Below The Beltway

In this first book of the American Empire series, Harry Turtledove abandons a pattern that he had followed since the first book in the so-called Timeline-191 series. This time, there is no Second Mexican War, no Great War raging across the North American continent. Instead, this book focuses on the roughly seven year time period after the end of the war in 1917 and examines what has happened to the nations and characters that we’ve become familar with.

The fate of the Confederacy should be easy to figure out. Humiliated on the battlefield and forced to accede to a treaty that gave up valuable oil lands in what we call Oklahoma and pay reparations to the USA, the CSA spirals quickly into hyperinflation and social unrest. The United States has never really seen what hyperinflation is like, but Turtledove paints a pretty good portrait of what it might have looked like had it hit in the years after the First World War. As in Weimar Germany, of course, hyperinflation in the CSA created social unrest and social unrest led to the rise of an extremist party; the Freedom Party of Jake Featherson.

The parallels between Featherston and Adolf Hitler have been apparent since the beginning of the Great War series and, here, they become even more apparent. Just as Hitler took control of a rump National Socialist Workers Party and remade it in his image, Featherson takes control of the Freedom Party and turns it into a national force for those fed up with the results of a war they believe was lost by the men in Richmond rather than the boys on the field, and harboring deep and troubling restentment toward the nation’s black population. Before the book is over, Featherston comes to the brink of power, only to see it fall away thanks to an extremist/disciple who takes matters into his own hands. By the end of the book, the economic situation has cooled down, as as the appeal of the Freedom Party. Featherson’s story is not over yet, though.
Up North in the USA, the Great War has had an effect as well. The Socialist Party finally sees the electoral success that had been denied it since Abraham Lincoln led a spilt Republican Party into an alliance with the Socialists after the Second Mexican War. Theodore Roosevelt, a war hero President in this universe if not in ours, is denied a third term and a familiar name in an unlikely role becomes President of the United States. Social change sweeps the United States as well. Former Democracts become Socialists. Women become more empowered in society. And, as time goes on, it seems like the USA has become comfortable with its victory and forgetful of the potential threat from the South.

Turtledove also continues from the Great War series the story of MacGregor and Galtier familes; two Canadian familes forced to deal with the American invasion and occupation of what used to be Canada. They deal with it in two very different way, with different consequences for each family.

All in all, this is an excellent continuation of the story that started with How Few Remain. My previous comments about Turtledove’s writing style remain, although I understand the need to sometimes re-tell a characters back story when you’re writing a multi-volume saga and have to keep in mind the fact that some people may not have read all the books that came before. Next up is The Center Cannot Hold, which I am looking forward to.

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Book Review: How Few Remain
Book Review: The Great War: American Front
Book Review: The Great War: Walk In Hell
Book Review: The Great War: Breakthroughs

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