The Guns of the South

Rating:
Summary: Fun Read
Review: "The Guns of the South" opens up in 1864, some time after the battle of Gettysburg. It seems only a matter of time before the ragtag Confederate army is defeated and the Union restored. It is under these desperate circumstances that a mysterious man approaches General Lee with an offer he can't refuse.

This intriguing blend of historical fiction and science fiction offers a little of everything and moreover is a relatively realistic account of what *might* have happened if you accept the device the author uses to change things. As someone who has studied history, I was delighted to see the inclusion of a lot of real-life political figures of the time, especially later on in the book. You don't need to be a history buff to enjoy this one, though -- it stands on it's own. As long as you have a basic idea of what the Civil War was about, you'll be able to understand it just fine and you might even learn something.

This is in some ways a lot better than regular historical fiction because the outcome of things is in doubt. I was also pleased to see that the war itself only extends for 150 pages or so and a lot of the book actually deals with the consequences of what happened. Even history related books and historical fiction books often fall short in explaining what actually *did* happen after that point, so I was pleased to see that the book dealt with the alternate history in detail.

Rating:
Summary: A clever twist in historical fiction
Review: I was first recommended to read this, by a fellow Civil War enthusiast, and I wasn't dissapointed. Harry Turtledove does an excellent job in twisting the tail of history by allowing time travellers of the future to go back into U.S. History and show up in the middle of the Civil War. It is interesting to read how Turtledove lets these time travellers affect history by allowing the introduction of the AK-47 to Confederate troops, knowing how the Union Army will react in a certain battle due to knowing the outcome. Turtledove also writes about what could happen to the south if they had won the Civil War, and he did a pretty good job of events.

The main characters in this novel are interesting and his portrayal of historical figures are fairly accurate. In the novel, the time travellers definitely have a ulterior motive and it is really captivating to see who they actually are and what they want. Overall this is an excellent read.

Rating:
Summary: Great alternative history
Review: This was my first Harry Turtledove book. The dust jacket says it all. Mysterious strangers arrive when things look bleakest for the South and hand over a bunch of AK-47s. Instantly, the war turns. There are lots of great scenes including the fall of Washington and Lee's inauguration as 2nd president of the Confederate States.

There is little science in the science fictoin but it doesn't matter. The main thing is the "what if" the South were to prevail. I found Lee to be an especially well drawn character, even if his thoughts and actions seemed contrary to what I remember being taught in my damnyankee education.

The book ends shortly after the end of the war, and I found myself wanting a sequel that would tell me what happened in the subsequent years. But apparently this is not to be, at least from Turtledove. All in all, a great and quick read that I highly recommend.

Rating:
Summary: Delves deep and successfully
Review: Despite what Greg writes, this book is a 5 star effort. I'll admit, after reading many historical novels, this is my first 'alternative' history. If I didn't know the real outcome of the war, I would believe the South won based on this well researched and totally readable book. I thought the slow parts were the first 100 pages when the battles of The Wilderness and the fighting around and in Washington took place. I had read that women played a part in many battles of the War but to read about it and have it made so real was fascinating. I liked the details and can picture a victorious Lee mounting the steps to the Confederate White House to meet with Davis (I've been there so it's real easy). Who among us would doubt that Lee would become the President of the new nation. To read about Jackson and the other Southern heroes who lost their lives from '61 to '65 continuing on was a pleasure.
Without a doubt other Turtledove novels will join the line of books waiting to be read.

Rating:
Summary: Almost all sci-fi looks at the future. Almost all...
Review: Time travel, as absurd and unlikely a concept that it is, has long enamored science fiction fans. Witness the incredible box-office returns of the "Back to the Future" and "Terminator" films -- movies about as far apart in overall audience appeal as one can get, yet both dealing with the same basic premise. Most of the genre deals with the potential paradoxes involved, and a few (David Gerrold's "The Man Who Folded Himself" springs to mind) investigate the logistical issues. Yet Turtledove takes a completely different approach: Who cares about Paradoxes, if you had a time machine, what would you do with it? If you could change history, what even would you alter?

For a renegade band of South African mercenaries, the answer is easy: Change the outcome of the Civil War. At risk of dating myself, I remember a long-ago Saturday Nigh Live sketch in which Napolean was given a B52. Absurdist comedy, nothing more. Yet the intriguing cover of this book shows Robert E. Lee holding an AK-47. What if, indeed?

The mechanics of the time machine are not investigated, nor should they be, as this is a historical novel as opposed to a sci-fi novel. I find it more akin to "Killer Angels" than anything by, say, Arthur Clarke. Instead we are given an in-depth look at Lee, plus a schoolteacher-turned-first seargent from North Carolina, as they both watch the Civil War unfold in a manner completely different from what you and I were taught in history class.

Turtledove's eye for detail is, as always, keen; after reading the first chapter, the reader could probably pick up, load, and fire an AK47. We meet characters from the 47th North Carolina, and spend a winter and a few battles with them. We see first hand how women and blacks are integrated -- or rather, NOT integrated -- into the southern society, not out of any particular hostility by the white men who run the south, but more as an extension of tradition. It is difficult to read about Nate Caudell, a poor schoolteacher who is without a doubt the most learned man in his community (but one who uses the "n-word" with familiarity) and not have him shatter the image of the backwoods racist redneck (not to worry, there are plenty of those as well).

Turtledove completely avoids the paradox issue; we assume that the Afrikanners are building a new world that will evolve from 1864, not changing their own planet Earth of 2014. But even early on, I felt a bit of a chill, as an obscure colonel named Rutherford Hayes is casually mentioned to have perished in a battle. Should the South Africans gather their automatic weapons and retreat into the future, the world has already been irrevocably changed (especially for me; Hayes is (was) a distant relative. And my great-great grandfather was wounded at Petersburg, a battle that never happens in Turtledove's world. Can I be reading this if I don't exist?).

Quite possibly the perfect airplane book, "The Guns of the South" strikes a balance between being thought-provoking and entertaining.

Rating:
Summary: Superbly written, and a surprising dose of social conscience
Review: Unlike Turtledove's other novels, which are sometimes bogged down by the sheer magnitude (and questionable importance) of their ensemble casts, Guns of the South has a smaller number of characters and develops their personalities carefully; the historical figures are realistic in their new motivations in the AK-47-equipped South (Lee in particular is expertly handled and immensely likable). The fictional characters are also enjoyable; some may quibble at the perhaps one-sided nature of the time-travelers, but I wasn't bothered by it; there are certainly people in today's society who behave in such a manner. The most unexpected thing about Guns of the South, however, is its profound ambition at addressing in a competent manner the core issues of the Civil War, i.e. the condition and quandries of that "peculiar institution." Oh yeah, and there's plenty of action in the book's 500 or so pages, so even if you're not really interested in the Civil War to a huge degree you should still find plenty to enjoy. This wasn't the case with me, however: I'm a fan of the period and a sucker for sci-fi dealing with time travel, and the two concepts combined into a tale of alternate history was a perfect combination. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining but unrealistic
Review: For the "master of alternate history," you would expect Turtledove to come up with something better than AK-47s arriving at his front tent flap. And, granted, he does, with "How Few Remain," but that doesn't make this book any better.

It was an entertaining book and I managed to get through it fairly fast, but it wasn't as enjoyable as it could have been. The romance wasn't what I was would call junior high, but I'm thankful that the story didn't touch on it any more than it did. Robert E. Lee wasn't Robert E. Lee in the story. He was more Northern in ideals but he was also more Northern in the way he acted as compared to others in the South, and the way that Turtledove portrays him he acted like a mulatto from Mississippi who was lucky enough to get the right skin color, whereas Marshall spoke in language that was more reminiscint of a New Englander.

The premise of the story, however, is what irked me most of all. It really did seem like Turtledove wanted to write about the South winning the Civil War, but cared more about researching regimental history than finding a reasonable vehicle with which the South could have won. A similar plot could have developed had Britain or France simply come to their aid, and yet it was South Africa come from 2014 who were fed up with their kaffirs.

I've read How Few Remain and the World at War series up to book 4, and all were infinitely better than Guns of the South. To say that Guns of the South is Turtledove's greatest achievement is like saying the South was made up of a bunch of fire-eating abolitionists.

Rating:
Summary: Exciting alternate history
Review: In 1864, the south is in desperate straits as the north finally selects active generals and begins to push its final offensive. But strange merchants arrive with a deal for the Confederacy. They offer a new gun, the AK-47, for a price of only $50 Confederate, and can make hundreds of thousands available. Automatic weaponry can hardly help making a huge difference and Grant's Wilderness campaign, far from a costly stalemate, becomes a huge Confederate victory with Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia smashing straight through to Washington D.C. The merchants have an ulterior motive, however. They are an extremist racist group of Afrikaners (the AWB) from our own near-future who intend to use the south as a launch pad for their own war against rights for the African American and for blacks everywhere.

Once the Confederacy's existance is confirmed, the south becomes convulsed between Robert E. Lee who fears the Afrikaners, and General Forest, who buys into their racist doctrine. With South-African gold, modern weapons, and modern political methods, the AWB intends to ensure that the nation they preserved takes their path--no matter what they need to do.

Author Harry Turtledove narrates this fascinating alternate history through the eyes of Robert E. Lee and Sergeant Nate Caudell of the 47th North Carolina. Caudell seems caught up in most of the action--from Wilderness to Washington D.C. to the battle against AWB in their heartland, giving a close-up look at how a rapid-fire weapon could have transformed war (as indeed it has). Turtledove's Lee is a gentleman, but also a thinker who sees that the southern stand on race is wrong and destructive to the nation he has adopted, but who still carries the casual racism of his time.

THE GUNS OF THE SOUTH makes for fascinating reading. Many of Turtledove's later works adapt devices he develops here, in a setting of interest to most U.S. readers. The explicit racism of many of the characters will make some readers uncomfortable, but it is certainly an accurate reflection of the times. Some readers may also question whether AWB would do so much for the Confederacy without a more explicit promise to support its causes in the future, and wonder why it chose the southern states rather than the Boer colonies for their support, but this doesn't detract from the reader's enjoyment.

Rating:
Summary: A fun read...
Review: This book is simply fun reading of an alternate history during the American Civil War. The Confederates are provided with AK-47's from a terrorist group called "America Will Break" that arrives from the future (2014).

A silly plot, but a fun one anyhow.

Obviously, it isn't an accurate portray of history, but its still fun to read. My only complaint would be that some of the political undertones were a little stretched and dragged out.

If you want to read a more realistic fictional novel that takes place during the ACW, check out "Corporal Si Klegg and His Pard".

Rating:
Summary: I bought this used for $1.79 and harbor enormous regret
Review: I'm a guy who likes to finish every book I start -- even if it's a paintful process. Just get it done -- who knows, it might be better and in the end I'll probably be a better person for it. This personal code has kept me going through a lot of less-than-stellar reads. It's probably not the most productive personal philosophy to have (it results in finishing a lot of what should go unfinished and a lot of time wasted, no doubt), but there it is.

I picked up Guns of the South at a used bookstore in Madison, WI. I was very excited. Having spent the last 2 years in Washington, DC at the time, I had made it a weekend practice to go around to the various Civil War sites (Gettysburg, Antietam, Spotsylvania, you name it) and really digging into the history. I had started (and finished) many books on the Civil War. Guns of the South was to be my first alternative history of the era. It has a terrifically stimulating premise -- give the technological advantage to the South and study the results.

I imagined an all-nighter.

Now, here it is 9 months and 200 pages (out of 510) later and I have just destroyed my copy of the Guns of the South. Because of my inane personal code about finishing everything I start, I couldn't bear to have it sitting around the flat (I've moved to London since I started this book) unread. The only way to come to peace with myself was to destroy the object of my fixation. It has come to this (I'm not kidding): I had to burn my copy in the fireplace.

Guns of the South is enormously disappointing on every level. The prose is mindnumbingly contrived. There is a romantic subplot which reads like a junior high creative writing entry by a lovestruck adolescent. The moralistic tone it adopts toward slavery is so saccharine it is impossible to properly empathize with the good guys. There is virtually zero time devoted to the actual impact of the Uzi on the war. It comes up every now and then and the reader is reminded in the midst of another stupefying conversation between R.E. Lee and J. Davis that, oh yeah, we've got Uzis, but really, this is good lemonade, Jeff Davis.