Overview
History shows that leadership is crucial in war, but there are other factors at work. What if history were given a twist or two, and great commanders on land and sea fought their greatest battles under different circumstances? Suppose General Douglas MacArthur had been captured before he could escape from Manila and became a prisoner of war? Suppose Joan of Arc had not been burned for heresy and had gone on to lead France to very different victories? Suppose Genghis Khan had been a convert to Judaism and his horde fought for a different cause than in our universe? Turtledove and his colleagues¿Esther M. Friesner, Judith Tarr, Mike Resnick, Brad Linaweaver, Roland J. Green, and more¿turn the past upside down and inside out, and the possibilities are endless. . . .
Synopsis
History shows that leadership is crucial in war, but there are other factors at work. What if history were given a twist or two, and great commanders on land and sea fought their greatest battles under different circumstances? Suppose General Douglas MacArthur had been captured before he could escape from Manila and became a prisoner of war? Suppose Joan of Arc had not been burned for heresy and had gone on to lead France to very different victories? Suppose Genghis Khan had been a convert to Judaism and his horde fought for a different cause than in our universe? Turtledove and his colleagues¿Esther M. Friesner, Judith Tarr, Mike Resnick, Brad Linaweaver, Roland J. Green, and more¿turn the past upside down and inside out, and the possibilities are endless. . . .
Publishers Weekly
With its dual portrait of generals Grant and Lee on opposing sides of the Roman Civil War, the jacket of editor Turtledove's solid third alternative military history anthology neatly evokes this popular subgenre. While there's no such story, Robert E. Lee must decide, as the ambassador to Britain of a victorious but ostracized Confederacy, where his true loyalties lie in Lee Allred's provocative "East of Appomattox." Similarly, Roland J. Green's " `It Isn't Every Day of the Week' " shows how altering the outcome of a few minor incidents can turn history on its head, making General "Old Hickory" Jackson and the Cherokee Nation allies when the U.S. is drawn into the Napoleonic wars. Chris Bunch's "Murdering Uncle Ho" vividly demonstrates the wisdom of "be careful what you wish for" in the book's most intensely drawn battle sequences; this tale of an alternative Vietnam War draws some disturbing parallels with Iraq, as does Turtledove's own "Shock and Awe." Esther M. Friesner's "First, Catch Your Elephant" may not tell us much about Hannibal, but it succeeds marvelously as comedy. (Apr.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.