Synopses & Reviews
New York Times bestselling author Harry Turtledoves thought-provoking forays into the past have produced such intriguing what-if” novels as Ruled Britannia, Days of Infamy, and Opening Atlantis. Now the maven of alternate history” (The San Diego Union-Tribune) envisions the election of a United States President whose political power will redefine what the nation isand what it means to be American
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President Herbert Hoover has failed America. The Great Depression that rose from the ashes of the 1929 stock market crash still casts its dark shadow over the country. Despairing and desperate, the American people hope one of the potential Democratic candidatesNew York governor Franklin D. Roosevelt and California congressman Joe Steelecan get the nation on the road to recovery.
But fate snatches away one hope when a mansion fire claims the life of Roosevelt, leaving the Democratic party little choice but to nominate Steele, son of a Russian immigrant laborer who identifies more with the common man than with Washington D.C.s wealthy power brokers.
Achieving a landslide victory, President Joe Steele wastes no time pushing through Congress reforms that put citizens back to work. Anyone who gets in his way is getting in the way of America, and that includes the highest in the land. Joe Steeles critics may believe the government is gaining too much control, but they tend to find themselves in work camps if they make too much noise about it. And most people welcome strong leadership, full employment, and an absence of complaining from the newspapersespecially as Hitler and Trotsky begin the kind of posturing that seems sure to drag America into war.
Review
“Chilling....A plethora of characters, each with his or her own point of view, provides experiences in miniature that combine to paint a broad canvas of the titanic struggle.”
—Publishers Weekly
“A good mix of a war story and the tales of everyday people....Turtledove paints an excellent, if bleak, portrait of a Hawaii invaded by the Japanese.”—SF Site
Review
Praise for Harry Turtledove
“Turtledove [is] the standard-bearer for alternate history.”—USA Today
“[Harry Turtledoves] mastery of the ever-widening ripples that small changes make in history is unchallenged, his storytelling always gripping, and his research impeccable.”—Library Journal
"Alternate history is Turtledove's field and no one explores the possibilities in such depth as he does."—SF Site
Synopsis
In this alternate history of World War II, the Japanese follow up their Pearl Harbor attack with the successful occupation of Hawaii. Now America is marshaling its military forces-from East Coast to West-to reclaim the islands from the enemy.
Synopsis
Six weeks ago, Imperial Japanese military forces conquered and occupied the Hawaiian Islands. A puppet king sits on Hawaii’s throne, his strings controlled by the general of the invasion force. American POWs, malnourished and weak, are enslaved as hard laborers until death takes them. Civilians fare little better, struggling to survive on dwindling resources. And families of Japanese origin find their loyalties divided.
Meanwhile, across the United States, from Pensacola, Florida, to San Diego, California, the military is marshaling its forces. Steel factories and fuel refineries are operating around the clock. New recruits are enlisting, undergoing rigorous training exercises. All for the opportunity to strike back and drive the enemy from American soil…
About the Author
Harry Turtledove—the New York Times bestselling author of numerous alternate history novels, including The Guns of the South, How Few Remain, and the Worldwar quartet—has a Ph.D. in Byzantine history. Nominated numerous times for the Nebula Award, he has won the Hugo, Sidewise, and John Esthen Cook Awards. He lives with his wife and children in California.