Beneath Gray Skies [Paperback]

The story's "what-if" premise of the the Southern States peacefully seceding from the Union in the 1860s and forming a separate nation called the Confederate States of America (CSA) and then some decades later forming an alliance with Nazi Germany is an interesting twist on history. However, the reader will have to take a leap from "what-if" to a suspension of disbelief if you are to enjoy "Beneath Gray Skies" by author Hugh Ashton. For example, you will have to believe that a nominally-educated male CSA "Negro" slave is freed as a result of a stereotypical racist incident and then - with no vetting or prior intelligence experience - is embraced by the British intelligence service as an instant colleague. In addition, you will have to believe that this former slave and a beautiful, white, Jewish female, a member of the American intelligence community, have an instant chemistry on first-sight and fall in love, resulting in the former slave marrying the woman and being warmly welcomed into the woman's socially- and politically-prominent and quite wealthy family and social circle.

Next, you will have to believe that a character named "David" - a private in what is described as the uneducated "white trash" Confederate Army - is discovered to have extraordinary aptitude for the game of chess - a game that he had never played before - said skill causing him to gain the notice of his superiors who, in turn, determine David also has extraordinary skills in calligraphy, the ability to read well, and even do "some calculating with figures," all of which lead David to an eventual rank of Sergeant and a key role with a group of Germans building a Zeppelin airdrome on Confederate Georgia soil.

Next is the enigmatic English hero, Brian, who darts in and out of the narrative with exploits of daring, deception, and spying in an effort to disrupt the CSA-Nazi alliance. Toss in a bunch of nasty Nazis and an equally nasty CSA President, a "save-the-world" United Kingdom intelligence service and its operative named "Dowling" (the former slave's original mentor), a plot to kill the bad guys, and it turns out that all's well that ends well.

The writing is adequate; however, with the exception of some British dialogue, the dialogue of most of the other characters too often lacked the ring of authenticity because what should have been dialects and idioms unique to those characters was lacking. Said another way, the drawl of the South and the unique syntax of German-to-English was missing.

Finally, I felt that the author also had a subtle and personal political and social agenda woven into the story - an agenda that can be explained best by reading both the author's preface to the first edition and his preface to the second edition.

He does a good job of summing things up in his review showing the sort of leaps of faith you must take to believe the story line and plots. I felt large, unnecessary chunks of time were spent in this book giving you what the author thinks you need as background to lead to the main story. I found this to be an interesting read that I rather enjoyed, but you know all along you are sort of being taken for a ride thru the unbelievable. As interesting take of what could have been if there never was a civil war and the south tried to become independent from the north completely setting itself up as a world power. The world of intrigue in the spy world collides among the USA (the north), the CSA (the south), Nazi Germany, anti-Nazis and British spies. I read this book for free and don't regret it. Your reaction may vary.

I love alternate history books and this one was no exception. Well-written with a brilliant story, Ashton weaves real historical characters with a past that never happened, making a brilliant and captivating story that is hard to put down. A great read!

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