Re: [OT] Tutrtledove's Alternate History of the UC Civil War

--- Donald Hosford <Hosford.Donald@acd.net> wrote:

> I did read "Guns of the South", and  "How few
> remain".

Unrelated works, do keep in mind.  Guns of the South
involved time-travelling South African Nazis.  How Few
Remain involve some orders NOT being used to wrap
cigars and not being lost.
 
> He makes Lincoln out to be a communist (modern
> term...they used "socialist" back
> then.).  My friend tells my that Lincoln once made a
> speach supporting the
> working man. (or something like that -- I have never
> studied Lincoln's
> speachs...)  So Mr Turtledove just changes a few
> words, and presto! Lincoln is a
> socialist...	I told my friend that you could make
> Hitler into a saint by
> changing a few words of his speachs...

Actually, it's pretty well stated that this is a
development.  After Lincoln becomes the world's
biggest pariah in US politics he very well could go to
a bit more extreme position than he actually held.
 
> As to the USA's armies...the way he has them losing,
> the US should disappear
> sometime around 1940 or so...  It just seems to me
> (read: In My Humble Opinion)
> that from reading real history, the US gains
> something from each war, mostly how
> to better fight the next one.  In his books, the US
> is losing, and losing, and
> losing...
> They should be getting better each time.  (ie: more
> dangerous, harder to beat,
> or at least not lose so bad as the last time.)
 
Heh.  Things get different in his World War series. 
CSA has the same problems.  

You have to remember that the US Army really _did_
trip all over it's dick in 1898 and only beat the
Spanish because the Spanish were even worse (and their
Navy was a joke).  That was the shock needed for the
US Army to actually start preparing to fight a war
against other armies rather than whacking Indians.

> One of my hobbies is "real history".	(ie: the more
> you understand about real
> history, the better you can construct imaginary
> ones...)

And Doctor Turtledove has a PhD in "Real History."

John

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