Full disclosure: this was the first book I’ve ever read by Harry Turtledove, an author who’s considered to be the undisputed master of the Alternative History genre, but it definitely won’t be the last. The plot’s wild concept plot is nothing short of amazing, like something he might have dreamt up after a few too many drinks with his writers’ workshop: “All right guys, listen to this, okay? A bunch of white supremacists get their hands on a time machine, right? And so they go out and start rounding up all the AK-47 rifles they can get their hands on, you follow me, and then they go back in time to try and help General Robert E. Lee win the American Civil War in order to advance their racist agenda. Crazy, right?”
Yes, this book really went there. Without giving away any spoilers, I was hooked from the very first page and I’m willing to bet that you will be too. Maybe the most impressive thing about this book, though, even more than the 500-plus pages of painstaking attention to historic detail, was the respect with which Mr. Turtledove addressed the issue of slavery. It was absolutely fascinating to peer into the mind of General Lee as he pondered the issue of human bondage, all the while fighting his own war to gain freedom from an “oppressive” federal government. Time travelers, epic battles, plus a weighty ethical dilemma as well? Yeah, this book definitely has it all.
“The Guns of the South” had been on my to-read list for far too long before I finally managed to get my hands on a copy: do yourself a favor, and don’t wait as long as I did.