The Guns of the South

In 1864, the south is in desperate straits as the north finally selects active generals and begins to push its final offensive. But strange merchants arrive with a deal for the Confederacy. They offer a new gun, the AK-47, for a price of only $50 Confederate, and can make hundreds of thousands available. Automatic weaponry can hardly help making a huge difference and Grant's Wilderness campaign, far from a costly stalemate, becomes a huge Confederate victory with Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia smashing straight through to Washington D.C. The merchants have an ulterior motive, however. They are an extremist racist group of Afrikaners (the AWB) from our own near-future who intend to use the south as a launch pad for their own war against rights for the African American and for blacks everywhere.Once the Confederacy's existance is confirmed, the south becomes convulsed between Robert E. Lee who fears the Afrikaners, and General Forest, who buys into their racist doctrine. With South-African gold, modern weapons, and modern political methods, the AWB intends to ensure that the nation they preserved takes their path--no matter what they need to do.Author Harry Turtledove narrates this fascinating alternate history through the eyes of Robert E. Lee and Sergeant Nate Caudell of the 47th North Carolina. Caudell seems caught up in most of the action--from Wilderness to Washington D.C. to the battle against AWB in their heartland, giving a close-up look at how a rapid-fire weapon could have transformed war (as indeed it has). Turtledove's Lee is a gentleman, but also a thinker who sees that the southern stand on race is wrong and destructive to the nation he has adopted, but who still carries the casual racism of his time.THE GUNS OF THE SOUTH makes for fascinating reading. Many of Turtledove's later works adapt devices he develops here, in a setting of interest to most U.S. readers. The explicit racism of many of the characters will make some readers uncomfortable, but it is certainly an accurate reflection of the times. Some readers may also question whether AWB would do so much for the Confederacy without a more explicit promise to support its causes in the future, and wonder why it chose the southern states rather than the Boer colonies for their support, but this doesn't detract from the reader's enjoyment.

The premise of 'The Guns of the South' is simple. In the war's final months the beaten but not defeated Confederate army is presented with weapons that will alter the course of the conflict- a substantial number of AK-47's. General Robert E. Lee uses these new weapons to great affect against the superior northern armies and eventually wins the Civil War. However the bearer of these super weapons, a mysterious group of men with strange accents, clothes, and customs, demand a heavy price. 'The Guns of the South' is one of the greatest alternate history novels that Turtledove has written, if not the best. Although the time travel aspects of this book do tend to stretch the story's believability, Turtledove nevertheless produces an amazingly thought provoking novel of a triumphant Confederacy. Turtledove's interpretation of Robert E. Lee and other historical figures make this novel worth reading alone. This novel along with Turtledove's other work of Civil War alternate history fiction, 'How Few Remain,' should be read not only by fans of science fiction, but by anyone interested in the people, events, and politics that made up this pivotal time in American history.

In science fiction criticism, they talk of stories that create a sense of wonder. I look for that experience when I buy sf, but it's a hard commodity for me to find. The Guns of the South evoked that sense of wonder, and also provided a very strong sense of time and place -- the Civil War during and after a Confederate victory. The victory, of course, was the work of Nazi-like racists from the future who provided the South with AK-47 assault rifles. The novel focused on two protagonists -- Nate Caudill, a Confederate soldier, and Robert E. Lee, who becomes the president of the new Confederate nation. Both key characters are humble, good men with whom I could comfortably identify. And other than the time travel premise, I found this book remarkably plausible, without the absurd coincidences that serve as plot mechanisms in many best sellers. The ominous machinations of the Rivington men against the backdrop of 19th century America was simply fascinating.

Good alternative history is thought-provoking & educational. This brings the Confederacy to life: backward institutions like slavery are put in context, as for example in ancient Rome. Robert E. Lee's character is developed well. The 47th NC are convincing, though their language jars our modern sensibilities. An excellent & entertaining work.

I was a little wary of this book when a friend recommended it to me. Even though I'm a lifelong Southerner (with roots here that run back to the 1700s - I ain't from carpetbagger stock), I'm not the sort who nurses a permanent grudge against Yankees, and who's just itchin' for a rematch. But I went with my friend's suggestion, and I was pleasantly surprised. This really is a terrific book. If you're looking for a hard scientific look at time-travel, you'd best look elsewhere - the time-travel in this book is just an excuse to provide the South with a means for winning the Civil War. The rest of the book is a thoroughly researched, entertaining work of "alternate history," which will also give readers a good sense of the politics and personalities that were at work during this period of history. Civil War buffs should love it. A great, fun book. I highly recommend it.