| Product Summary | | Format: Paperback | | ISBN: 9780345384683 | | Publisher: Del Rey | | Publish Date: 4/10/2007 | | Buy.com Sku: 30049680 | | Item#: R39KNQ | | Dimensions (in Inches) 7H x 4.25L x 1T |
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| | | With the power and assurance of a master storyteller and the scrupulous accuracy of a trained historian, Harry Turtledove has created an immense, meticulously detailed, and utterly plausible world in which history takes a most unexpected turn. In The Guns of the South, Turtledove takes one of the most dramatic, bloody, and tumultuous episodes in our life as a nation, the Civil War, and vividly imagines what might have been had the rebels prevailed. In the unusually cold winter of 1864, General Robert E. Lee finds himself and his Army of Northern Virginia huddled on the banks of the Rapidan, trying to fight a war despite meager rations and a terrible lack of equipment - indeed, some of his men do not even have shoes. But when Lee finds a way to arm his forces, the tide suddenly turns; the rebels win a decisive victory at the Battle of Wilderness. Lee presses his advantage, marching on Washington. But if Lincoln surrenders, and the Confederacy can negotiate independence from the Union, there remain many obstacles to peace. The disputed states of Kentucky and Missouri must be accommodated. And the matter of slavery itself will threaten the newly independent Confederate States with fresh factional strife. Indeed, with victory come difficult choices for Robert E. Lee. War has worn down his health. His invalid wife lives for the day the two of them can finally build a peaceful life together. His days of service should be drawing to a close. Yet set against Lee's personal desires is the prospect of watching his beloved land squander the freedom that he and his men fought so desperately to win. Not for his own ambition but because duty calls, Lee will find himself faced with the price oftriumph. Mixing masterfully drawn historical and fictional characters, Turtledove brings to life the turmoil of a people in crisis. Here are the details of what it was like to fight in a Confederate army transformed from ragged to victorious: letters written home on scraps of wallpaper, "coffee" brewed from chicory and burnt grain, the fiery Battle of Wilderness, the march into Washington City and the confrontation with Lincoln, the negotiations between the United States and the Confederate States of America. Turtledove also takes us into conversations between General Lee and Confederate President Jefferson Davis and fascinating exchanges between Lee and Grant in their roles as keepers of the peace in a land divided. A highly original and extraordinary vision of history as it both was and could have been, The Guns of the South will take its place alongside the most exciting historical fiction ever written about the War Between the States.
Annotation:
In a convoluted attempt to create a paradise for believers in apartheid, 21st-century South African scientists develop a time-travel machine to transport AK-47s to the beleaguered General Lee, who is losing the American Civil War. With these "futuristic" weapons, the South wins the war and promptly seizes control of the U.S. government, only the changes that they bring about are not what anyone is expecting.
| Author Bio| Harry Turtledove | | Harry Turtledove has made a career out of postulating different versions of the past and, in the process, has become perhaps the premier figure in the steadily growing sub-genre of science fiction known as "alternate history." After failing out the electrical engineering program at the California Institute of Technology, Turtledove attended UCLA, eventually receiving, in 1977, a Ph.D. in Byzantine history. Working as a technical writer for the Los Angeles Office of Education, Turtledove wrote fiction part-time until 1991, when he became a full-time writer. His first two novels, written in the late 1970s, were originally published under a pseudonym, in part because his editor didn't think that anyone would believe that "Turtledove" was a real name. Much of his earliest work was in the fantasy vein--including three series set in an elaborate, largely imagined world--though partly based on ancient history. After turning to full-time writing, Turtledove began to focus on more recent history. In 1992 he wrote the highly regarded stand-alone novel, THE GUNS OF THE SOUTH, dealing with the U.S. Civil War, and in 1994, he began the massive Worldwar series, an alternate version of World War II. As the millennium approaches, Turtledove is involved in writing no less than three huge series--the above-mentioned Worldwar, The Great War, and Darkness--all of which are scheduled to wrap up around the year 2001. In addition to these projects, he has written numerous short stories and scholarly works--including a translation of an early ninth-century Byzantine text--as well as articles on everything from alternate history fiction to a piece called "The Pros and Cons of Being a Writer Couple", co-written with his wife, mystery novelist Laura Frankos. |
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