Fox on the Rhine

Rating:
Summary: "Fox on the Rhine" entertains well.
Review: The authors of this Alternate History have done a pretty fair job of tilling some virgin ground--World War II has not been explored or exploited as the basis of very many books in the AH genre thus far.

Overall the plot seems pretty plausible;the assassination of Adolf Hitler by Claus von Stauffenberg and his co-conspirators ends in chaos,leading to Heinrich Himmler becoming the new Fuehrer. At the time (1944) all seems to be lost for Germany;the Allies are bombing the Reich to rubble and both fronts are on the verge of collapse. Heinrich Himmler scores a diplomatic coup by concluding a peace treaty with the Soviet Union,and an injured Field Marshall Rommel is recalled to duty as the commander in the West. Rommel subsequently conducts a brilliant fighting retreat to the "Westwall" or Siegfried line while Adolf Galland,the brilliant General of Fighters, conducts his long planned "grosse schlag" or big blow against the American 8th Air Force with the revolutionary Me 262 jet fighters. The book title "Fox on the Rhine" is the code name for the alternate history version of the Battle of the Bulge led in this instance by Rommel.

Many fictional characters are introduced in the course of action, some of whom are not very believable. Oberst (Colonel) Krueger seems to be a pretty vile individual to be selected by General Galland as a wing commander. Krueger's behavior towards his crew chief borders on idiotic , since the mechanics are what kept the pilots alive in the air through thorough and careful maintenence of the aircraft. On the other hand Feldwebel (sergeant) Karl-Heinz Claussen was a thoroughly likeable sort of fellow.

My overall impression of the book was very favorable,although I was somewhat let down by the ending. It seemed to me that the failure of the great Ardennes offensive was based on an somewhat improbable scenario in Dinant, and based on all the previous actions taken by Rommel this ending would not have occurred.

On the negative side , the book needed a lot more thorough job of proofreading. Several small nitpicking errors were carried through the entire book; i.e. there is no "d" in Messerschmitt! Captains in the S.S. are not "Hauptmann" but "Obersturmfuehrer";and tanks are not steered by steering wheels,although half tracks are.

A better knowledge of German and German forms of address to superiors (not "Feldmarshall" , but "Herr General Feldmarshall") would have helped smooth out a few of the rough spots and upgraded this book to "5 stars".In the realization that this was the first AH book attempted by these authors, I look forward to even better efforts in the future.

Rating:
Summary: Very Well written Alternate History
Review: The story is set up with what is likely the most used premise in alternate history, the premature death of Adolph Hitler. However, this book had Hitler staying alive until 1944 when the failed attempt on his life succeeded. With Hitler dead, the war unfolds. Hitler's inept meddling of the military is ended. For example, Hitler wanted to use the jet powered ME-262 plane as a bomber, when he desperately needed fighter planes to counteract the massive Allied air superiority. Rommell, instead of being forced to commit suicide is given the task to defeat the western allies. I would prefer not to give away the ending of this book, but I will say that this is a real page turner, I couldn't wait to find out how the war would play out. (There are a number of twists and turns to history as the story unfolds). The only reason that this book did not get 5 stars is that at the very end of the book, it was "tie up the loose ends" time. Usually I feel that most books could be written more tightly, however at the end the authors raced to finish it up. It was almost like "Hey we only have 5 pages to wrap this up". This book begs for a sequel. I only hope that it does well enough for the authors to attempt it. I for one will be eagerly waiting!

Rating:
Summary: An Engaging and Interesting Read
Review: As a coauthor of counterfactual history, I am equally interested in both the idea and the writing. Niles and Dobson come through on both counts.

At its premise, this book takes that the effort to kill Hitler in July 1944 succeeds but leads Himmler to take power and gamble on making peace with the Soviet Union. His temptation for Stalin is knowledge of the vengeance weapons and the technology to make the Soviet Union potentially dominant against the Western Allies.

That truce (and both sides know it is a truce not a peace) allows Germany to focus on defeating the Anglo-American armies.

They then posit that Himmler would have relied on competent military leaders like Rommel, Guderian and Galland and amassed German military power more intelligently than Hitler allowed.

The book evolves in a very engaging and satisfying way and I recommend it highly for anyone interested in how a military campaign could unfold and how strategic change could lead to different developments.

Rating:
Summary: Exciting, well-written what-if novel
Review: What if the attempted assassination of Adolph Hitler in June 1944 had succeeded instead of narrowly failed? The authors predict that Himmler, head of the SS, would have become Fuhrer and that his wartime leadership of Germany would have been more rational than Hitlers -- although equally brutal.

The authors build up a complex alternative history peopled with characters both real and imagined and events close enough to fact to be believable. This novel plays itself out -- like the war games the authors invent -- into a climatic battle on the Western front. It's exciting reading with good characterization and descriptions of desperate battles and a clever, almost comical twist near the end. Patton and Rommel are the protaganists -- and formidable ones at that -- and the supporting cast is strong. The Americans tend to be cardboard cutouts, but the Germans characters are drawn with some literary skill. I recommend the novel to anyone who is interested in World War II and alternative history novels.

Rating:
Summary: A good, entertaining alternate history novel
Review: As a dedicated reader of alternate history, I can honestly say that I enjoyed this book. The plot was interesting, the alteration in history was thought provoking, and the writing was engaging. When Count von Stauffenberg placed the briefcase under the table at one of Adolf Hitler's meetings, he did so knowing that it would cause the death of Hitler, but what he did not know was that another man would move the briefcase out of convenience. However, that man did not move the briefcase in this book because he needed to sneeze. The idea that a single sneeze can cause such a huge effect, such as a completely different ending to World War II, is interesting to think about at the very least. It certainly seems plausible that the assassination of Hitler might have succeeded, because it almost did in the real world. What happened next in the book was one of several paths the world might have taken. Rommel commanding the German Army was probable, a treaty with the Soviet Union was not out of the question, and the mass production of jet fighters would have been attempted later anyway. The only problems with the book would have been minor issues with historiography that tend to occur with any book, but I can forgive them seeing as how this book was written for entertainment, not correctness. Overall, I found the book a good read, and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys the genre of alternate history.

Rating:
Summary: What Fox?
Review: About three fourths of the way through this book, I decided to finish reading it because I'd put time into it already. The authors apparently never read the Rommel Papers or Mannstein's memoirs, two basics for anyone wishing to understand Wehrmacht capabilities and the military possibilities open to Germany. The Eastern Front still had incredible forces, they were just spread over a 3000 mile front, and constricting that front by pulling back to the border would have given Germany an eastern army that could stop the Reds, armistice or no. That front only collapsed in the summer of '44 due to the stripping of air power for France after D-Day. Bring the boys within range of some fighter cover, and they could have stood their ground. And, the 'stand and die' order rescission alone would have saved Germany, as Mannstein proved before he was fired for ignoring it. Rommel never, and I do mean never, gambled with the lives of his forces, as this book portrays. Many times, he attacked overall superior forces by creating a series of local superiorities which he then leveraged into an overall victory, but he never, ever, left himself without a solid escape route for the committed forces (and everyone else). This Bulge scenario is nonsense. Also, he routinely pre-identified and assigned sufficient guards for all his vulnerable points, and had contingency plans for the loss or reinforcement of any given point. These authors gave no hint of the staff work and staff leadership that went into creating his victories, and so the whole thing comes off like a Hollywood oversimplification for the seventh-grade-reading-level masses. Even if you leave that out, he simply wouldn't have left Dinant vulnerable or failed to build additional bridges as soon as he had riverbanks to do so, nor would the fighting have been over when the bridge was blown; when your bridge is blown, you fight the necessary battles to rebuild it. Then there's the nearly complete absence of air support at the level of wisdom Galland could have and would have brought to bear. For such an important effort, temporary airfields would have been set up in just a few hours just far enough away for security, so the whole Luftwaffe could pounce on an attack at once. And then there's the glaring question of what would happen to Mrs. and Manfred Rommel when Erwin surrendered. Meathooks all around, and he knew it, and if he were going to sacrifice his wife and son to save his men, he should have at least agonized over the choice for us.
The writing was overall weak, as well. For exampl,e guns don't "crash," they "boom," "crack," "whack," "bark," or "spit." Splitting the good guys and bad guys so obviously that you may as well have issued colored hats was sophomoric and inaccurately portrayed the men of the various services. The Panzergrenadiers never put in a showing, despite their vital importance and great power, the US forces never seemed to think clearly, even while winning, and a Jabo isn't a fighter used for ground attack, it's a fighter-bomber (Jagdbomber=Jabo). There's a difference.
I'd like my money back. More importantly, I'd like back the time I spent reading it. Sorry, guys. Better luck next time.

Rating:
Summary: Suspension of disbelief needed but enjoyable read
Review: It made a lot of sense for Hitler's assasination to be a turning point for the war and Himmler taking over afterwards. It made sense for Rommel to be given his command back and give the Allies a very hard time.

However, I had a hard time believing the Soviets so quickly coming to terms with the Nazi's. I also had a hard time believing some of the details in the combat. Everything went right for the Germans until the very end of the book and the real world doesn't work that way. I know a previous reviewer stated the end of the book didn't match what Rommel would have done, but I felt that was very believable. Rommel always took calculated risks in Africa and the Allies could never exploit them. He had to pay sometime.

Overall, it was an enjoyable read. I like AH because it can illustrate that what was seen as certain in hindsight was not necessarily a sure thing. The removal of the incompetent Hitler as military leader would have made an enormous difference, especially even earlier than the book described.

Rating:
Summary: Correction to a Previous Review
Review: I have yet to read the book, although I have it at home. My purpose now, though, is to point out a mistake that was made by th previous reviewer. He makes a small remark that tanks have no steering wheels, however, the Panzerkamfwagen VI (PzKfwg VI), more commonly known as the Tiger, actually had a steering wheel driving a power steering system.

Not to second guess the other reader, just to clear up a mistake!

Rating:
Summary: Not perfect, but still very good
Review: A few "technical" mistakes, such as SS ranks and so forth, but hey, its fiction right? This book is an alternate history of what might have happened if Hitler was killed in the bomb plot of 1944. In that it is very good. However it kills off Adm. Halsey and the Big E (USS Enterprise) too easily (Halsey would have been on the New Jersey (BB62) most likely), and it gives Himmler too much credit as an evil genius. He was evil, but a genius? Perhaps not. Overall it is a very good read and even though I have listed its short comings, they hardly show through and over all it is a very good read and enjoyable book

Rating:
Summary: Great Alternate Fiction!
Review: As a self styled world war 2 buff, I watch the history channel buy read books, and even play games related to world war 2. I'm fascinated by how the world could have been such a different place if half a dozen things would have turned out differently. This book examines a world war 2 where hitler is killed and a himmler takes over. Himmler makes some choices that if enacted in reality may have changed Germany's chances in the war. A great read throughout. I gave it 5 stars because i can't wait for a sequel.