Alternate Gettysburgs

Rating:
Summary: What might have happened on Cemetery Hill ?
Review: Counterfactual history, often poohed by academicians, is a popular topic for story - tellers, and the American Civil War one of the popular historic topics for writers of all specializations. And what is more popular then speculating, what might have happened, if alternate decisions during Gettysburg Campaign had produced a different outcome ? How might a different the outcome have affected American history, or even the fate of the world, if the South had been victorious in these crucial three days in summer 1863 ? Or what else could have happened in the rolling hills of Pennsylvania ?

The editors have charged a dozen-odd writers of different background to think and write with these questions in mind. Some of the stories stay in the realm of counterfactual history and point to the fact, that only a few different decisions or developments may well have altered the whole course of events. For anybody interested in military history, these chapters - like well known military writer Harold Coyle's "Sedwick's Charge" or Doug Allyn's Custer's First Stand - will attract attention, as well as the concluding essays, which investigate the potential for alternate developments during the Gettysburg Campaign and beyond this narrow window over the whole war.

Of the more fictional and literary stories, one explores the impact of a completely different Gettysburg Address, another one muses about the murder of Abraham Lincoln and even touch the realm of science fiction in a piece about how powerful contemporary events may interact and even change century old historic facts. This one certainly one of the best pieces of the volume, the overall quality is varying strongly from excellent reading stuff over intriguing essays on alternate history to some outright dull and uninspired texts.

All together, "Alternate Gettysburgs" is a recommendable addition to any wargamer's or civil war buff's library, a good companion for week-end trip to the Battlefield Park or just an occasional dip into what is the arguably most covered and researched conflict in human history.

Rating:
Summary: A collection of stories, both good and bad; more bad
Review: I enjoy alternate history, and the what-ifs of crucial events in history, and Gettysburg seemed a very good place to write about, and thought that this collection of short stories would be fairly good. I was somewhat erroneous. The majority of stories in this book are average, but there are a couple of really bad short stories in this book.
One of these such stories is the first story in the book: Sedgwick's Charge, written by Harold Coyle. The story is about Longstreet's decision to stop Pickett's charge, and the Union general Sedgewick then thinks he finds his chance to destroy the retreating Confederate army. But, it wasn't the concept of the story that was disappointing, but the execution and writing style of Coyle. He uses too man company names, and numbers, instead of focusing on the action that the story is trying to portray.
The rest were good premises, but a number of them had writing styles that were a bit lacking. The reason I gave this book 4-stars was because the few above-average stories in this book really make it better. Overall, it's an okay book that has a few commendable short stories in it. It also has a brief overview of the battle of Gettysburg, politics at the time, etc. in the back of the book which is quite tedious to read when you're done the stories (I think they put it into the book to take up space because they couldn't find enough writers to put stories into his book). I would suggest reading this book, but possibly skipping over the tedious parts which I mentioned, because they really detract from the book's value as something to have on your shelf.

Rating:
Summary: What if the Confederates won the Battle of Gettysburg?
Review: It is not surprising that alternative history stories about the United States are intrigued by the possibilities offered by the Civil War, or that the Battle of Gettysburg is the focal point of such speculations, or that Pickett's charge is most often considered as the pivotal moment. I remember watching war gamers playing out the Battle of Gettysburg on an immense map, and, of course, those playing the Confederates immediately took the high group on Culps Hill, Cemetery Ridge, and the Round Tops and tried to slaughter the Army of the Potomac as it arrived upon the scene. "Alternate: Gettysburgs" is an uneven collection of short stories and essays focusing on various visions of what might have been with a key change here or there.

Actually, few of the stories deal with Pickett's charge, but it is clearly the pivotal event of the battle. Harold Coyle does a reversal by having the charge abandoned and having the Federals try "Sedgwick's Charge" instead. Doug Allyn's "Custer's First Stand" has the flamboyant cavalry officer making a foolish mistake in trying to stop Jeb Stuart from attacking the Union rear during the charge. Probably the oddest story in the collection, with its combination of history and science fiction, William H. Keith, Jr.'s "In the Bubble" takes wargaming to its ultimate level. "The High-Water Mark" by Brendan DuBois tweaks history a bit to turn the Civil War into a World War. Most of the stories include afterwords from the authors explaining their points of departure from history.

Two of the stories deal with the Gettysburg Address. "The Blood of the Fallen" by James M. Reasoner has Lincoln giving a different speech at the dedication of the National Cemetery because in this alternative world his son Tad dies from his fever. I especially liked Kristine Kathryn Rusch's "Well-Chosen Words," because as a rhetorician I appreciate her point that the Gettyburg Address might be Lincoln's most famous speech but he gave another one of equal importance (both of which, I should note, are etched in marble on opposite ends of the Lincoln Memorial).

Other stories are set in the alternative future of a world in which the Confederacy won the Civil War. Simon Hawke's "A Gun for Johnny Reb," is one of the few to try and ground the alterations in something beyond wishful hoping, offering a more realistic version of Turtledove's novel "The Guns of the South." Certainly there are hits and misses throughout the book, but surely there are enough intriguing tales to make reading this book worthwhile for Civil War buffs.

Ironically, the best part of the book for me was the closing essay by William R. Fortschen, "Lee's Victory at Gettysburg...And Then What?" which throws cold water on the idea that a Confederate victory then and there would have changed the outcome of the war. Fortschen argues that a Confederate victory on the second day would have been more probable (suggesting that a 15 minute break to fill empty canteens with water would have given the Rebels enough strength to take Little Round Top and turn the Union left), but then makes a totally convincing case that the Army of Northern Virginia would never have been able to take Washington, D.C. I must admit this appeals to me because I wrote a short story once about a white supremacist who had a time machine built and was going to go back and change things so the Confederacy won the Civil War. He could only take one trip and as he sits in the time machine ready to go he has to pick the moment, but nothing he can come up with would guarantee success and so he just sits there. So, yes, I am in total agreement with Fortschen's argument. Other essays in the appendix section of "Alternate Gettysburgs" provide an overview of the battle, a look at the politics of war, and the social convictions of both sides surrounding the battle.

Alternative histories, as a general rule, seem to suffer from what I want to call historical echoes. I mean this to signify that even as an author goes off in a decidedly different direction, "real" events manage to make their way back into the tales. Thus, for example, a general will die at Gettysburg the same way he did a year later, or a fictional presidential assassination will be eerily similar to a historical one. Ironically, then, the best alternative histories are those that are able to truly break free of what really happened and indulge themselves in fanciful flights of "what if."

Rating:
Summary: Interesting collection of short stories
Review: This book of short stories explores Gettysburg from a fictional standpoint. For example, one story asks "what would have happened if Longstreet called off Picket's charge and then, sensing an opportunity, Union General Sedgewick mounted an attack?" The stories range from total flights of fancy to more subtle alternate outcomes. Interestingly, not all altenative outcomes are of a Confederate victory. There are some stories that examine what would have happened if the Union victory had been more decisive, i.e., if Meade had pursued the retreating Lee and destroyed Lee's army.

Two stories look at Lincoln's Gettysburg address. One of the stories looks at what would have been the implications if Lincoln had given a very different speech than the one he actually delivered and the other looks at the speech from the perspective of a Union victory so decisive that the war was virtualy ended.

There are a couple of futuristic stories. One takes place in the future in a South that is separate from the United States and has draconian racial codes. In this story a boxing bout takes place between a black fighter and a white one. The other futuristic story is about battle simulators, who, through incredibly realistic technology, do virtual recreations. The book concludes with an appendix of several essays. All in all, though somewaht uneven, this is an interesting book for Civil War enthusiasts