Bring the Jubilee: Amazon.ca: Ward Moore: Books

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Product Description

Moore's classic 1953 novel of alternate history, in which the Confederate States of America wins the Battle of Gettysburg, and eventually the "War of Southron Independence."

Ingram

With "alternate history" achieving breakout success, the time is right to bring a new edition of Ward Moore's speculative classic to an eager audience. Assuming the Confederacy won the Civil War, the Industrial Revolution never happened, and the nation remained one of horse-drawn wagons, gaslight, and highwaymen. One man tries to free himself from such realities, only to be propelled through time. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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11 Reviews

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4.3 out of 5 stars (11 customer reviews)

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4.0 out of 5 stars Searching For A Better Alternative, Nov 18 2001

By	Greg Hughes - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bring the Jubilee (Paperback)

Ever since the American Civil War ended in victory for the South, the Northern states have been a poor, backward region, largely populated by impecunious yokels. Hodge Backmaker is a country boy with less practical skills than his fellows; someone more at home with books than the outdoor, workaday environment.

In "Bring the Jubilee" Backmaker recounts his life, describing his move from Wappinger Falls to a squalid New York, where he works in a book shop for a few years. After some uncomfortable dealings with an underground army he then becomes involved with the intellectual thinktank at Haggershaven, where his fascination for history eventually leads to academic prestige.

Ward Moore has written an interesting scenario here. Along with the rewrite of American history, passing references are made to men like Carl Jung and Picasso, their destinies skewed by the differences that make alternate worlds possible. While taking part in the first experiments in time travel, Hodge Backmaker will unwittingly change their lives when he makes a field trip to Gettysburg in 1863...

There's no doubt that alternate histories are a fascinating subject for writers to tackle. So many of them have fun changing history, usually making our world look like the better one. Maybe it helps us forget the reality of our own problems; taking solace in the fact that there's always someone worse off than ourselves. A number of people have compared "Bring the Jubilee" with "Pavane", the praise for both books being fairly equal. It's hard to say which is better, since they deal with two different periods of history. Like most novels, they both have their share of romance, which almost seems a requirement for the protagonist. Nevertheless, they both come highly recommended.

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5.0 out of 5 stars A Classic Tale of A Confederate Victory, Aug 1 2000

By	Cody Carlson (Salt Lake City, UT United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Bring the Jubilee (Paperback)

Written decades before Harry Turtledove's Civil War alternate history novels, Ward Moore's 'Bring the Jubilee' is the story of an America divided. In 1863, the Union loss at Gettysburg paved the way for southern independence and left the United States a backward, third world country. The novel's protaganist, Hodge, leaves his rural home for what he hopes will be a better life in New York City and eventually finds himself in a community of scholars where his final destiny awaits him. The characters, situations and philosiphies of 'Jubilee' remind the reader of another great Science Fiction author, Robert Heinlein. Moore has the same wonderful ability to convey the complex ideas of life and society that make Heinlein's novels so compelling. Also wonderful is Moore's explanations of temporal theory and his understanding and presentation of the Battle of Gettysburg. If you enjoy alternate history then 'Bring the Jubilee' will not disappoint.

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3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting? Yes. Masterpiece? No., May 12 2000

By	A. Ross (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Bring the Jubilee (Paperback)

This is an alternate history of a U.S. where the South won the Civil War and the North is its vassal/client-state--which results in the industrial revolution never occurring. Set in the 1930s-50s, the story follows a young boy growing up in rural Pennsylvania who moves to New York (which is still "the big city") where he does a little growing up. Unfortunately, too much time is spent in his head, and not enough detailing the alternate world around him. He becomes a autodidact Civil War scholar and eventually is accepted in a sort of academic commune. Moore concentrates a bit too much on showing how things might have been, and pounding the fickleness of history into the reader's head, at the expense of a decent story. It's somewhat interesting to see how the hero develops, but he's kind of frustrating character, and in the end you know what he's going to do. The book is OK, but not as special as it's made out to be.

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Most recent customer reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Forget the Jubilee--Bring the Editor
I am amused by the other reviewers' generous critiques of this book. While it does have an interesting premise--that an alternate past can be accidentally reshaped into the actual... Read more

Published on Dec 26 1999 by Richard Thau

5.0 out of 5 stars A great book
The author's vision of what the world might have been like if the South had won the war is fascinating. Read more

Published on April 15 1999

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely worth finding
Bring the Jubilee was always a book that I wanted to read but could never find. I looked for it haphazardly until the early 1990's when I found it in the University of Iowa... Read more

Published on Mar 26 1999

5.0 out of 5 stars Wow! One of the greatest final pages in all of literature.
This book wasn't at all what I expected. I knew it was alternate history, but the world was so changed as to be almost unrecognizable. Read more

Published on Jan 28 1999 by Bruce A.