Rating: 
Summary: Great concept, mediocre execution
Review: I've seen plenty of American and British reviews of Turtledove, but I'd like to express my view as a Canadian (as well as a student of history). Turtledove always presents me with a fascinating concept and then proceeds to dissappoint me in how he deals with it.... The author tends to overlook historical logic for the sake of developing the plot as he wishes (and despite this, developments happen so bloody slowly!). Just two Cases in point: 1)a naval attack on the British held Pearl Harbour would likely look more like a Gallipoli than a WWII-style Pearl Harbour- shore batteries are not so easy to take out. 2) Having the North devlop tanks at the same time as the Brits did historically seems like such a cop-out, to avoid having to America's enemies any real advantages. Germany didn't develop a tank before the Brits, and when they did start making WWI tanks, they were shabby copies of the Allied versions- why would the North be any different? However, I will say Kudos to Turtledove for allowing Canada to put up a good fight-they were some of WWI's best soldiers, and wouldn't have gone down easy. Ultimately, I do agree with Turtledove with what the ultimate outcome of this conflict would be, but I disagree with how he reaches it- it just seems too staged for the purposes of his sequels. This combined with the plodding writing style and the bad sex scenes ("He saluted her, but but not with his hands"? I could do without that) makes me say that this book contains a lot of squandered potential for the alternative history buff.
Rating: 
Summary: Turtledove Rocks
Review: The third in the "How Few Remain" alternative history series, Walk in Hell continues Turtledove's greatest saga. The North begins to turn the tide on the South, using it's tightly trained, revenge-minded army to push the South towards defeat in the year 1916. The plausibility is high, the character development rich, the plot thicker than my mother's tomato soup. Turtledove's creativity is matched only by his historical accuracy. A must for alt. history fans or history buffs in need of a breather from reality.
Rating: 
Summary: Boring and repetitive
Review: I found 'Walk in Hell' as boring and repetetive as the first book in the sequel 'American Front'. Events and characters become become confused and difficult to keep track of as the story jumps back and forth between scenarios. Situation battle maps would have been helpful. I've given up on the series.
Rating: 
Summary: A great sequel
Review: Harry Turtledove's Great War:Walk in Hell was an intriguing book. The writing was well worked and imaganitive. The reason I gave it 4 stars was the amount of unneccesary sex scenes. Other than that I liked it. Some of the other people thought the amount of characters was confusing but I found it helpfull, I could see all the aspects of war. There is an artilery commander, farmers, sailors and infantry. This shows how the war effects different parts of life. I thought that it would be interesting though if he could show how the war is going in Europe. Turtledove must have done a lot of research and it shows in the realism of this novel. I am anticipating the next part of this series, The Great War:Breakthroughs.
Rating:
Summary: This is good stuff !!!!!!!
Review: Harry Turtledove has got me hooked! I started with Guns of the South, and have read all three books of the current series. I am waiting for Great War - Breakthrus to come out in paperback. He has a nack for putting together a convincing story based on the history of the USA/CSA as only he knows it. Once you start to read these books, you must know how it will all end. A big plus is Harry's method of having real historical characters such as Custer, and T. Roosevelt playing believable roles in his alternative history. You will not be able to stop once you start to read these books.
Rating:
Summary: "Walk in Hell" is a Hell of a Read!
Review: As both an active-duty military member and a history buff, I found "Walk in Hell" to be a fascinating read. In particular, I found the depiction of setentogenarian General Custer to be particularly un-flattering and amusing! Then again, conisdering that Gen. Custer did in fact graduate at the bottom of his West Point class, and that he also served in the Civil War as an aide-de-camp to Gen. George B. McClellan (another officer with a less-than-stellar historical achievement record), it's not surprising to see ol' Custer depicted as such a buffoon in this book. Also, Custer's relationship with his wife reminds me of a certain ex-President <ahem, I won't mention names, 'cuz even though he's my FORMER commander-in-chief, I still may be committing insubordination!>; in both cases, the wives are exaperated beyond measure with their hubbies' infidelities, yet both Mrs. Custer and Mrs. C-----n (actually, Senator C------ now) still defend their husbands from public criticism to maintain their grip on power. Life imitating art, or vice versa? Even though I have not yet actually been in combat, Mr. Turtledove makes an excellent effort of creating a "you-are-there" kind of feeling. As an Ar Force Security Forces member (HOOAH!), I am tasked with the "infantry" duties of my branch of the service, and I can tell you that from reading this book, we've definitely come along way in infantry tactics 86 years. Looking at my own training in use of cover and concealment tactics, not to mention present day use of close air support (CAS) in conjunction w/infantry maneuvers, the WWI philosophy of blind, en masse "over the top" charges at enemy machine gun nests and artillery pieces comes across as shockingly antiquated and senseless, and its hard to believe that less than a century ago that such was actually the prevailing military doctrine! As Gen. Patton might have said, "What a hell of a way to waste good infantry!" It sure makes me glad that I did not serve in the First World War! (On the other hand, at least the military didn't suffer then from the "political correctness" and "sensitivity training" that is does now!)
Rating:
Summary: Stop with the plot shifts, I'm getting dizzy!
Review: I like Turtledove, but the method he employs in this series, changing from subplot to subplot every 2-3 pages is nauseating. Just trying to remember who's banging who (literally; sex is a central theme in all his books) is mind boggling. Just when I begin to remember the difference bewteen Captain Morrell and Sergeant Featherstone (and they keep changing rank as well) and the plot picks up in intensity, boom - it switches to some completely different subplot. It took me longer to read this book than the past 5 books I've read combined!
Rating:
Summary: The fighting continues - but the end seems near
Review: This is my third review of a Harry Turtledove novel, all of them set in the universe where the South won the American Civil War - or better, "the Second American Revolution". At the end of the novel it seems to become clear who is going to win this ugly war... or isn't it? The CSA and Canada are forced to retreat on almost every front. In this universe, WW1 seems to be much more global. Besides the heavy fighting in North America and in Europe, the Pacific Ocean and South America are also combat areas. The uprisings of the Mormons in the USA and of the Negroes in the CSA have been crushed. But because the South doesn't have enough (white) men anymore to do the fighting, it is forced to call up Negroes for militairy duty - and, when the war is finished, to give them ALMOST the same civil rights as white men have. This is rather ironic, because if the South had done that in the early 1860ies, three bloody wars would not have been neccesary... To me it seems Harry Turtledove is letting both sides go through some sort of learing process: the South is becoming used to equality for both black and white, and the North is becoming used to some sort of - well, socialist rule. Where is all this going to? A couple of surprises: - US general McArthur shows up, as well as the German army captain Guderian (in our world a well-known WWII tank general); - Harry Turtledove is making more of an effort to make it become clear where all the fighting happens then he did in the previous novels; - Germany succeeds to conquer Verdun! Because the British have to fight on two fronts? - The USA decide to invade Mexico. How much more of Mexico do they want? - US general Custer has a GOOD idea. In stead of using tanks ("barrels") on a wide front, he wants to use them on a small front in a breakthrough attempt. I still haven't got any sympathies for either side, something I like about Harry Turtledove. Both the South and the North have good and bad sides and people. I don't like the CSA treating blacks as second class citizens, and I also don't like the USA ("les boches americaines", the american huns) worshipping everything that is German. I think I like CS artillery sergeant Featherston. I dislike US infantry sergeant McSweeney. With his flamethrower and his religious fanatism he looks like the Spanish Inquisition. I certainly hadn't expected them...! One other thing. One of the editorial reviewers is wrong saying Germany crushed France, Denmark and Austria. That all happened in the wars Germany fought in the second half of the 19th century, not in 1914-1916 in Harry Turtledove's universe. Oh yes and the tanks. TWO other things. The type of tank HT introduces looks a bit like a really existing German WW1 tank, the AV7 - only in this novel, the US invents it even before the British come up with their own version. Is the next novel in the series out yet? The Netherlands are a Harry Turtledove desert.
Rating:
Summary: UNBELIVEABLE!
Review: Harry Turtledove has done it again! The U.S. and Confederates are at it again, and this time it's personal. World War 1 has started up in Europe and now the U.S. and the Confederates are tied up in it and this time it's the Civil War all over again. The book, which is the second book in the Great War Series, starts out in late 1915. Mormons in Utah, have created a uprising where the U.S. send troops there to stop it, while that happens the U.S. are fighting the Confederate troops in Kentucky, Virginia and Pennsylvania and Maryland, and also are fighting the Canadian and British troops in Canada. While the U.S. struggle between two fronts, that new weapons start popping up in the book. Such as a flamethrower, steel helmets and tanks! The blacks, who are free but are still harassed by the Southerners, are feuled by Marxism and a Reds Revolution starts up in the south. Also, a election soon follows up near the end of the book and that not only a socialist is running against the democratic Theodore Roosevelt, but a Jewish woman is running for congress in New York and is a socialist. With this, the socialist might have controll of congress and possibly the presidency. The book also starts "eliminating" the main characters in the book. Where some of the characters will try to act bravely but will die in the process. The book also eyes in more on General George Armstrong Custer, whose commanding the Army on the Kentucky front, and his thoughts on the war. But the war will still go on and on when the book ends. Like I said, a great book, for those who enjoy alternate history or are into history.
Rating:
Summary: Leave your prejudices at the door...
Review: Most SF stories fall at one end of a spectrum between the Utopia and the Dystopia. This universe DEFINITELY qualifies as a Dystopia...I'm essentially a Northerner by birth, but I'm almost ready to swear "A pox on both their houses" - I don't care much for the US or the CSA - whomever wins, humanity loses. But for that, Dr Turtledove takes us on a good look at a world I'd never want to visit...kind of like touring the sewers in a glass-bottom boat. I especially like that the author takes us on a visit to the nitty-gritty details - the cold, the insects and vermin, trying to maintain body functions on a battlefield, all the details that authors and historians forget in the "glory and pagentry" of war. You lose a lot of this book if you don't know your history -- even more if you don't know the little details that you DON'T get in college history classes. Dr Turtledove is not only a historian with a solid knowledge of strategy and tactics, but a humanitarian with a good idea of how people react to stimuli. A few not-noy complaints I do have, is that I can't believe the US and German subs wouldn't be making "shuttles" between Boston and Kiel - or that a battle for Iceland as a U boat base wouldn't have featured prominently in the Battle of the Atlantic. Also, the early days of US aircraft industry was dominated by Northerners - why would they depend on German airplane design? How about Yankee aircraft carriers in 1915? - they were playing with the concept as early as 1912, and the US Navy had sub hunting aircraft in 1916... I get the feeling that this story is going to continue into a few more volumes...Anne Colleton playing "Himmler" to Jake Featherstone's "Hitler"? Lt Col Morrell as "General Patton"? Maybe some more games with historical figures - with German Empire triumphant, would Hitler have been anybody important? Or might his charisma and drive been channelled another direction? These stories give you a LOT to think about...
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