Rating: 
Summary: Alternate history of the best caliber
Review: Being a masters' candidate focusing on the Civil War, I approached this book with wariness. Alternate history is a difficult genera to do well; there are no end of terrible titles in stores right now. But I am a big fan of Turtledove's books, so I gave it a shot, and was not in the least disappointed. In egghead-speak, these sorts of things are called "counter-factual hypotheses", and it's a legitamite way of studying history: change a variable, and what happens? Turtledove has a very, very good grasp of the real history of the War, including the most important facet of historiography, the mindsets of the principal players. Bob Lee was one of America's last truly great generals, and Turtledove has his character nailed down cold. An excellent read, well done in fact and fiction.
Rating:
Summary: Great story
Review: This is a great and a very interesting story. It's one of the best I read, but the end is not quite as good as the beginning.
Rating: 
Summary: A great story, great character development
Review: I just finished this book last night. I do believe that Harry Turtledove has a great novel and researched the Civil War extensively. He portrays people such as Robert E. Lee with great accuracy and develops the character well in the events. For some who believe that for book that lets the Confederacy win is radical, and White-supremesist, I would think again. The author gives great reasons why slavery is obsolete, unjust, and immoral. I myself am Black and I found it one of the most anti-slavery work of fiction ever.However, I am displeased about how Harry Turtledove portrays the Confederate Cavalry Lieutinet General Nathan Bedford Forrest. Forrest is nothing short of a military genius. It is folklore that he is the racist that founded the radical Ku Klux Klan. This is totally untrue. Nathan Bedford Forrest spoke under oath before a Congressional Commitee about this rumor. The commitee found Nathan Bedford Forrest had no involvement with the Ku Klux Klan. Nathan Bedford Forrest isn't much of a racist either. I Really give this book 4&1/2 stars for the above inaccuracy, but this book is such an adventure, I think I'll round it to five.
Rating:
Summary: Very well done. A Blockbuster Movie for your mind...
Review: Turtledove has done an exceptional job with this one. The characters and story line are so well placed that is seems more like you are remembering all this from a history class in high school. Confederate States of America cc:1999 hum.....
Rating: 
Summary: Don't call this science fiction
Review: This book is a lively recreation of Civil War times by a most undoubted scholar of that era. As a novel, the book struggles, most notably an attempt to get into the mind of Gen. Robert E. Lee. As sci-fi, it is a dud. South African white supremacists build a time machine, go back to the Confederacy, and give them AK-47s, ammo, and freeze-dried munitions? Why not have them go back to 1776 and change the Declaration of Independence? Why not go back to WWII and give Hitler the h-bomb? I can't see that this kind of fiction gets much of anything done, from its basic presumption that reality is that changeable. There might as well be no history then. Or values. Turtledove would have done far better to have used his historical skills to have created a believable story about a genius arising in the South who created a superior weapon and changed the war's outcome. Was this not even thought of by Turtledove, or considered too hard for his talent to pull off? Either way, don't call this book sci-fi. I can't give it more than 3 stars for the above reasons.
Rating:
Summary: Great for Civil War Buffs
Review: If you're a civil war fan, this is a great book for you. Not only does it examine the novelty of time travel to help the South win the Civil War, it also examines the consequences of these actions. It's more than just a could've been book. It's a real personal examination of the lives and attitudes of those involved. A good read for anyone, but an excellent read for American History fans.
Rating:
Summary: I thought it was great
Review: I thought this book was excellent. You get to know many of the characters and can see what they go through in the civil war. Even though it is totally fictitious, it is still very realistic. I highly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Very interesting and fun to read
Review: I thought this was an outstanding book. It was more first experience with alt history and I loved it. I first found the premise of the south winning the war horrifying however the author descriptions of what happened after the war are terrific. I could have done without the love theme. Otherwise a great book.
Rating:
Summary: Iffy
Review: Long on dialogue and short on narrative, Turtledove's style leaves much to be desired. In the end, this book is relegated to the category of "great idea, weak story" in which so many alternate history/science fiction novels find themselves. However, Turtledove's obvious love of history makes the characters of the novel memorable and endearing. A student of the Civil War will thoroughly enjoy this novel, but the lay reader will struggle with the historical ironies at the heart of the story.
Rating:
Summary: High schoolers Like it too!
Review: While only a sophomore at the time I read the book last year, and not really being much of a history buff, I couldn't put this book down at night. I don't know a whole lot about the Civil War, I admit, but nearly every minute I was reading this book I was simply amazed and intrigued at the concept let alone the outcome. Reading it, I didn't know what to expect, and what happened in the end was certainly not what I expected. Something that interested me very much was the storyline after the war had ended. The ideas that Mr. Turtledove thought of were not only incredibly in-depth and imaginative, but amazingly accurate to what I, a sophomore in high school, might think would really have happened if the outcome of the Civil War was something like this. This book is not only for history lovers, but for people who love to think of what the past would be like if it had occurred differently. Being this type of person, as well as someone interested in science fiction, I couldn't have found a better book. It made me wonder even more about a little fantasy I have about showing someone like Ben Franklin the technology of today. My thanks to Mr. Turtledove for such a perfectly excellent novel that someone like myself could enjoy. Marc D. Biedermann
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