it's Latin American allies launch an assault against vital supply lines in the Pacific, hoping to starve Britain into submission. Confederate submarines struggle to break the US Navy through hit-and-run tactics. Artillerymen concoct increasingly nasty chemical weapons. General George Armstrong Custer, long thought useless, finally does some good with his innovative use of barrels (tanks).

The result of all this: soldiers are no longer safe in their own trenches, and war will never be the same again. The viewpoint characters must learn to live with this rapidly changing world. As artillery shells fall on Washington, DC, Nellie Semphroch quickly learns that obnoxious men are no longer her biggest concern. Gordon McSweeney, solidly religious but thoroughly bloodthirsty, delivers the Fires of Heaven to the Confederate heathens through the barrel of a flamethrower. George Enos hunts Confederate subs from the deck of the USS Ericsson. Jake Featherston, a stalwart Southern nationalist, turns his battery of howitzers on any who would dare hinder the Confederate war effort. The end result: one whopper of a read! The action never stops, and there's also a decent supply of nasty politics. Since book one, I've been anxiously awaiting the conclusion. The wait is almost up! I won't give away the ending, but suffice to say that the war is over by the end of the book (I won't say who wins). I guess book IV will deal with an alternate Treaty of Versailles, which will surely make an interesting conclusion.

I don't give books five stars very often, but this one deserves it for sheer entertainment power.

The final book of the Great War trilogy, I was a bit disappointed to see Turtledove stick to his rather annoying habit of mirroring the actual events. In this book, he has basically turned the CSA into the Germany of 1917-1919 that we know. A breakthrough that cannot be plugged up allows an enemy to penetrate deep into the countryside, forcing an armistice. The currency is devaluated, and the disgruntled army is still semi-mobilized waiting to avenge themselves. (If you replace Featherston with Hitler, "Over Open Sights" with "Mein Kampf", and the Richmond War Department with Munich Beer Hall and jump ahead approximately 5-10 years, then the last few chapters make more sense.) It is rather evident what the sequel will bring: Jake Featherston as a Hitler-type leader of the CSA, bringing a holocaust on the blacks as "backstabbers" of the Confederacy, with another minor character (probably someone from this series-Major Potter or Jeff Pinkard?)as his Himmler. In the USA, Irving Morrell will have evolved into an advocate of armored warfare, maybe one of the British desert war generals?? However, I must say that Dr. Turtledove's style is intriguing and I can't wait to read his conclusion, especially what he will do with the European situation and where he will place the Battle of Britain.

Book III of Turtledove's "Great War" tetralogy answers most of the questions asked in "American Front" and "Walk in Hell," while hinting at those to be confronted in Volume IV, settling account.

This volume, while very well written, is also the hardest and least optimistic, thus far, of the series: An invitation, perhaps, to carry the "Great War" timeline on to World War II?

More than anything, "Breakthroughs" rests on a shaky intellectual basis, as does the rest of the "Great War" series.

There are few surprises from Volume II: Tanks, airplanes, poison gas and sheer manpower propel the US-German alliance on to victory while, one after the other, the CSA and its allies must sue for peace. The Americans logically resolve to annex whatever territories they've conquered.

Turtledove's character development remains strong even as events become more dramatic. Bigotry and bitterness co-exist in many a heart. Confederate Soldier Jake Featherston, who blames the defeat on blacks and C.S. brass, is a sure candidate to lead a postwar, Nazi-like Ku Klux Klan.

Turtledove gives too much treatment to superficial, unpleasant Anne Colleton and her cowardly servant Scipio. But he is at his best when dealing with the defeated: Canadian Farmer Arthur McGregor, who becomes an embittered monster, recoiling at nothing to gain revenge; and one-time C.S. bigot Reggie Bartlett, who actually becomes a better man -no small feat in wartime- as he learns to give blacks a measure of respect. The author's minor literary offenses are not enough to detract from the general quality of the series. But there are too many repetitions, for instance: We don't need to read fifty times that taking Winnipeg from Canada will split that country in two. One reference to "black-bordered casualty lists" in daily newspapers is more than enough. And every family in North America seems to eat chicken stew for dinner, every evening!

The major question, as we consider Turtledove's hard, and impoverished world, becomes this: How realistic is his theory in the first place?

Turtledove willingly challenges one of the strongest tenets of International Relations Theory: that democracies trade with each other and don't wage war on one another. Would the US so willingly have turned its cannons on France and Britain?

Even if the CSA had won the Civil War, would Britain and France so willingly have allied with a slave-holding nation? Would public opinion in either of these countries have stood for this, and for post-1882 apartheid in the American South? Would the United States so willingly become the pupil of Imperial Germany, a nation with doubtful democratic credentials at best?

Turtledove's highly entertaining series is a must for anyone with the curiosity to ask "what if.." But it may be no more than that: Great entertainment...

I was a little skepitcal when I read the first book in this series, 'American Front.' I felt it conatined far too many characters and situations that the overall story would get lost in the shuffle. This fear followed me into the next book, 'Walk in Hell.' Although 'Walk' was a lot better I was worried that Turtledove was missing out on some great ideas with regaurds to the way the European war progressed and also the political aspects of the war in the two Americas. But I am happy to say that the new book in the series, 'Breakthroughs,' addresses these aspects of the war in a wonderful and satisfying way. As the war continues, new tactics are employed that allow the U.S. to force her enemies to seek peace- but that's just the beginning of the troubles that lie ahead, troubles that both Yankees and Rebs simply aren't prepared for. In the north the U.S. must learn to integrate it's hard-won conquests into the union, in the south confederates stuggle to adjust to humiliation and defeat and turtledove even gives a character with disturbing parrellels to Adolf Hitler during his time in the trenches. Far and away the best of the series so far (excluding 'How Few Remain') this is a fun romp through what might have been. Turtldove is once again on top of his game!

I very much looked forward to this book and read it eagerly. I enjoy the whole concept of an alternative WWI with North vs South, but I couldn't help but be disappointed while I was reading and when I was finished.

For one thing, Mr. Turtledove has an annoying habit of making the same point over and over with many of his characters. I'm not talking about re-establishing them for this book for those readers who may not have read the early books in the series. I'm saying that he often replays the same scenario every time he comes back to a character within THIS book, sometimes without really advancing the plot or telling us anything new. Seems like wasted verbiage to me. I keep thinking about the newspaper comic strip "Family Circus", which is basically five or so concepts repeated over and over with minor variations. I would have preferred for some of these scenes to be combined in order to cut back on the tedious repetition of explanation about a character's motivations.

Another gripe: There is very little about events in the rest of the world. I would have enjoyed considerably more detail about the war in Europe and elsewhere. Turtledove has a great imagination and could easily have tossed in some interesting speculation.

Nevertheless, it's a good read, and I would recommend it to anyone who has even the slightest interest in alternative history. And, yes, I'll undoubtedly snap up the final volume as soon as it comes out.

I enjoyed this book, as I did the preceding ones, but I was glad to get to the end of it. I found myself reading to find out what happened more than to enjoy the prose and flow of the writing. Too many "reruns" in conversations and plot lines.

Being a southerner, I was a bit chagrined at the result of the war - this shouldn't surprise anyone because you should see it coming if you read the other two books. I was more irritated with the obligatory sex scenes (please make them stop!), the charicature characters (McSweeney is particularly annoying), and the perpetual reference to army lieutenant colonels as "Lieutenant Colonel", contrary to military practice, was also bothersome. Worst of all was the USS Dakota: Sam and his Italian friend have repeated the same conversation throughout all of the books - enough already! Likewise with George Enos and his Chief on the Ericsson.

I enjoyed the overall story - Harry Turtledove is a master storyteller, and if you appreciate imagination you will like any of his work. I was pleased that not everyone in the story has a happy ending - war rarely leaves everyone whole and happy! I especially appreciate his attention to detail: I drive on Telfair Street in Augusta, GA every day, and it was interesting to see Scipio stop there in his flight from "Miss Anne". Now if only I can find that restaurant! (If you read the book you'll know what I'm talking about).

Overall, I would recommend this for history buffs, Turtledove fans, and folks that have read the first two "Great War" books.

Once again Harry Turtledove churns out yet another great crowd-pleaser, wrapping up just one phase of his ongoing alternate American history epic. There's a little something for everybody in this book. The sudden use of blitzkrieging tanks resulting in a lot of hard-fought battles and victories for action buffs to enjoy. More cameos by crazy old General Custer, wily Teddy Roosevelt, a flustered William Howard Tuft, and mention of a young arrogant Douglas MacArthur. Political maneuvering by our favorite Socialist Congresswoman Flora Hamburger. Actual insight into the psyche of our Canadian friends to the north. Finally an overseas plot involving South America and info on how the war really fares in forgotten Europe and Asia. A murder mystery plot resolved with a shock. As well as the tugging of emotions with a few surprise deaths of long-running characters, some will make you cry, others will make you smile in triumph. The only little nit I have is with the continued treatment of Covington, Kentucky in the Cincinnatus plot as a racist Confederate hotbed. I live right next to the city and know it's history. It could just be hometown pride but from what I understand the entire area has always been more Yankee than the southern part of the state any day.

I usually look forward to Harry Turtledove's "next book" in several of the series that he has running. I particularly like to keep up with various characters that he has developed rather nicely,such as Jake Featherston and Cinncinnatus. At times this book moves along rather well and some of the writing is paticularly inspired,but for the greater part of the book we are simply plodding along from one telegraphed situation to another. Not very satisfying;therefore--2 stars. I thought that the situation in which the CSA found itself in regards to armaments to be a bit odd,considering that their major ally, Great Britain, was one of the World's leading industrial powers...and a naval power! My conclusion regarding this particular "installment" in the neverending saga ,is that it is really a setup for a real doozer of a "Second World War". The parallel of the CSA being disarmed and occupied,as was Germany at the end of "real-time" W.W.I,is a good teaser for history buffs.Of course the anger, resentment, and the loser's desire for revenge sets up the next war. I suspect that the next book in the series will really make this one an important cornerstone for future developments. The generally flat tone of this book was not very satisfying,but it did leave me wanting more. Overall,this book was a necessary evil in order to further bring Dr. Turtledove's alternate history timeline to completion. I look forward to the next volume with enthusiasm.

The cheerful "isn't-it-great-to-be-a-soldier" song, "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" derives from an older and rather darker tradition, songs with titles like "Johnny We Hardly Knew Ye" and "My Son John" -- bitter songs about young men who came home maimed. But it's the cheerful, cleaned-up versions like "...Marching Home" that those whose interests wars advance want us to remember because, if too many remember "Johnny We Hardly Knew Ye", the next war will be harder to start.

As Turtledove brings his alternate World War One to a close, we can already see the seeds of the next war being sown, both in the specific activities of characters in this book and by parallels to the real history of the world.

The treaties forced on the defeated Confederacy, intended to keep the CSA down and make sure it's bever again a threat and, as well, to humiliate it in return for all those years of humiliation that the USA has suffered will certainly bear the same bitter fruit that similar humiliating and devastating terms forced upon Germany bore.

Certainly the Red devils (metaphorically) of revolution and politics released during the war will not easily be exprcised so long as the lot of the Black man is not materially improved, and (as another reviewer has pointed out) the embittered artillery Sergeant who has already begun keeping a journal chronicling his struggles and his thoughts on what is wrong with the System will very likely be Important in what is to come...

Structurally, this book is pretty much the same as most of Turtledove's alternate history war novels -- the "Worldwar" books and the earlier ones in this series -- being recounted in a series of segments telling the actions and experiences of the members of a large cast of established characters (some entirely fictional, some alternates of real figures in history) whose viewpoints cover virtually all of the actions of the War and of the effects on those civilians who actually encounter its results {sort of like what John Brunner referred to as "Tracking With Closeups" in "Stand on Zanzibar"). The segments vary from quite short vignettes to near-short-story lengths and are not -- in my opinion -- necessarily all equally necessary to advance the story; there is a redundancy here and there that i could have done without.

Another problem with the narrative technique that Turtledove has chosen, in my opinion, is that it tends to make it difficult to see the characters as people rather than as labelled cardboard figures. Thus, one is less likely to be less interested in their problems and their fates than one is in the overall sweep of the narrative. (Though, to be fair, that might be to some extent the author's intent.)

A problem specific to this book is that, having moved his main character from the Birmingham Alabama area into battle, Turtledove doesn't go back there as much as he had been, and so we aren't seeing what conditions are evolvong there as more and more blacks are working in the mills and foundries, doing white man's work and drawing almost a white man's pay. Now that the whites are coming home, are those blacks going to go peacefully back to where they were before the War?

A sustaining enough read, but, as in the Real World, it's just a place to mark time for a while, since the end of the "War To End War" merely sets the stage for the Next World War.

Here's a frightening thought, given that in Turtledove's universe WW2 will be, to a major extent, fought between the CSA and the USA on the North American continent -- what if someone develops the atomic bomb?

First off I'd like to say that I've liked all of the Turtledove books that I've ever read and this one was just as good or better as all of his other books. I did have some problems with this book and the rest in the series. I always wanted to know what was happening in Europe so that I could see the difference between our world and this one. The only real glimpses we got were in the second book when Verdun fell to the Germans, which held out in our world, and when France and the UK threw in the towel. They mention that Germany created the Kingdom of Poland with land taken from the Russians and that Russia was in Revolution, but that was about it. As for the res though I really enjoyed this book. I found it very interesting the way Custer was very similar to George Patton in this book by wanting to mass his Barrels (Tanks) and some of his sayings were almost direct quotes of Patton. I was surprised at how easily Turtledove has killed some of his major charecters in all three of these books. I was glad to see some go but also sad to see others go. Of course I was cheering for the American-German alliance throughout these books. I think it was east to tell that they were winning the war by the end of the second book. I would have liked to have seen all of the CSA and Canada occupied by the USA and all of France by Imperial Germany but I was glad to see them win. I can see possibilities unfold in the future for the universe and that's part of the reason I enjoy Alternate History and especially Hary Turtledove. It can open your mind to speculating what could have happened. Overall I think this book was very enjoyable. I don't think it was as well written as the others and I was disapointed by how many charecters he killed, but that added to the suprise factor. I am eagerly awaiting the final book in this series as I am awaiting all of Turtledove's books.