Customer Reviews

Red Inferno: 1945: A Novel

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This book is Conroy's fifth alternate history novel, yet in many respects it reads like his third one, 1945: A Novel, given how much he borrows from it. Though the setting is different - with the premise being a clash between Soviet and American forces in Germany at the end of the Second World War in Europe - the elements are all too familiar to anyone who has read Conroy's earlier work. As in the earlier novel, they will encounter green lieutenants, beleaguered but determined generals, men trapped behind the lines cooperating with OSS agents, a duplicitous Soviet Union, and a plucky man from Missouri attempting to address it all. Even the ending is essentially the same, though this is less of a surprise as all of Conroy's novels seem to conclude with an "in-the-end-the-world-was-left-a-better-place" sort of wrapping up.

This is not to say that this is not an enjoyable book, as fans of Conroy's alternate novels will find the author firing on every cylinder that he has within these pages (yet not without historical errors; for example, the G.I. Bill was already in place by the end of 1944 to provide returning vets with loans and college educations). But it seems that with the fifth novel - and his third consecutive one set in World War II - Conroy's creative well is apparently running dry, forcing him to recycle earlier ideas in a slightly refreshed setting. In his "Acknowledgments" section at the end of the book he expresses the hope that this will not be the last alternate history novel he writes; if he does publish another, it will hopefully be after he puts more time into giving readers something new and different, rather than just warming over his earlier work.

Robert Conroy does a fine job with this very plausible alt history scenario. The characters are all well drawn, and I appreciate that the major historical personalities and their reactions to the scenario receive a great deal of attention from the author. It hands down tops Harry Turtledove's "Hitler's War". The battles, weapons, tactics, and strategic goals are all described in great detail.

I have three criticisms of the book, but they don't affect my overall assessment of the story. First, I came across three references to Germany invading Russia in 1940, vice 1941. I thought that perhaps this was somehow part of the alt history scenario, but after finishing the book I believe that it is indeed an error. Second, when the FBI agent Forbes returned to interview Natalie Holt pursuant to upgrading Col. Burke's security clearance, Barnes, who had been Holt's superior at State and who committed suicide earlier in the story, is suddenly speaking as Forbes. I thought I had misread the dialogue, so I went back to the beginning of this specific encounter between Forbes and Holt, but Barnes is definitely speaking as Forbes. This is a very egregious error, and should've been caught by the proofreader/editor. I recall three instances in this case of Barnes speaking when the author meant Forbes. Lastly, I concur with another reviewer who states that Patton seems a rather minor character here, when the actual history of the immediate aftermath of WWII in the ETO had him warning about Soviet intentions and pushing an aggressive response. He also pushed strongly for rehabilitating former Nazis, which eventually cost him his position as Miltary Governor of Bavaria. I believe that in an actual Red Inferno, George S. Patton would have played a major role.

I have enjoyed reading this book, as well as the earlier "1945" about an alternate ending to the war with Japan. I highly recommend "Red Inferno", and look forward to reading Mr. Conroy's next work.

I am a big fan of alternative historical fiction. I also enjoyed Conroy's 1901 book more than this one.

It is an intriguing question that one would assume would get more coverage: what if the Soviet's pushed too hard after the defeat of Germany and went to war with the rest of the Allies? Conroy sets up the conflict fairly well and creates a few interesting characters but also some dull place fillers. The Russians get aggressive and trap an allied force in Germany as their main force pushes the Allies back further and further out of Germany. Much space is devoted to espionage in the West and the resistance the trapped U.S. force puts up behind enemy lines, including their respective love interests. Consideration is given to the Soviet advantage in men and tanks, with the Allies' reliance on air power and giving up space for time to bleed the Soviet advance. All ends in massive fireballs as the first atom bombs are used on the Soviet Army rather than the Japanese.

What I was hoping for more of, however, was how the Soviet and U.S. (and British) armies would face off with each other. Conroy gives little space for a closer look at how the Allies would handle the T-34s. Their advantage over the Sherman is noted, but there is no discussion over how they would match up against British Fireflies or the newer, heavier tanks that the U.S. was already shipping to the European Theater. It also would have been interesting to see how Soviet and U.S. artillery would have matched up against each other. The Soviet's prized their artillery, but the U.S. had boiled it down to a masterful science. And would the Soviet's have truly had such a massive manpower advantage? Conroy depicts the U.S. as having no real reserves to send to fight the Soviets. With the invasion of Japan postponed, however, this seems quite doubtful. Also, there is almost no naval discussion at all and the issue of the cutoff of lend-lease is barely noted.

All in all, it was a decent effort, but could have been much more. I did not get the impression that Conroy did a lot of research into the nitty gritty of how these vast armies would have faced off against each other.

A pretty sloppy book. When I read in the intro that Germany had invaded the Soviet Union in 1940, I thought it was a typo. Not so -- he used it at least once more in the book. Meanwhile, the woman called Elisabeth is said to have dual Canadian-German citizenship, but dual citizenship wasn't accepted by Canada until 1979. I know it's alternative history, but this carelessness throws everything in the book into question.

Red Inferno is Conroy's story of a USSR vs Western Allies war starting in April 1945. Other reviewers have commented on many of the historical errors and implausibilities Conroy makes in following his blueprint, but I wanted to emphasize that these aren't merely errors--the entire premise cannot possibly work without most of them.

Particularly important is the bizarre notion the the US was in some kind of manpower shortage in Europe in April '45--scraping the bottom of the barrel. Utter nonsense. Where did Conroy think they were going to get the troops for Operation Olympic (The invasion of Japan scheduled for late 45)? Second is the ability of the Red Air Force to compete with the USAAF and RAF in German skies. Did the 7th and 8th Air Forces just vanish? Russian aircraft couldn't have stayed in the air with Mustangs and P-38s for a day. Russian aircraft were designed for combat support, not air superiority. Conroy's Red Army moves huge armored columns across Central Germany without significant impedance from the air. What were the thousands of bombers from 8th Air Force doing? What were the many thousands of tactical bombers in 7th doing?

Conroy's ideas seem to be based on Cold War era ideas of a Russian assault through Germany, rather than the situation as it stood then.

Much is made of the T-34's superiority to the Sherman, even using it as an excuse for the US 3rd Army not to attack. As if Patton didn't know how to use the Sherman (He did), as if the Red Army were master tankers (they were not), as if the Allies had nothing other than Shermans. It seems as though Conroy's plan was Red Army 1945 vs Allied armies 1942.

The worst part of this novel, however, is that, irronically, it isn't long enough.

Conroy's only interest in the conflict seems to be two romances, which take up the bulk of the book--or it seems that way, since there is virtually no action, only generalized descriptions of battles. Historical characters are left almost out of the book. Patton, surely the go-to-guy for US-vs Red Army fantasy is essentially not in the book. Battles are referred to rather than described. Tactics and strategy are not discussed. Eisenhower's entire plan is retreat and hope the Russians get tired of chasing.

Even the Germans did better than that--so naturally, the Nazis must be enlisted to do the fighting. And so, all is forgiven and masses of German equipment magically appear, despite a lack of factories to make them or the spare parts and ammunition they needed or trained troops to use them.

Conroy simply doesn't have enough time to explain any of theses things--not if he's going to detail his rather pointless and predictable romances.

Conroy waves his magic wand and cripples the Allies so that he may realize his vision of Germans and Allies fighting the Red Army.

And then doesn't bother to show it to us.

My advice to Mr. Conroy is to go back to earlier times for his next novel--something less easily researched and more malleable tp your blueprint. This isn't it.

Let me begin by saying that although the military portion of this book is quite good, especially on weaponry analysis of systems such as the T-34 tank and Thunderbolt fighter, in other areas it is simply unbelievable.

When reading this novel, one wonders about the political leanings of the author.

Here is a depiction of the nations at play:

Americans come across as happy-go-lucky simpletons who in the end put up a good fight with German help. They have few moral qualms allying with the Germans.

British come across as vindictive. First they want to invade Berlin and kill Russians. Then they riot in London against the war they urged to begin with. Churchill is fond of Albert Speer and has a soft side for Nazis in general. I was gritting my teeth when I read this unbelievable account.

Germans are noble, were almost tricked into starting the war, and did the right thing in opposing the hated Russians. They prove to be wonderful allies as they fight the evil Russians who in this book come across as violent, stupid, lowlife.

The Jews are good Americans and barely put up a fuss as the United States makes allies the Germans.

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I found the depictions here stereotyped and incredible. The Russians were still allies in 1945, and seen as brave victims who lost over 20 million people grinding down, and defeating, the Nazi war machine. The cold war was at least a year away.

In April 1945, an attack on the Soviets by the western allies would simply have not been tolerated by the American people. Even if war were to break out, the United States would have never made a quick alliance with the Germans. But according to this novel, Harry Truman comes across as a 1945 Pat Buchanan willing to embrace the German enemies as immediate allies in the fight against the Russian butchers.

Sorry, I cannot buy this. This book simply washes out too many negatives of the Nazis to be palatable. I actually found myself rooting for Joe Stalin in this book; any United States that would make common cause with Mr. Speer represents a system that should fall.

I thought a nice chapter in the book would be Eleanor Roosevelt meeting with Truman and threatening to personally run against him in 1948 if he were to continue. She easily could have seized the nomination away from him if she so desired such was her popularity back then.

Besides the complete lack of historical accuracy, this book failed to deliver as promised. The bulk of the book dealt with a couple of romances and not battles. Most of the battles are simply referred to and not fully described. The characters are well developed but lack much action due to the poor descriptions of the action scenes. There were very few times I could actually see, feel and "experience" being in a war. With so many other authors out there that can do this, I will not even attempt reading anything else by Conroy.

The scenario is plausible and a great idea for a AH book, but Conroy failed to explain what this scenario did to the Pacific theater. He never mentions how the war against Japan is going or what the strategy will be to deal with what remains of the Japanese.

This could have been so much more. Very disappointing!!!

My wife bought this for me as a birthday present. I found it quite good in many ways.

The good.

The author writes very convincing battle scenes. The dialog was very good and plausible. The Russian tank crews were believable. Historically it all rang true.

The bad.

The Potsdam love story was distracting and rather wooden. The Wehrmacht Colonel was not believable. An Armor Colonel missing a leg would have stayed on active duty or been recalled in 1945. He would have been far too valuable not to have been. Especially by 1945.

The other

It is an alternative history. I was not thrilled at how easily the Germans were integrated into the US military. History shows that post 1945 the US became very selective in deciding who was really a "Nazi." That was not the authors problem, rather it is mine. I particularly dislike the idea that Speer got away in this book. He managed to avoid hanging in real life which he deserved, and should have, in real life.

I liked it. It flowed. Not a bad read

1945 - Red Inferno is one of Conroy's best alternate history novels so far. He handles that Western allies and the Soviets go at it after World War II with a great deal of authenticity. The only drawbacks are that there are no real surprises as to how the scenario plays out and Patton only plays a minor role in the conflict.

Red Inferno isn't up to par with Conroy's earlier alternative histories such as 1945 and 1942 which had plausible premises portrayed in an interesting story. Red Inferno's premise is plausible an early version of what-if the Cold War went hot kind of rumination. However, the story telling fell pretty flat. A disappointment after Conroy's better works such as 1945 and 1942.