Breakthroughs (The Great War, Book 3) - Hardcover

Turtledove, Harry

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0345405633 ISBN 13: 9780345405630

Publisher: Del Rey, 2000

Synopsis

Is it the war to end all wars--or war without end? What began as a conflict in Europe, when Germany unleashed a lightning assault on its enemies, soon spreads to North America, as a long-simmering hatred between two independent nations explodes. Twice in fifty years the Confederate States of America had humiliated their northern neighbor. Now revenge may at last be at hand.

Under the leadership of Teddy Roosevelt, and following a general named Custer--military genius or madman?--the United States are fighting a war on two fronts in 1917. In the north, from the Pacific to Quebec, U.S. forces in the air and on land are locked in battle against Canada and Great Britain. To the south, at the heart of a line that stretches from the Gulf of California to the Atlantic, Custer intends to do what none of his predecessors had ever managed: to smash through the Confederate barbwire entrenchments in Tennessee.

Into this vast, seething cauldron plunges a new generation of weaponry-- submarines, barrels, attack planes, poison gas, and flame throwers--changing the shape of war and the balance of power. While the Confederate States are distracted by an insurgency of African Americans with a dream of establishing their own socialist republic, the United States are free to bring their military and industrial might directly to bear--and to unleash the most horrific armored assault the world has ever seen.

Here are leather-jacketed daredevil pilots flying unproved fighters into anti-aircraft fire. Here is a melee on the sea, as U.S. sailors duel Confederate submariners, while the English, French, and Japanese surface navies vie for control of the shipping lanes. In Harry Turtledove's incredibly imagined alternate history, the Great War is played out over a cast of vivid characters. Amidst the sound and fury of battle, as nonaligned nation-states choose sides and politicians spew bombast far from the front lines, The Great War: Breakthroughs captures a world war at an apocalyptic turning point. Victory is at hand--but at a price that may be worse than war itself . . .

About this title

From the Back Cover

"Turtledove has proved he can divert his readers to astonishing places. He's developed a cult following over the years; and if you already been there, done that with real-history novelists Patrick O'Brian, Dorothy Dunnett, or George MacDonald Fraser, for your Next Big Enthusiasm you might want to try Turtledove. I know I'd follow his imagination almost anywhere."
--San Jose Mercury News

About the Author

Harry Turtledove was born in Los Angeles in 1949. After flunking out of Caltech, he earned a Ph.D. in Byzantine history from UCLA. He has taught ancient and medieval history at UCLA, Cal State Fullerton, and Cal State L.A., and he has published a translation of a ninth-century Byzantine chronicle, as well as several scholarly articles. He is also a Hugo Award-winning and critically acclaimed full-time writer of science fiction and fantasy. His alternate history works have included several short stories and the novels A World of Difference, The Guns of the South, How Few Remain--winner of the Sidewise Award for Best Novel--and the Worldwar tetralogy that began in 1994 with Worldwar: In the Balance and continues with Colonization: Down to Earth. Following on the heels of The Great War: American Front--chosen by Publishers Weekly as one of the Best Books of 1998--and The Great War: Walk in Hell, Breakthroughs is the third volume of Turtledove's projected alternate history tetralogy of the Great War.

He is married to fellow novelist Laura Frankos. They have three daughters: Alison, Rachel, and Rebecca.

About this edition

• Publisher: Del Rey
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0345405633
• ISBN 13: 9780345405630
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 496