Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Alternate History
Review: Harry Turtledove has done it again. I thought that "How Few Remain" was just as good as his excellent "Guns of the South". I really disagree with other reviewers who thought they were boring. Turtledove excels in his use of historical detail, which amateur historians like myself enjoy. Seeing how historical people's lives turn out different makes one think how our lives would have turned out differently. To make alternate history succeed, an author has to get to the level of "suspended belief" where you can really say to yourself, "I can see how events could have turned out like this." This is where Turtledove succeeds far better than other alternate history authors. With other authors' books, once the narrative gets too implausable, the whole magic is lost. Alternate history comes alive with his characterization of ordinary folks more than just the leaders. If you like alternate history, there is no author better than Turtledove!
Rating:
Summary: More excellent alternate history
Review: Harry Turtledove is called "the master of alternate history," and for good reason. He did an excellent job rewriting the Civil War in "Guns of the South," and he does it again in "How Few Remain." He does a good job in portraying what a divided America might be like, although it would have better if the author had explained better such post Civil War events as "the Panic of '63." Nonetheless, the events that unfold in his work are excellent and painstakingly laid out; he does a good job with the interior motives and psychology of the characters, which is an important part of any work. The historical characters just seem to jump out at you with their realism. The plot is also excellent, he describes the situation very well given the players and the time period. As always, Turtledove did his homework and researched things and thought them out very well. This book is highly recommended to everyone, especially to history students and history buffs. An excellent read.
Rating:
Summary: The Second Mexican War: Too good for the History Books
Review: The Plot is exceptional!!! I was recomended the book The Guns of the South by my History Teacher and was in utter awe of the world of alternate history. I read the book in two weeks at about 20 pages a day. I was almost late for school one day because i read the book until midnight! It is amazing the way thing may of turned out if a tiny, insignifigant event as dropping a cigar box could change the course of history.
Rating: 
Summary: YAWN
Review: First of all, I would like to say this book is bad. It is so boring. If he cut out the stupid Abe Lincoln expedition in Utah and Fredrick Douglas's exploits and skipped to the slow, sketchy fighting sequences he may have just got a 3. Please don't buy it. Wait till someone decides to make a movie out of it and rent it then.
Rating: 
Summary: An enjoyable read but.....
Review: Unlike other alternate history books by science fiction novelist, Harry Turtledove, How Few Remain is most notable in that it is a "what-if" novel that comprises no element of the sf genre and instead chooses to concentrate on the concept of a Confederate victory in the war of secession and its aftermath. The real problem with this novel, as I see it, is its pace. The plotline often rambles, the dialogue between the characters much the same recycled material throughout the novel. Moreso, the course of the war (with a great majority of the book centering on a failed campaign in Louisville) is mundane and unexciting. Also, Turtledove canvases his novel with a number of characters to cover such an issue of broad scope, namely the war. However, this is done at the expense of well-developed characterisation. Characters are farely one-dimensional and often unbelievable (thinking of Teddy Roosevelt as well as General Custer shouting "By jingo!" in the heat of battle almost brings tears to the eyes). And, as for the ending of the novel, it is left with too many loose ends, an unsatisfactory conclusion especially in the case of Confederate Captain Jeb Stuart. Yet, Turtledove's novel is not the total bombshell I make out. At times it is quite engrossing, the meetings of General Jackson with President Longstreet and the San Francisco invasion are points of particulsr interest. Likewise, the German attache, von Schlieffen, is totally engagaging, with special touches added to him for history buffs to smile knowingly at. And a cynical Sam Clemens is a delight in the novel as well. In the end, this novel fails in that it strives to achieve a scope perhaps out of the range of a single book yet, at the same time, would be painfully stretched out if turned into a series. Still, when I was finished, I was glad I had read it all the same and await developments within the following Great War series.
Rating:
Summary: Bad Novel - Good Character Study
Review: "How Few Remain" is an immense disappointment following on the heels of the author's successful "World War" series, and the alternate Civil War novel, "Guns of the South". The sole purpose of this book is to set up Turtledove's alternate WWI series, "The Great War". As a result, this book's flow is artifical, forced, and unbelievable. In this alternate novel, the South won the Civil War and achieved independence, aided by France and Great Britain. The Confederate States of America (CSA) purchases an area of Northern Mexico, giving the CSA access to the Pacific Ocean. This results in the USA, which is still seething from its defeat, and the high-handed manner of the British and French, declares war on the CSA. Britain & France declare war on the USA. With the exception of a group of volunteers against a British incursion from Canada, Turtledove has a woefully unprepared USA fight the war with a stupidity almost unparalleled in human history. There is an obvious comparision to the Franco-Prussian war, but one doubts if even the French were this stupid and incompetent. Even incompetence by Union generals during our Civil War was matched by the competence and skill of other Union generals. While this book fails as a novel, it contains some wonderful character studies. Abraham Lincoln as a prophet of socialism; J.E.B. Stuart commanding camel cavlary in the western war; Frederick Douglass as a war correspondent who when captured, is interviewed by the commander of the CSA army, Stonewall Jackson; Teddy Roosevelt as the commander of volunteers who has to work with regular army Colonel George Armstrong Custer; Samuel Clemens, aka Mark Twain, as a San Francisco newspaper man who doesn't approve of this war; the president of the CSA James Longstreet; and Alfred von Schlieffen, of WWI's von Schlieeffen plan, as a German observer in the USA, who begins the formulation of a USA-German alliance. Although the character studies are enjoyable, they cannot hide the artificial feel of this book. This book is one of Turtledove's weakest efforts to date.
Rating: 
Summary: Poorly written clunker
Review: In his many books, Harry Turtledove has demonstrated himself to be a mediocre to terrible writer of fiction. He's bad at realistic dialogue, has no sense of dramatic pacing and character development, and seems intent on describing minute details while failing to convincingly depict key moments of action. In GUNS OF THE SOUTH, he did pull it off until that novel's end, which died in a whimper. In HOW FEW REMAIN, all Turtledove's serious flaws as a writer are painfully in evidence. Early in the book, Frederick Douglass is mulling in a dignified way the course of race relations, Teddy Roosevelt is acting like a 15 year-old-boy, Abraham Lincoln is wandering around with philosophical detachment, and Sam Clemens is reflecting sardonically on the human race. At the end, not much has changed. None of the characters grow or change. Much of the action is repetitious, to the point where one feels the same four chapters are simply being read over and over again. Dramatically, the book is just damned dull. It does, however, have one advantage over Turtledove's Great War and Colonization series -- it's short, so the pain doesn't last long.
Rating: 
Summary: TR meeting Lincoln? Brilliant!
Review: Turtledove's historical research and "ear" for accurate dialogue serve this book well. My first reaction to Lincoln's radical Marxist politics was disbelief- until I found phrases similar to those from the novel appearing in Lincoln's actual historical speeches. At that point I was hooked. Watching Lincoln confront a belligerent (of course!) Teddy Roosevelt sewed it up for me. A wonderfully entertaining read.
Rating:
Summary: THE U.S.A. GETS PUMMELED. AMAZING CHARACTERS ABOUND.
Review: Great stuff again from Turtledove. We have Abraham Lincoln, Samuel Clemens, Frederick Douglass, Custer, Teddy Roosevelt, and that's just on the union side. The author has the Union taking it on the chin from the Confederate's(Stonewall Jackson, Jeb Stuart, etc...)and for good measure the Royal Navy has shelled and sacked everthing from New York to San Francisco. Ouch. Lincoln, is a well versed Marxist and proud of it. Custer is quite career oriented as you may have guessed. The author must have studied these characters actual histories down to the most minute detail otherwise, no way he could write their "what it" personas so fluidly. I am hooked. Next up for me the "the American Front" the second book of this series. P.S. Don't let the negative reviews dissuade you in any way. This is worth the money.
Rating:
Summary: an excellent read
Review: I found this book to be entertaining and historically plausible. I do agree that the Union should have won more victories than they manage, but on the whole they were on the offensive against prepared positions. The international relations are well protrayed, and the book sets the scene for the American Front series in a well executed way. It would have been nice to see some more battles, from an infantrymans or warship officers' point of view. But overall In was pleased with this book.
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