Rating: 
Summary: One of the best by HT
Review: This book is a prelude to a 4 part series. It has characters from the Civil war as well as those from WW 1 and WW 2. It is very interesting in the respects how things play out polically. For example Mexico is known for defaulting on loans. Remember the last time the US bailed them out was a few years ago. The plans lost to the US in the cigar box were not found by the Union. Considering how reconstruction went it would not be hard to see another war. If you look at some civil war maps some actually list a mexican state as being part of the CSA. Also both the US and the CS had claims in the Arizona and New Mexico states (well before they were states) This is highly recommened.
Rating: 
Summary: TRAILED OFF AT THE END
Review: For the first 400 or so pages, "How Few Remain" flowed well -- a little difficult to follow all the different story lines, but still an entertaining and informative look at how different historical characters might have lived 20 years after the South won the the Civil War. But the last 100 pages left me feeling like I'd wasted my time, because Turtledove added them for reasons other than telling a good story.Turtledove's greatest strength lies in the accurate historical details he presents, and this novel is no exception. It rests on the points-of-view of several famous historical people, and each is obviously well-researched, realistic and interesting. Samuel Clemens' biting sarcasm comes out in his editorials and numerous banterings with fellow newsmen; Abraham Lincoln's Socialist rhetoric is extrapolated from his real speeches and writings; George Armstrong shows the same brashness that got he and his regiment killed in our history at the Battle of the Little Big Horn. However, as the book plows on, the story loses much of its freshness and begins repeating many small details. For example, Frederick Douglass' bristling over white men's disrespect in addressing him depicted something of his character and the attitudes of the time the first few times it happened. When I was reminded for the third time that "Uncle" is less than disrespectful but well below "sir", I became annoyed. I also question some of Turtledove's conclusions. I'll buy his means for giving the South the Civil War, but I'm uncertain how the North deteriorated so rapidly in 20 years. The North could not even manage a single victory in this second war, despite having greater manpower and more manufacturing capabilities. Does bad leadership really equate to such a lopsided victory? The U.S. had inferior leadership in the real Civil War, and it still slugged out a victory after four years. Had I reviewed this book shortly after I began it, it would have gotten five stars, and superlatives such as "Outstanding!" and "Terrific!". But because I slugged through the whole thing, it left a bad taste in my mouth at the end.
Rating: 
Summary: A fascinating Franco-Prussianlike war... set in America
Review: Because I'm not an American but a European (Dutch) books, films etc. about the American Civil War don't interest me as much as they probably do most Americans. But I've always been interested in history and in science fiction... and since the beginning of the 1990s in alternate history. I read this novel some time after I read "The Great War: American Front". THAT one got me interested, and I looked for and found "How Few Remain". Yes, what would have happened if the South had won the war in stead of the North? In "How Few Remain", Harry Turtledove (HT) makes them doing this by not making a silly mistake, and then winning the war in the first year. Both sides are relatively unharmed by the war. But the CSA is now an independent country, recognized by Britain and France. Slavery goes on, and the USA is suddendly surrounded by potential enemies. Twenty years after the second American war of independence, the CSA manages to buy 2 Mexican provinces because the Mexican Empire is in need for money and can spare some of its territory (like it always has been...) The USA gets mad because they would have liked Sonora and Chihuawua for themselves and because it's the CSA who gets them. The USA decides to start a war against their former countrymen. They expect a short war and victory, followed by the occupation of the rebel states, and thus bringing them back into the USA. The CSA does not want war, and succeeds in keeping and holding the position of the underdog in the eyes outside the continent. Unfortunately, the civilian and military leaders in the USA are not as competent as their counterparts in the CSA. It does not matter much that the 'damnyankees' have twice the men the 'rebs' have or that they have a much bigger industry... what does matter is that both sides now have breech-loaded firearms, and that the French and the entire Brittish Commonwealth (including Canada!) are now the allies of the CSA. Both the USA as the CSA will have a high price to pay at the end of this war... There are a couple of things that I liked in this book, for example HT's use of really existing historical figures: Abraham Lincoln is not dead but lives on (as a scapegoat); George Custer lives on but still has no knowledge of military tactics; German military attache Von Schlieffen gets ideas how to win a war against France; Theodore 'Teddy' Roosevelt goes to war much sooner in life; 'Stonewall' Jackson is an important CS general, whereas several US generals who reached high places in our own universe are now quite unimportant; George Samuel Clemens (better known as...)is almost getting killed during a British naval attack. I also like HT's use of irony, like giving Custer a couple of Gatling guns to crush an enemy attack that without those 'hellish contraptions' most certainly would have succeeded, and putting Lincoln behind bars for speaking in public, spouting communist propaganda. These are the things you HAVE to do when you write an alternate history novel: changing and twisting people and events into something they never were, something they coulnd't have been in our world, but got a chance for in this world. I have to admit I don't know a lot of people in this novel, simply for the fact that yes, they are important figures in American history and culture, but outside the US they are hardly known - even though I am a history buff. Longstreet? Who was that? The reporters interviewing Roosevelt, and Clemens's fellow newspapermen? Zip. (Jack London? Oh, him...) CSA officer Stuart? Was that a historical figure or did HT invent him for the purpose of the book? What I did not like in the novel was the lack of enough references in place and time. Besides being a history buff I am also a map freak. I don't mind a lot of different fronts and matching casts every six pages, but I do mind the single two-page map HT gives in the beginning of the novel - remember my European background? I simply don't KNOW all these litle towns. And what is the exact time of the events through the days, the weeks, the months? But still, "How Few Remain" is a fascinating novel. I am now hooked onto Turtledove's "The Great War" series. I wonder who will win...
Rating:
Summary: Great Prelude For The Coming World War Series!
Review: I found this book to be an excellent read, I cannot understand why so many people rated it so low! The book encompasses a wide range of characters and settings, ranging from a disgraced Abraham Lincoln to a triumphant Stonewall Jackson, victorious Confederate general of the 1st American Civil War. The book is set against the plausible background of a humbled United States, which has elected a 2nd Republican President, who is determined to put the seceded Confederate States in its place. He, President Blaine, would be thwarted in this goal by the intervention of Great Britain and France, in a war where the United States would find itself badly outmatched! The seeds for future US-vengeance on the Confederacy and her allies are been sown in this book, however, with the strengthening of US ties with Imperial Germany. As one of the prominent characters in this book is the German military attache, Von Schlieffen. We are also treated to such characters as a 22-year old Theodore Roosevelt and an unscalped Colonel Custer. All in all, a great read and is an excellent preview for the Great War Series!
Rating:
Summary: a whole lot of nothing
Review: I was eager to read this book but soon found that it was going to be a long, slow war. Not that the result was unexpected, but nothing really happens in this book. Only the ending produced excitement. It was not as good as most of his other books, but it was an excellent setup for the Great War.
Rating:
Summary: Turtledove's best
Review: Harry Turtledove's first Civil War alternate history, GUNS OF THE SOUTH, was more fantasy than true AH. Its premise was a time machine that only allowed one to go back in history exactly 150 years. A group of disgruntled Afrikaners went back in time to equip Robert E. Lee's troops with AK-47s. Yeah, right. In contrast, HOW FEW REMAIN is true AH-blessed with a far more plausible premise. The prologue is set in 1862, setting out the back-story: Lee's plans for the 1862 invasion of Pennsylvania do not fall into Union hands. As such, Lee is able to fight a campaign of maneuver that culminates in a major victory at New Cumberland, Pa. After which, Britain and France intervene, forcing the Union to grudgingly accept a negotiated peace. The main story picks up in 1881. In the peace settlement, the Confederacy picked up not only their core states but also Kentucky and the Indian Territory (Oklahoma). Yet, the CSA lacks access to the Pacific. To solve that problem, CSA President Longstreet has negotiated a purchase of Chihuahua and Sonora from the Empire of Mexico. The USA, which is spoiling for a rematch, decides to treat that purchase as a casus belli. HOW FEW REMAIN is the story of the war that follows-the Second War Between the States. (My American History teacher back home in Virginia would have called it the Second War of Northern Aggression.) As usual with Turtledove, there are a vast number of sub-plots to keep track of, but the book is replete with nice touches that strike me as plausible: **The CSA had absorbed Cuba, a longstanding goal of the southern states before the Civil War. **An embittered Abraham Lincoln still leads the radical wing of the Republican Party, but has begun flirting with socialism. **President Longstreet-after the Civil War Longstreet became active in Republican politics (of all things). the idea that he would become the CSA's president is thus plausible, as is his pragmatic views of race. **Longstreet decides the CSA must free its slaves so as to ensure British and French support. In the real civil war, popular abolitionist sentiment was a major factor in those power's failure to intervene (especially true of Britain). **Teddy Roosevelt raises a volunteer regiment to fight the Anglo-Canadians. Just as he raised the Rough Riders in the Spanish-American war. **The immigrant industrial proletariat of a more embittered and economically impoverished USA prove more receptive to socialism than did US workers in our time-line. **German military attache Alfred von Schlieffen sees in Lee's 1862 campaign the model for what becomes Imperial Germany's Schlieffen plan for the invasion of France...a sweeping hook around your main target to cut it off and defeat the foe's army in the field. (Norman Schwartzkopf used the same strategy in the Gulf war.) If there are flaws with this book, they are few: (1) One sub-plot focuses on Sam Clemens as a San Francisco newspaper editor. This proves a slightly hackneyed plot contrivance designed to let Turtledove give us the big picture. Yet, the absence of such a big picture plot line is one of the major flaws of the subsequent GREAT WAR tetralogy. (2) I wish Turtledove would stop writing sex scenes-Turtledove is not a great writer in general, but his sex scenes are especially awful. Yuck! In sum, very highly recommended. HOW FEW REMAIN is not a sequel to GUNS OF THE SOUTH-they take place in different universes. Instead, it is a prequel to the GREAT WAR tetralogy. It also is superior to both: tighter written, more tautly paced, with better characterizations.
Rating:
Summary: Pretty cool...
Review: This was my second try at a Turtledove novel. The first one that I read, Worldwar: In the Balance, was a little stale, although Tilting the Balance was a whole lot better. However, How Few Remain was a great speculative history novel. I was a little wary at first from all of the less-than-stellar reviews here on amazon.com, but I came up with my own conclusions. I found it interesting that every main character was a real historical figure (Schlieffen, Jackson, Stuart, Lincoln, etc.) although I had a hell of a time searching for pictures of these people so I can visualize them properly. The story itself was a little odd, though. The United States President declaring war on the Confederacy simply because they got some new territories. What business of it was James G. Blaines what Pres. Longstreet did with his country? And William Rosecrans, an inept commander removed from his post during the real Civil War, as U.S. general-in-chief? Not likely. Plus, Teddy Roosevelt's Unauthorized Regiment was a tad unbelievable. All of a sudden, this kid has an idea to build a cavalry regiment and--poof!-- with a snap of his fingers he has one. Still, these did not take away from the story all that much. The writing here was pretty good, better than In the Balance. Some of the Jeb Stuart dealings with Geronimo were funny at times, while exciting at other times. As were the Sam Clemens stuff. I especially enjoyed the parts involving Frederick Douglass and the ones with Schlieffen. In short, I really liked How Few Remain and am looking forward to the Great War books.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting, but too long
Review: This was my first exposure to Harry Turtledove, and overall it wasn't a bad one. Some of the characters are cliches, but I did enjoy his conjecture of Lincoln. However, this book, as all others of Mr. Turtledove's novels I have read, suffers from overkill--he could have left out at least a third of it without harming the story at all. Still, I'd recommend it, particularly to readers who enjoy lighter historical novels.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting premise
Review: Mr Turtledove managed to keep me interested until the end. The "What If" concept is always a dangerous tool, but he pulled it off again. It's interesting to see such characters as Abe Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt and others in this new setting: a second civil war. It never happened, but this is as close as you will come...
Rating:
Summary: Something More Believable
Review: After having read The Guns of the South I was ready for an alternate timeline story that was based more on the extrapolation of facts than fantasy. How Few Remain fit the bill. The story takes the reader into a world where the Confederacy has won the Civil War through battle rather than with assistance from time travellers. The characters are people we are all familiar with; Stonewall Jackson, Teddy Roosevelt and George Custer to name a few. There characterizations are right on the mark. Mr. Turtledove did his homework. It is however easy to become cofused. There are several stories the reader needs to keep track of, and you almost need to take notes to keep track of what side some characters are on. Bottom line: A good read, that takes a, what if...? approach.
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