Bring the Jubilee

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.

The author's vision of what the world might have been like if the South had won the war is fascinating. The characters are believable and the last part of the book is impossible to put down. This book was hard to find but the effort was worth it. Readers who like this book might also like Fatherland, which takes place in Germany in 1964 in a world in which the Nazis won WWII.

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. This novel is so original that it's difficult to make comparisons to anything else. Then comes the ending....SUPERB!

A classic novel from the true Golden Age of science fiction. Moore crafts an alternate history on par with any ever written. This book is on the level of any written during the 1950's and ranks among the works of Bester, Bradbury, and Matheson. Imagine a novel with the prose of Bester and the vision of Dick. A must read for any fan of alternative fiction. Forget Turtledove. This is THE alternate "what if the South won" book!

Ward Moore's "Bring the Jubilee" has become a time-honored classic. Like Arthur Miller's "A Canticle for Leibowitz," it is one of the "great books" not only of science fiction but of historical fiction in general. Both novels, I imagine, have become required reading for students of history. The premise of "Bring the Jubilee" seems absurd: in the 1920's of an alternate universe, the U.S. is a backwater dominated by the Confederate States, which have become a superpower. But the premise is entirely logical when seen as metaphor: the Confederacy's victory in the "War of Southron Independence" has blighted world history and trapped the characters of the novel in a world gone wrong. Ward Moore compellingly creates that most difficult of characters, the "passive hero." Hodgins Backmaker, born on a poor farm in downstate New York, is a lovable, dreamy bumpkin whose every effort is ineffectual, every wish and dream frustrated by events or by his own bumbling. Resolving philosophically that inaction is the best policy, he becomes a scholar of American history. A fierce femme fatale, genius of the time machine, sends Hodgins back to witness in person the battle of Gettysburg. Faced with decision at a crucial moment, Hodgins discovers, too late, that even inaction is action. By his sheer presence he changes the course of events and is stranded in our timeline. Ward Moore thus works a supremely ironic twist on the "great man" theory of history: an ordinary, even a mediocre person can affect history simply by being in the right place at the wrong time. "Bring the Jubilee" would have been merely a curiosity were it not for Ward Moore's talent in bringing his characters to life. Not only does he paint in many adroit, small strokes the curious culture of this alternate universe, he also communicates his characters' emotions with delicate craftmanship. Hodgins Backmaker is conceivably among the few characters in literature that can be considered a "real" person. Canadians might take a lesson from "Bring the Jubilee," not only Quebec sovreigntists but their opponents, as well as anti-federalist English in all provinces.