Rating: 
Summary: An excellent alternate history book
Review: Anyone who wishes to write time travel fiction or alternate history should be required to read this book as part of their homework.Harry deals wonderfully with the problems of ethics that pop up when dealing with the paradoxes of time travel.
Rating: 
Summary: Makes history seem like it's happening now
Review: Good alternative history is thought-provoking & educational. This brings the Confederacy to life: backward institutions like slavery are put in context, as for example in ancient Rome. Robert E. Lee's character is developed well. The 47th NC are convincing, though their language jars our modern sensibilities. An excellent & entertaining work.
Rating:
Summary: Well thought out
Review: Turtedove's interpretation of what might have happened had the Conferderacy won the war is a very interesting, well thought out and plausible scenario, and his versions of post-war politics in both the North and the South are very believable. As a reader who does not usually enjoy science fiction, I was pleasantly surprise with this book, perhaps because Turtledove used the idea of time travel incedentally in order to set a scenario in which he could explore the bigger questions of a Southern victory and the "what-ifs" that would ultimately follow. The author showed a great deal of knowledge about the war and its participants, making this book very enjoyable "semi" historical fiction. I would highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in the Civil War.
Rating:
Summary: A Smitty Review..A Night Stand Book..
Review: I read this at my Mother-In-Law's funeral..hay.. it's a good book. With a name like Turtledove, you had better write good, or starve. It's about 5 books in one, just when you think, 'what a great ending' he kicks in with another great idea. Boy, the South could have used a guy like Lee, or Harry.
Rating:
Summary: The Ultimate What if...
Review: I didn't think I would like this at first because of the fact that it was not a true what if.. novel like Stars and Stripes Forever by Harry Harrison. But, after I while of reading it it sort of grows on you
Rating:
Summary: Great Book.
Review: This book was great. I was at scout camp when I read it and I had the whole troop sitting around listening to me (they liked it to). I dont really like the idea of the south winning.
Rating:
Summary: Why the war wasn't just about slavery, it was about rights
Review: Too many continue to think that the Civil War was only about slavery. That to define the Confederacy all you had to do was say that the South wanted to keep their slaves more than anything. Turtledove has shown great insight in illustrating that slavery was nothing more than the current economic way of doing things. Historically, slavery is amoral. As civilization advances it leaves things like slavery behind. The Confederacy's real foundation was States' Rights. The right to define one's own self image and self determination.This is the first "alternative history" book I've ever read. Hopefully any future books will be as well researched and presented in such a distinguished manner. Needless to say, I look forward to my next Turtledove novel.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent "what-if?"
Review: The novel is well written and very well thought out. The concept is brilliant and I recommend this book and Harry Turtledove to any one interested in history, especially Civil War history.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful story. A great subject for Hollywood to explore!
Review: I read Guns of the South the first time four years ago and just finished re-reading it and found it to be just as enjoyable as the first time (although a little hard on my work productivity what with 2 hour lunches spent to read the thing). As a self-confessed history buff, as well as a native Southerner living in a region rich in Civil War history (Atlanta/North Georgia area), I found the story very plausible, once get get by the time travel aspect. I've noticed that some of SciFi fans give it low ratings, perhaps because they are first and foremost fans of Turtledove's SciFi stories. However, I think that they miss the point and that may be because, being into science fiction, perhaps they are uninterested or ignorant of history. Considering the amount of Civil War history I have read and viewed, battlegrounds visited, etc., I find Turtledove 's grasp of events and characters to be impressive. He captures all of the details of living in eighteenth century America, particularly in the rural South. The foods, customs, housing, contemporary technology, the Victorian speech patterns of the educated are very convincing. I especially liked the way he captures the innocence, simple unselfconcious valor, casual rough good humor, and speach of camp life of the boys of both sides. Having been in war myself, I also find the battle scenes disturbingly, but convincingly real. Lastly, his portrayal of major characters, particularly Robert E. Lee lead me to beleive that he researched them extensively. I think he captures the quiet, honorable, dignified, duty-bound character of Lee as well as any that I have read. Had history have turned out with Lee as President of the CSA, I don't doubt that he would have been at odds with many fellow Southerners over slavery and that the end of Southern slavery would have happened as in the book. I hope Hollywood will make a movie of Guns of the South and won't be afraid of the initial potential controversy of such a seemingly "un-politically correct" theme.
Rating:
Summary: EXCELLENT CIVIL WAR ALTERNATE REALITY!!!!!!!!
Review: I never knew much about Harry Turtledove until my cousin passed this book on to me. I was immediately hooked by the cover image of General Lee holding an uzi. I must say that I very much enjoyed this 'what if' type of history. All the characters were well written and the events were obviously well studied before being included in the novel. I highly recommend this book to civil war buffs as well as sci-fi fans. This would make an excellent movie. I hope someone in Hollywood has read Turtledove and is considering a movie.
| 
