Marching Through Peachtree [Hardcover]

Harry Turtledove (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 30, 2001

Hugo Award winner Turtledove pens a tale of a terrible civil war that has broken out in the kingdom of Delta. And now General Joseph the Gamecock is determined to hold Peachtree Province against the loyalist troops.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

After King Avram, new ruler of Detina, frees the blond serfs upon which the northern part of the kingdom relies, civil war erupts, with Avram's cousin, Geoffrey, as commander of the rebels. The armies of the divided country face each other in the embattled province of Peachtree eager to claim the strategically vital city of Marthasville. Turtledove's sequel to Sentry Peak continues his fanciful retelling of the Civil War as a fantasy struggle involving swords and sorcery. American history buffs should enjoy figuring out the real-world parallels in the colorful cast of characters. For large fantasy collections.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Baen; F edition (October 30, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671318438
• ISBN-13: 978-0671318437
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,007,935 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Harry Turtledove is the award-winning author of the alternate-history works The Man with the Iron Heart; The Guns of the South; How Few Remain (winner of the Sidewise Award for Best Novel); the Worldwar saga: In the Balance, Tilting the Balance, Upsetting the Balance, and Striking the Balance; the Colonization books: Second Contact, Down to Earth, and Aftershocks; the Great War epics: American Front, Walk in Hell, and Breakthroughs; the American Empire novels: Blood & Iron, The Center Cannot Hold, and Victorious Opposition; and the Settling Accounts series: Return Engagement, Drive to the East, The Grapple, and In at the Death. Turtledove is married to fellow novelist Laura Frankos. They have three daughters: Alison, Rachel, and Rebecca.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not Turtledoves usual good stuff, August 6, 2002

By 

JS Thompson "WWII Buff" (WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Marching Through Peachtree (Hardcover)

Many others have mentioned that this storyline is based on Shermans march through GA. While I'm a mild civil war buff, and I could make connections with real world names, some events and names were explained better at the end of the book than I could remember.

However, as to the book and series itself, I cannot recommend it, or at least, not purchasing it. Harry Turtledove has finally hit a "slump" after his previous outstanding alternate histories.

One gets the feeling that this entire series is filled with a lot of pap filled with little bits of meat, in order to stretch it out for 3 books. I believe this storyline could have been better told in a single book, something along the lines of "Guns of the South".

I hope that Harry Turtledove has not fallen into the rut that many sci-fi/fantasy authors have, taking an original idea and trying to stretch it out for several books just to keep on having something published, or to cash in on their names, an unfortunate trend of recent years.

Bottom line, if you want to keep up on all the Harry Turtledove books, get this one (and the previous and next) at the library.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A Fantasy Bait-and-Switch, July 2, 2011

By 

Michael Shreeves (Huntsville, AL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Marching Through Peachtree (Mass Market Paperback)

A one-trick pony of a novel, this book is a simple transposition of the American Civil War to a fantasy setting. Calvalry ride unicorns, the cannons become wizzards, trains become flying crapets, etc. Now, while this may sound interesting, the novel in execution is as dry, boring, overblown, and obsessed with pointless uninteristing detail as the most crustily written Civil War history.

If you've got the PhD in history with specialization in the Civil War required to get all the in-jokes, then this book might be for you. Beyond that, Turtledove, for all his usual creativity and flair, offers absolutely nothing.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not True Alternate History, December 12, 2001

By 

David A. Farnham (Roanoke, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Marching Through Peachtree (Hardcover)

This book is not alternate history in the accepted sense--that is, speculation on what would have happened is a historical event had not occurred or had occurred differently (e.g. if the Synod of Whitby had had a different result). Rather, it is a retelling of Sherman's Atlanta campaign with the author exercising his imagination on the names of people and places. As such, it is delivered with the author's accustomed style and wit. The title is a tad misleading since it would apply better to a retelling of Sherman's March. For what it is, however, it's an entertaining read and while I wouldn't dream of buying it at any price I expect to read and perhaps reread my library's copy.