Rating: 
Summary: a good premise goes awry
Review: When I studied history in college my professors told us never to play the "what if" game. Of course,such speculating was too much fun to resist. Now it seems to be a healthy subgenre of science fiction, growing in popularity. My old professors must be appalled. Harrison's foray into the genre starts from one of the "what ifs" we also used to play with : what if the British had declared war over the Trent incident. Harrison's handling of that divergence is good, and he gets much else right,especially the way 19th century people thought and spoke, but too much of the book is implausible. By having North and South reunite so quickly and enthusiastically, I fear Harrison sells short the powerful animosity between the sections. Likewise, Harrison has Jefferson Davis persuaded to give up slavery after one easy lesson in economics. Racism and memories of Nat Turner would've kept slavery going despite John Stuart Mill's best arguments. The book's other flaws: no central fictional characters for us to follow through the action. The war itself is the main character, and this is of interest primarily to military buffs. In his afterword Harrison asserts he has written what would've certainly happened given his Trent divergence. The whole point of alternate history is nothing is written in stone.
Rating: 
Summary: Highly Implausible
Review: Actually, the basic premise, the British declaring war over the Trent Affair is quite plausible. The British then invade the US from Canada.Remotely realistic scenarios end there. The British accidently attack Biloxi, MS, instead of Deer Island. When the commanders realize that they have attacked a Southern port (mistaking the First National Flag for the US flag) they decide to loot Biloxi, burn it to the ground, and rape most of the women. I suppose the gray uniforms, instead of blue ones, weren't enough to tell the British they were fighting Confederates. Biloxi is also the last battle that the British win against the Americans. So the Americans sweep through Canada and free it as the Republic of Quebec. The author doesn't even make an attempt at surprising his audience. More often than not, books which title individual chapters give them somewhat abstract names that only hint at the chapter's subject: "Councilman", "University", "Collision" (from Foundation's Edge by Isaac Asimov). Not Harrison. One chapter in Stars and Stripes is actually entitled "Washington City is Attacked!" I wonder what might happen in the next few pages. Might the British actually attack Washington city! I wonder if they'll win. Also the historical characters are paper-thin. Harrison never sticks with a main character for more than a handful of pages in the entire book. (Quite unlike Harry Turtledove who can put out well over 500 pages on just two people -- Guns of the South). The conflicts are very underdeveloped and too easily ended. For instance, not only do the CSA and USA ally against the UK; they decide to reunite entirely, and do away with slavery, even though Emancipation would not even become an issue in the Civil War until 1863. Before then the North was fighting to "Save the Union." And lter, while Davis is in a meeting with his cabinet discussing manumission, a character never mentioned before walks in and shoots him. All of the North-South problems are supposed to be solved in the end by making Judah P. Benjamins the Secretary for the South, like having a new cabinet position could cause everyone to just forget about decades of tension that had brought them to armed conflict. And lastly, as a Southerner, I was almost offended by the fact that William T. Sherman was put in command of the American forces. I realize he hadn't burned Atlanta down at this point, but any other Northern commander -- Grant, Meade, heck even McClellan or Hooker -- would have been much better.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting Idea, Poor Execution
Review: It's weird. Harrison obviously did _some_ research. So why did he not go the full length to make it accurate? There are many, many problems with the ships in the book, problems that could have easily been fixed if he had bothered to find a single good reference book. The Warrior in the book is not the same ship as in real life and would have been far more than a match for the Monitor. For that matter, the Monitor succeeds because the British are "strawmen", designed specifically to fail. I didn't take as much offense at the North and the South joining forces against Britain (when the actual Trent Affair occured, some members of Lincoln's cabinet actually thought a war with Britain might bring the two sides together), but its execution in the novel is rather hackneyed. I didn't bother with the other books in the series. I was totally turned off by this one. Go read something by Harry Turtledove if you want Civil War alternative history.
Rating: 
Summary: The most original alternate Civil War history I've read
Review: The main problem with Civil War alternate histories is that they usually find a way for the Confederacy to win; I already own two books like that, and they're written by the same author. Harrison found a way to deviate from that with a small, seemingly insignificant event from the Civil War--in this case, Price Albert dying before he could talk Queen Victoria out of retaliating after a US Navy ship took two Confederate ambassadors off a British ship--and result in a totally different outcome other than CSA endurance. While my own studies of the history of the British Empire in college made it easy to accept that the Brits' decision to take on both the Union and the Confederacy after mistaking the Stars & Bars over Mississippi for the Stars & Stripes over Maryland (an opinion of Harrison's possibly exacerbated by his living in Ireland), I had never known before that the combined forces of the Union and Confederacy were more than a match for the standing military of any European nation at the time. Light-hearted or not, accurate or otherwise, it's a good book.
Rating: 
Summary: American United Against England?
Review: Stars & Stripes Forever is the first novel in a trilogy about a Civil War that didn't quite happen. In our timeline, on November 8, 1861, the USS San Jacinto, an Union warship, stopped the Trent, a packet ship flying British colors, in the Bahama Channel and took off two Confederate diplomats, John Slidell and William Murray Mason. Since the packet ship belonged to a neutral power and the boarding occurred on the high seas or, in some views, within British colonial waters, the US warship had committed an act of war. The British public responded with a great outcry and the Queen and her ministers were infuriated. Prince Albert, however, persuaded the Queen to moderate their response and a firm, but not inflammatory, note was immediately passed to the US government and eventually the two diplomats were released. In this novel, Prince Albert tries to calm his wife but is too ill to be effective; in fact, he passes out and has to be carried to his bed. Thus, the note generated from this meeting is markedly different in tone from that of our timeline. The note is hand carried to the US Secretary of State, Sewart, with a request for an immediate answer. The US Cabinet, however, is divided on the response, but agrees to have the ambassador to Great Britain, Charles Adams, meet with Lord Palmerston to negotiate a compromise settlement. However, the British are not in the mood for compromise; Lord Palmerston has already considered withholding military supplies from the Union and is sending additional troops to Canada. Then there is a firefight between Canadian whiskey smugglers and a customs patrol that is reported to England as an invasion of Canadan territory. The British issue an ultimatum: seven days to return the Confederate prisoners and apologize for the invasion or there will be war. When the British invade from Canada, they are met by New York militia, who take heavy casualties. Additional British troops under the command of the Duke of Cambridge, Commander-in Chief of the British Army and the Queen's cousin, have been sent to the Gulf of Mexico in an attempt to take Deer Island, a Union bastion offshore from Mississippi, but miss their landing in the fog and instead attack a Confederate installation in Biloxi. Learning of the mistake, the Duke continues to push the attack in order to meet up with the Canadian invasion force, thereby splitting the country. Under intense pressure from the British, CSA General Beauregard requests an armistice from General William T. Sherman and instead is given a temporary alliance against a common enemy. Word of the unexpected attack and this cooperative response galvanizes both the North and South, leading to a ceasefire and talks of reunion. Moreover, General McClellan is hospitalized with a fever and Lincoln seizes the chance to relieve him as General of the Armies; he appoints General Sherman as his replacement. Due to his actions in Biloxi, the CSA agrees that Sherman will also be Commanding General of the Joint Armies of the Union and the Confederacy. In the meantime, a tragic fall from his horse sends a paralyzed General Ripley, Chief of Ordnance, to the hospital. His aide, General Ramsey, is chosen as his replacement and immediately initiates changes to modernize Army weapons, starting with replacement of the standard rifle with breechloaders and equipping marksmen units with the Sharps rifle. The spirit of innovation also pervades the Naval Department, leading to orders for more of Ericcson's iron ships and for Parrott's interrupted screw breechloader cannons. Formerly a mostly rural society, this new war causes an infant military-industrial complex to stretch its muscles and produce new weapons and tactics. The Civil War was never as popular in the Union as America's previous wars. There were many opponents of the War who were shouted down by the vocal proponents and even imprisoned for their protests. A civil war just didn't sit well with many people and too many families were split down the middle. A war with England, however, would have been rather popular in the North, particularly after so many English ships were blockade runners. The South had a warmer attitude toward England, mostly due to these blockade runners, but still had differences of opinions, especially about the British Navy backed embargo against the shipment of slaves from Africa. The current British government irritated both North and South with its arrogance assumptions of superiority. Another war with England would probably be much more popular in the Confederacy than the ongoing Civil War. The permanent reunion of these two American nations, however, would depend on a stronger commitment to resolving their disagreements. The new spirit of cooperation can only strengthen that possibility, yet many differences must still be overcome. This book sticks close to the actual history, both in events and in the personalities. The fictional events, moreover, are much like actual events that occurred elsewhere; for example, the British mistakes in the Gulf reflect actual problems in their other wars in that century. The navigation of that time, particularly in open boats during foggy weather, was generally much less than precise and British troops of that era were frequently undisciplined in victory. The critical reviews of this story, on the other hand, often are achronistic in viewpoint, reflecting present day standards and capablilities. The major criticism that can be made of this series is that the author selects among those possibilities that will support his story line. The author almost certainly started with a specific conclusion and then followed the possibilities backwards to the point of divergence. This practice is much like reverse engineering and is used even among working scientists. Maybe the probabilities are slim and maybe not, but it is nevertheless a legitimate strategy for plotting a work of fiction. It is the practice of "What if" and who can say that these events could never have happened.
...P>Recommended for Harrison fans and anyone who enjoys well-crafted tales of alternate wars.
Rating: 
Summary: November 8, 1861 could of changed many things...
Review: Harry Harrison starts out with a interesting idea. What if Prince Albert was dead when a U.S. warship stopped a British ship and seized two Confederate emissaries on their way to England? In our history Prince Albert was able to defuse the crisis. But what if Queen Victoria responded like the rest of England with outrage and declared war on the U.S. of A?
Things become A LOT more interesting. Soon Lincoln and the North finds itself fighting both the South and an English invasion from Canada. That, in itself would of made for an interesting novel.
But Harrison can't let it go at that. Right when you think the North might lose with too many fronts to fight on the British Navy invades the WRONG city. Instead of saying, "OOps, sorry, you Yanks all look alike." it decides to continue to fight BOTH sides. Of course, the North and the South join up together and the tide turns again.
BESIDES the fact that I don't picture the British Navy landing troops on the wrong coast, I don't believe that either the British navy nor the British army would be so easy to defeat. I also don't see the British officers as being so stupid. True, it would of been a costly battle for the British, with the USA and CSA having more local ironclades to defend their coast, more Americans would of joined the army on both sides and the defenders would have shorter supply lines, but still it would not have been so easy.
I'm not saying the Americans would not win, bit it would of taken longer and frankly, I still don't think the British would of attacked the South by accident. They HAVE maps.
Also the book shows British troops as looters and murders. Which they were, but they were also DAMN tough fighters!
Rating:
Summary: forever at a loss
Review: This novel is a turkey.
Though I find it very plausable that the arrogance of Britain would cause the British to declare war on the United States after the forced removal of two southerners from a British ship (Chesapeak vs Leopard in reverse). And I do see the chance of a minor border incident leading to conflic. Just as I am extremely impressed by the Authjor's description of HMS Warrior. And certainly, the North would have clobbered any British invasion by shere weight of numbers, and then invaded Canada.
However, I honestly doubt that the South would join arms with the North after a little friendly fire incident. The Southern elite having gone to such efforts to bring Britian and France into their side of the war.
Would Washington have joined forces with Clinton if the French ahd accidentally attacked him?
Would Eisenhower join arms witht the Germans if the Soviets had attacked him under similar circumstances?
No where in history has such an in conflict change of sides taken place.
This story defies both history and human nature, if it were to happen for real.
And where is France? Britain's ally.
Napoleon III had eyes on Mexico.
I can write a better novel than this.
Rating:
Summary: A Light Hearted American Future History Set In The 1860's
Review: Harry Harrison establishes an intriguing premise in "Stars And Stripes Forever", yet isn't nearly as successful as Harry Turtledove in its execution. The problems are the length of the story and its characters. I found this too quick a read, and none of the characters, especially the historical ones, are truly memorable. Instead, Harrison has chapters that are actually vignettes, as one improbable scene after another unfolds. Fortunately, he gets a bit better in the sequel, "Stars And Stripes In Peril", but those who are looking for another substantial effort akin to Harry Turtledove's may be in for a major disappointment.
Rating:
Summary: Come, Let Us Reason Together
Review: It's nice to read an old-fashioned "science fiction" book where everyone is so wholesomely rational and well-intentioned, and the bad people are bilious, mad, or blundering. It is upbeat, jaunty, declarative, and reasonable. Anyone who gets really emotional isn't with Harrison's program. Actually this is more "alternate history" than it is a novel, hewing very close to real events and speeches. There is a huge cast of characters here, almost all of them well known or obscure historical figures, as far as I can tell. Outstanding people of the time like Lincoln and Davis, Lee and Grant, have their appointed roles or speaking parts, but there's no central fictional characters on which a personalized story, or novel, is constructed. The only bits of inadvertent "SF" are Harrison's tendency to condense or overlap time between episodes--producing too obvious seams in the story--or perhaps the too rapid acceptance of technical innovations. I don't think Harrison has played fair by his situation or by his readers. He sets up a circumstance under which Britain would really have entered the war on the side of the Confederacy, and effectively builds tension up to their entry. Their entry would have created enormous problems for the Federals, but instead Harrison has the British make a colossal blunder and prevents them from retrieving it. From there on the Yanks and Rebs get along famously as if there were no yesterday between them. But then, the British isn't really what this story is about, instead it's an alternative solution to the slavery question proposed by the famous political economist John Stuart Mill. Or maybe the scope will be even broader than that, a whole new 19th century world order? We'll have to see: the book ends with some very mad Englishmen, a hook for the next monster plot, the British will be back!
Rating:
Summary: Good Work-but.....
Review: I greatly enjoyed Harrison's "Stars and Stripes Forever." It was a far more cheerful alternate history than Harry Turtledove's "Greatwar" Series, but that in and of itself was the problem with the book. Nothing went wrong, for long, for the US. Still, overall, a great and enjoyable read.
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