SETTLING ACCOUNTS: RETURN ENGAGEMENT

Eighth in an alternate history in which the Confederacy won independence, then lost WWI to the US.

A virulent racist, Jake Featherston, is now Confederate president, elected on a program of national revenge for the lost war. As the story begins, the bombing of Philadelphia, the US capital, signals the start of WWII. Some twenty major characters continue from previous volumes, from a Jewish New York congresswoman to a Mexican Confederate Great War veteran. Historical figures include Louis Armstrong, Franklin D. Roosevelt, George Patton, and Al Smith—in this world, socialist president of the United States. The initial Confederate assault presses north into Ohio and Indiana, attacking US industry and attempting to cut the country in half. Meanwhile, concentration camps begin to absorb the Negro population of the CSA, as Featherston’s other agenda gathers momentum.

Turtledove plays heady games with actual history, scattering object lessons and bitter ironies along the way. Strong, complex characters against a sweeping alt-historical background.