In at the Death

In At the Death (2007) is the fourth Alternate History novel in the Settling Accounts subseries of the Southern Victory series, following The Grapple. In the previous volume, once the USA troops fought their way out of the hills surrounding Chattanooga, they headed south toward Atlanta. The CSA troops fought at every good-sized creek and high ground, but the USA troops kept flanking the CSA troops and driving them back. In Marietta, the USA turned east and then south, ripping out railroad tracks and digging barriers in the highways between Virginia and Atlanta. The USA started bombing Lexington, Virginia, where the CSA was developing their uranium bomb. Meanwhile, the CSA unleashed another of their superweapons: longrange rockets that could reach Philadelphia from Virginia. The USA started looking for the facilities where the rockets were being designed and built. Although the uranium bombs were much too massive to be the payload for the current rocket devices, no one in the USA wanted their enemy to have any chance of mating the two weapons. In this novel, CSA Brigadier General Clarence Potter has an argument with his commanding general-- George Patton -- about wasting troops. Patton orders him to carry through the attack or stand relieved. Potter chooses to be relieved and President Featherston orders him back to Richmond, where he resumes command of the uranium bomb project. USA Lieutenant Michael Pound watches the CSA attack outside Atlanta from his barrel. His machine takes out two CSA assault guns at the start of the attack and the rest of his platoon take out more. The Confederates try to overrun the USA flank three times and finally retire back to Atlanta. Cassius is waiting for the damnyankees. So are the Confederates. They send a captain to offer a ceasefire and rations if the guerrillas hold off their attacks, but Gracchus refuses. The CSA sends a company in to attack the band, but it gets ambushed and retreats back to town. Then the Confederates leave the area and the grey-green barrels arrive. USA Major General Abner Dowling has run out of military targets. Amarillo is too far north. Abilene is close enough, but not worth taking. Then comes a coded message to start air strikes against Abilene. Dowling passes on the news to Colonel Terry DeFrancis, commander of his air wing. CSA Lieutenant Colonel Jerry Dover does whatever he has to do to get ammo and supplies for his troops. When one ordnance officer refuses to release anti-barrel ammo to him, Dover threatens to tell his frontline troops who is responsible for the shortage. Dover gets the ammo. The USA Destroyer Escort Josephus Daniels meets a German sub at sea and receives a package. Sam Carsten locks it in his safe and posts guards on the door. At the Boston Navy Yard, he hands the package to a vice admiral, who takes it away. In this story, the attempted annihilation of the blacks within the CSA is a major theme. Jefferson Pinkard moves his operatio

Loved it. I've been waiting for the end of this series for three years now; since I read the first book. The American Front and Great War series all led up to this series finale. I hope he comes out with a cold war type series with these characters.

I have been a fan of Turtledove for a long time and this book is a new peak in his career. The way he blends historical fact into his alternate reality is incredible. I highly recommend this and all of his books to anyone who loves to mix history with fantasy.

The title says how I feel about this book! The whole series told an excellent story and I hope that there is a continuation that tells what happens to the Confederates, after the United States won the war.