Rating: 
Summary: Harrison's motto: "stick the boot in"
Review: I enjoyed reading this book. I also helped the author, in a small way, with some historical research about the military in Ireland/Ulster in the 1860s. I'm surprised that a reviewer finds it historically innacurate in this regard since all details were taken from original source documents held in the Public Records Office in Belfast. For example, the names of regiments, barracks etc. were taken from an 1860s street directory. Why does no one notice an American landing on the west coast of Ireland? Well you would know if you've ever been to this wild and still sparsely populated area. A reviewer argues that this book is an exercise in hating the "evil English". However, if anyone has read the author's previous work they would know that he despises bigotry, racism and war mongering. And also, perhaps, badly written and researched reviews :)
Rating: 
Summary: Hilariously Bad Tosh
Review: I read this book to see if it was as bad as the first.It was, but in a different way. None of what happened makes any historical or military sense. For instance the US invasion of Ireland flies in the face of believability (a landing overnight, landing tens of thousands of troops on unknown shores, without error or mishap?, followed by Blitzkrieg by steam train? why does no one notice?). The British actions are nonsensical (a road accross Mexico! 250 miles of jungle and mountain!, why not use transport ships? just how many troops does Britain have?, there must be around 200-400,000 men guarding the road to garrison if it as densely as implied in the book). I'm afraid this book just made me laugh aloud when I was'nt puzzled by Harrisons'latest plot warps. It makes about as much sense as an episode of "Time Tunnel" and is about as historically accurate. All it needed was stupidly costumed aliens backing the British. Most of the plot was childish wish fulfillment. The military research, particularly regarding Britain, was poor. Steam Punk novels like "the Difference engine" I can enjoy, if the world of the past is changed by a writer who knows his business. But the new world needs laws and rules and consistency, this one is chaotic. This book seems to be another exercise in hating the "evil English", an increasingly common US entertainment trait. I think its' about time Harrison grew up and realised that the War of Independence happened a very long time ago, and that Britain did good as well as bad in the past, and that the USA also commited its share of despicable acts throughout its' history. I'm just glad that no Britsh writer has sunk to this puerile level of revilement of another country.
Rating: 
Summary: Good Yarn but same problem as First Stars and Stripes
Review: I'd personally give this book 3 1/2 stars but that apparently isn't an option. Harrison writes a good book that is enjoyable and fun to read, but he lacks some important elements that makes a truly good alternate history book. As was true in Stars & Stripes Forever, the first 80-125 pages are all techincal detail that bored me to death. While the remainder of it is action packed, it always seems that the Americans are victorious at all times with out so much as a scratch on them while the British get destroyed time and time again and seem to have little to no tactics. He does a good job with some of the characters like Gustavus Fox (head of military intelligence), General Sherman and President Lincoln, almost all the others are dead ends with little to no real information on them. People like Fredrick Douglas, General Meagher of the Irish Brigade, General Lee and Grant could have been brought into much more detail. While I would recommend this book as a good book to read, I don't feel this book nor his previous one can measure up to some of the greater Alternate History works.
Rating:
Summary: Decent Alternate History
Review: Like some of the readers here I found this to be an enjoyable but ultimately forgettable read. I have not read the first novel but it was easy to get into this one without having done so. What is strange about the book is that it is not lacking in pages (it's long for a sci fi novel) yet there isn't much detail. Probably because there's so much ground to cover. Yet one comes away with the impression that invading and liberating Ireland would have been extremely simple. Whole battles are resolved in the space of a few sentences. Even the Protestant problem Harrison brings up is dealt with in a matter of a few pages. There are also a couple of situations where Harrison sets up problems just to lengthen the story. So he offers a ridiculous setup and an even more ridiculous solution. A good example of this is when the secret service agent is following the spy into the tavern, watches him for hours, and then suddenly leaves at the perfect time to "get a bite to eat". Just silly. Unlike another reviewer I wasn't exactly put off by the dropping of the Jefferson Davis as night rider storyline - it was rather embarassingly foolish. So the ex-president of the Confederacy spends months recovering from a nearly fatal wound to ... put on a hood and ride around with a white trash movement like the KKK? Give me a break. Not to mention that Jefferson lived on the coast in his palacial home (which is still a monument in Biloxi). And he just happens to be the only one shot in the raid? It was all very poorly constructed, and I would have preferred that Harrison make his points about the Freedmans' Bureau and the slowness of the South to change in a more elegant fashion. Harrison's general attitude towards the South is rather tiresome throughout the novel. Most people come away from Civil War study with the naive opinion that the North was a land full of idealists who wanted to free the slaves, and the South was just a bunch of racist jerks. Not the case. The North was just as complicit in the construction of slave-based economy as the South was, and their plan for the dismantling of that economy was as nonexistent as our exit plan for Iraq. Certainly the system should have gone, but to expect it just to vanish because we suddenly deemed it not right was ignorant. But that's a whole matter in and of itself. It's just tiresome to see the place I grew up continuously misrepresented. I expected more from a Civil War buff like Harrison. So in the end the book is a sometimes fun ride, but also at times irritating and trite. This edition of the book is also full of some strangely placed punctuation and a number of typographical errors, which only mar the story. But it's definitely better than Harrison's last two "Stainless Steel Rat" entries.
Rating:
Summary: Stars and Sripes in Peril
Review: Mr Harrison has another hit with this one. This go another step to show that he can write alternitive history as well as any one.In the beginning of this seris,Stars and Stripes forever. We see Great Britian agreeing to aid the CSA with their war for independance,only to mistakinly attack their newly found ally,resulting in a cease fire in the cival war.Now former enemies are fighting a new foe. This is a must read for all who are historions or are just interested in what could have been. I would also like to recommend to all interested persons another great alternitive history series,starting with Guns of the South written by Harry Turtledove.
Rating:
Summary: Stars and Stripes in Peril
Review: Really quick. I liked the book, but not as much as book one. Book one was filled with more surprises.
Rating:
Summary: Stars and Stripes in Peril
Review: Really quick. I liked the book, but not as much as book one. Book one was filled with more surprises.
Rating:
Summary: A disappointing novel of alternate history.
Review: Stars and Stripes in Peril continues Harry Harrison's story of an Anglo-American war in the 1860s, reuniting the formerly warring North and South. While the scenario Harrison presents in fascinating, the novel, like it's predecessor, is a disappointment. Its main drawback is it's total lack of three diminsional charectors. Harrison manages to make fascinating people like Grant, Sherman, and Lee cardboard cutouts, interchangable figures in set piece situations. The reader is also wanting to know what even more fascinating Civil War actors would have behaved in the scenario he presented (Chamberlain, Armestaid, and-of course-George Armstrong Custer comes to mind.) One is left wondering what the story could have been in the hands of a far more skilled and knowlegdable writer-like Jeff Shaara-could have been.
Rating:
Summary: Advancing the story....
Review: Stars and Stripes in Peril is the sequel to the wonderful Stars and Stripes Forever. However, this novel doesn't quite live up the expectations I had for it based on the first novel. Despite that, it still has strengths among its weaknesses. Like its predecessor, Stars and Stripes in Peril fulfils a fantasy of Civil War buffs and alternative history fans: it lets the oposing generals of the Civil War actually work together to defeat a common enemy. In this case, it would be the British, who in the previous novel, mistakenly attacked the South, and in doing so, united the Americas and prematurely ended the Civil War. General Lee and William Tecumsah Sherman pair off as the generals to lead the United States to victory. Having been repelled in the previous novel, the British plan another invasion of the United States, this time through Mexico. By employing some misdirection, the British fleet manages to secure paths across Mexico whereby the British can attack the United States where Harrison has decided it was vulnerable - through the Gulf of Mexico. After sending Grant to deal with this threat, Lee and Sherman come up with a plan to draw the British away, and that plan is to free Ireland. I found this an intriguing idea. The possibilities that an Ireland freed in the 1860's presents for future novels are quite fantastic. However, I found the delivery of the attack on Ireland a little too smooth and a little too easy. Another problem that I had was that Harrison seemed to drop one of his sub plots rather abruptly. The plot I am referring to involves Jefferson Davis and the Ku Klux Klan. Some wonderful intrigue had been built into this sub plot, only for it to get ended abruptly, as if Harrison had lost interest in it. It was his attempt to develop the theme that although the United States were once again, not all was well at home. At times, I found Harrison's characterizations to be a bit wooden. I realize that historical figures of both the American Revolution and the Civil War were a little more given to say something prophetic, but at times, their dialogue came off as a little too romantic. Its a minor complaint but it is there. In the end, I'd have to say that this novel is enjoyable for fans of alternative history. This series is developing into a nice alternative to Harry Turtledove's alternate history of the Americas. My hope is that some of the ideas and plots introduced in this novel will be carried into another novel my Mr. Harrison.
Rating:
Summary: Advancing the story....
Review: Stars and Stripes in Peril is the sequel to the wonderful Stars and Stripes Forever. However, this novel doesn't quite live up the expectations I had for it based on the first novel. Despite that, it still has strengths among its weaknesses. Like its predecessor, Stars and Stripes in Peril fulfils a fantasy of Civil War buffs and alternative history fans: it lets the oposing generals of the Civil War actually work together to defeat a common enemy. In this case, it would be the British, who in the previous novel, mistakenly attacked the South, and in doing so, united the Americas and prematurely ended the Civil War. General Lee and William Tecumsah Sherman pair off as the generals to lead the United States to victory. Having been repelled in the previous novel, the British plan another invasion of the United States, this time through Mexico. By employing some misdirection, the British fleet manages to secure paths across Mexico whereby the British can attack the United States where Harrison has decided it was vulnerable - through the Gulf of Mexico. After sending Grant to deal with this threat, Lee and Sherman come up with a plan to draw the British away, and that plan is to free Ireland. I found this an intriguing idea. The possibilities that an Ireland freed in the 1860's presents for future novels are quite fantastic. However, I found the delivery of the attack on Ireland a little too smooth and a little too easy. Another problem that I had was that Harrison seemed to drop one of his sub plots rather abruptly. The plot I am referring to involves Jefferson Davis and the Ku Klux Klan. Some wonderful intrigue had been built into this sub plot, only for it to get ended abruptly, as if Harrison had lost interest in it. It was his attempt to develop the theme that although the United States were once again, not all was well at home. At times, I found Harrison's characterizations to be a bit wooden. I realize that historical figures of both the American Revolution and the Civil War were a little more given to say something prophetic, but at times, their dialogue came off as a little too romantic. Its a minor complaint but it is there. In the end, I'd have to say that this novel is enjoyable for fans of alternative history. This series is developing into a nice alternative to Harry Turtledove's alternate history of the Americas. My hope is that some of the ideas and plots introduced in this novel will be carried into another novel my Mr. Harrison.
| 
