Rating: 
Summary: Stars and Gripes Triumphant
Review: Stars and Stripes Triumphant was a weak, brief, and very predictable conclusion to an otherwise great series. Harry Harrison may have bitten off more than he could chew, technologically, for the military innovations were fairly limited. I know I was waiting for the submarine that never surfaced. While it was satisfying to see the histrionic and arrogant British aristocracy get their decidedly un-Ambersonlike comeuppance, it was oh-so-expected.
The book suffered from failure to further develop (or even use) most of the main characters from the previous two books. New characters also could have used a quick personality and body-building session, especially Gladstone and Disraeli.
The book was disappointingly short; there was plenty of room for all that was lacking.
Fans of the series will need to read the book, just for closure's sake. But wait for the paperback.
Rating: 
Summary: strong alternate history
Review: The American Civil War is cut short when England invaded the split United States causing the South to rejoin with the North into one nation again to successfully repel the enemy. England attacks again, this time through Mexico. To get the British troops off American soil, the United States invades Ireland, forcing the English troops to return home and fight in Ireland. The British troops were no match for the Americans and Ireland became a free nation, independent of Great Britain once and for all. England is now a brooding giant harassing American shipping that sell cotton to Germany and France. The Irish in England, men, women and children are rounded up and put in concentration camps. Through intelligence reports, it becomes apparent that it is only matter of time before hostilities strike up again. Generals Sherman and Grant devise a first strike invasion force to invade and conquer England, something that hasn't happened since 1066. The risks are great but the rewards are a permanent peace. Harry Harrison, the master storyteller of alternate history will stir the fervor of readers as a fictitious United States manages to triumph over its most powerful enemy. In a series of detailed battle scenes, the author shows how a struggling nation can defeat a superpower (a message for modern times?). STARS & STRIPES TRIUMPHANT features real leaders of the nineteenth century including a very much alive President Lincoln. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: Good what-if scenario, weak military
Review: The uneasy peace between the United States, reunited after England foolishly attacked both parties during the American Civil War, seems destined to be shortlived and Undersecretary Fox and General Sherman take advantage of a Russian aristocrat's offer to spy on the British. Sherman comes up with a plan for invasion--a plan made possible by several wonderful inventions by John Ericsson (inventor of the Monitor in our own history). When the British push too hard on America, trying to forbid cotton exports to France and Germany, and refuse to stop raiding the newly independent Irish, Abraham Lincoln unleashes the U.S. army under Generals Sherman, Lee, and Grant. The best alternate history takes a single decision and reverses it. In the STARS & STRIPES series, author Harry Harrison reverses the British decision not to intervene in the American Civil War, together with the monsterous mistake of attacking both sides. That the two sides could have come together if attacked by a common foe is not beyond conception and makes for an interesting historical alternative. The first half of this novel consists of Sherman's spying venture. Harrison's writing is tight and he throws in enough danger to keep the reader fascinated. The largely militaristic second half is somewhat less interesting depending as it does on Ericsson's invention of the internal combustion engine, the decision to use this engine to drive tanks through England, and on completely ineffectual resistance on the part of the British. Sadly, the British use of concentration camps to hold their possibly disloyal Irish workers sounds possible given the historic contempt that the English held for their Irish cousins. Am I the only one who finds disturbing parallels with current (2003) political discussions and decisions on going to war. Intentional or not, I think that STARS & STRIPES holds some interesting lessons and thoughts for today's world.
Rating: 
Summary: Terrible read.
Review: This is undoubtedly one of the worst books I've ever read. The characters are wooden,the plot is predictable, but the ending is a blessing since I don't think I could have finished reading this pro-American drivel if it had been 100 pages longer. That being said, the sheer arrogance of the story line draws considerable parallels with current events in Iraq with the roles reversed. It's bad enough to be a cult classic akin to "Surf nazis must die!", if only books could be like cult films. I expected better from an author whose other books I've enjoyed.
Rating:
Summary: Terrible read.
Review: This is undoubtedly one of the worst books I've ever read. The characters are wooden,the plot is predictable, but the ending is a blessing since I don't think I could have finished reading this pro-American drivel if it had been 100 pages longer. That being said, the sheer arrogance of the story line draws considerable parallels with current events in Iraq with the roles reversed. It's bad enough to be a cult classic akin to "Surf nazis must die!", if only books could be like cult films. I expected better from an author whose other books I've enjoyed.
Rating:
Summary: Zzzzzzzzzz
Review: What a disappointing end to this trilogy. I enjoyed the first two books in this series, particularly the first, because the historical twist was quite different from other civil war alternate histories. The first part of this book starts well enough. As the climate for war builds up-with Britain harassing the newly free Ireland, interning the Irish living in Britain in concentration camps, and searching and seizing US trading ships-General Sherman, in the role of a spy, scouts out the defenses of Britain disguised as an officer on a Russian ship. In the second part of the book, as war becomes inevitable, the US launches a surprise invasion of Britain. With over half the book spent on the buildup to this conflict, I was expecting some intense and exciting battle sequences. Instead, all I could think while reading this section was that the author must hate everything associated with the British Empire. I have no problem with the British being vilified, especially by a writer living in Ireland. After all, one man's British Empire is another man's Iraq. But whatever the author's intent, by having the US wipe the floor with the British in a humiliating completely lop-sided military defeat, the story suffers. I could watch documentaries all day long on the German blitzkrieg through France, the attack on Pearl Harbor, or either of the Gulf Wars, but in a work of fiction having a weak and completely ineffective villain is just not interesting. The remaining part of this book finishes with the surrender of the remaining British military forces and the introduction of democracy to Britain. Yawn.
| 
