The Guns of the South: Amazon.ca: Harry Turtledove: Books

Product Description

From Publishers Weekly

The Confederates win the Civil War with aid from South African time travelers in this unconvincing "what-if" tale. Using a time machine, Andrew Rhoodie and his cadre of white supremacists from A.D. 2014 join the rebels and supply them with AK-47 assault rifles. Rhoodie's "America Will Break" brotherhood hopes to foster a haven for slavery and extreme racism that will last into succeeding centuries. Thus armed, Gen. Robert E. Lee's troops are soon victorious, and Lincoln agrees to divide the nation. Lee wins political office in the South, and, ironically, becomes both a proponent of emancipation and a foe of the bigoted visitors from the future. Turtledove ( Krispos Rising ) might win over some Civil War buffs through his knowledge of historical figures and events. But stilted dialogue, slack pacing and thin characters diminish the book's appeal.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

The Guns of the South begins in January 1864. Lee's army suffers from shortages of arms and supplies, and the general is privately convinced that the war is lost. Then Andries Rhoodie appears with a new type of rifle--an AK-47--and offers unlimited arms to the Confederacy. With the new weapons, the South wins the war and history is changed. The peacetime Confederacy still confronts divisional strife over slavery, however, and Rhoodie and the group he represents become angry when the Confederate government begins relaxing laws concerning slavery. Their whole reason for helping the South win had been to create a supremacist white culture for the future. The Confederate government is now faced with a new enemy--Rhoodie and his soldiers, armed from the future. Successful alternate history makes readers believe that they have stepped back in time; although his research is meticulous, Turtledove fails to convince. A marginal purchase.
- Anne Keenan, Blair P.L., Neb.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Robert E. Lee paused to dip his pen once more in the inkwell. Read the first page

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Customer Reviews

132 Reviews

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Average Customer Review

4.1 out of 5 stars (132 customer reviews)

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining and Thought Provoking, Sep 24 2009

By

B. Breen "Canuckster1127" (Sterling, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Guns of the South (Paperback)

Turtledove's Guns of the South, provides a rollicking good read as well as a great deal of insight into some of the common causes cited for the Civil War and why so many factors contributed to the Confederacy's defeat.

A fair criticism can be made that this book is not alternative history in the purest sense of the word. A more common scenario in such tales might more practically be derived from something like having the South win at Gettysburg. However, the adding of an element of time travel using both racism as it survived into the 21st century as well as the introduction of technology that helps the south to overcome the overwhelming odds it faced proves effective in the author's ability to highlight the points being made. The South was fighting in many regards not only the Union but also world opinion and trends that argue poignantly that even if the South had been successful militarily, it arguably would not have been able to preserve its preexisting society.

Clearly this book helps to illustrate that Slavery was a driving force in the causes of the Civil War but that it was once cause intertwined with many issues that in the end, would have resulted in change even with another military and political outcome.

The writing is well paced, plausable with a large dose of credulity, and most of all, entertaining and well researched.

5 Stars.

I recommend it.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Robert E. Lee and His Sub-machine Guns, Jun 20 2004

By

Doug Riddell (Wellington, New Zealand) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Guns of the South (Mass Market Paperback)

In 1864, the southern states of the USA are on the verge of losing the Civil War. They know it. They will not admit it but they know it. Their "Dixie" days are numbered.

But then suddenly a group of men with strange accents offer to sell them a new kind of gun with alarmingly lethal firepower. Called the "AK-47".

With this new innovative weapon in their hands the new country known as the Confederate States of America seems one step away from achieving their independence after all. Southern soldiers who mean well like General Robert E. Lee and Sgt. Nathan Caudell watch as their side achieves what seemed to be nothing more than a dream since Gettysburg.

Although Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation could soon be irrelevant to all states below the Mason-Dixon line, some of the southerners begin to consider he might have had a point about needing to abolish slavery after all. Something unacceptable to the mysterious men who provided the weapon at the start of 1864.

The south winning the civil war is only the beginning...

This novel is part sci-fi and Civil War literature, a very good and clever blend which makes the reader unexpectedly enjoy the book in many ways. Harry shows this story from the perspectives of Lee and Caudell, two real-life Confederates, who interact with a whole cast of characters who actually existed during the real war. Very meticulous research on his part.

You don't need to be a Civil War historian to follow this book, just knowing the basics will do. It's very good at explaining what really happened as you go along. Without giving too much away I can promise you'll read about excellently described battle-scenes, historical ironies, grief, despair, romance, alternative history and the big southern question throughout the story "Why did we fight this war?"

NOTE: Though this story is seperate and not related to Harry Turltedove's "How Few Remain" and "Great War" and "American Empire" books I recommend his fans read this book first to experience firsthand the novelty of the south winning the American Civil War. (All above titles available from Amazon)

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5.0 out of 5 stars Great alternative history, Mar 13 2004

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James Tepper (Boonton Township, NJ United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Guns of the South (Mass Market Paperback)

This was my first Harry Turtledove book. The dust jacket says it all. Mysterious strangers arrive when things look bleakest for the South and hand over a bunch of AK-47s. Instantly, the war turns. There are lots of great scenes including the fall of Washington and Lee's inauguration as 2nd president of the Confederate States.

There is little science in the science fictoin but it doesn't matter. The main thing is the "what if" the South were to prevail. I found Lee to be an especially well drawn character, even if his thoughts and actions seemed contrary to what I remember being taught in my damnyankee education.

The book ends shortly after the end of the war, and I found myself wanting a sequel that would tell me what happened in the subsequent years. But apparently this is not to be, at least from Turtledove. All in all, a great and quick read that I highly recommend.

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Superbly written, and a surprising dose of social conscience
Unlike Turtledove's other novels, which are sometimes bogged down by the sheer magnitude (and questionable importance) of their ensemble casts, Guns of the South has a smaller... Read more

Published on Feb 20 2004 by David Richard

3.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining but unrealistic
For the "master of alternate history," you would expect Turtledove to come up with something better than AK-47s arriving at his front tent flap. Read more

Published on Jan 20 2004