Second Contact (Colonization, Book 1)

In the acclaimed Worldwar tetralogy, set against the explosive backdrop of the Great War, master of alternate history Harry Turtledove wove a spellbinding saga of world powers locked in conflict against a deadly enemy from the stars. Now, with Colonization: Second Contact, Turtledove expands his magnificent epic into the volatile 1960s--when humanity must face its greatest challenge: alien colonization of planet Earth.

During the Worldwar, Washington, D.C., Tokyo, and dozens of other cities perished in the radioactive holocaust of nuclear battle. Twenty years later, a fitful peace reigned over the continents. Though Himmler controlled Germany and France, Molotov ruled Russia, and President Earl Warren tenuously governed the United States, the invaders lorded over most of the world--coexisting in an uneasy balance with humans. As both the alien and human races experience the rampant social turmoil of the sixties, they are fatefully influenced by the tremendous upheavals--and by each other.

Then amidst this strife comes a new phase of the alien invasion . . . the arrival of the colonization fleet--an enemy that seeks to sweep humankind aside on a global scale. The fleet's terrible goal is to colonize and seize control of every man, woman, and child on Earth. Yet as governments feverishly develop weaponry, a terrible truth emerges: This war will be fought not only on the ground but in the vacuum of space. The United States must summon all its technological genius--or face destruction.

Even in the face of this explosive threat, the great powers are unable to relinquish their hostilities and unite against this awesome and terrible power. For America, and for all the countries of the world, this is a war that must be won, a triumph that must be reached in the face of impossible odds. This time, the terrible price of defeat is extinction . . .

In this towering tale of struggle and tyranny, Harry Turtledove combines a lavish cast of twentieth-century leaders, their countries, and a terrifying threat of earth-shattering proportions. Packed with action, adventure, and sacrifice, Colonization: Second Contact is a masterpiece of the imagination.

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 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 whose alternate history works have included several short stories and the novels A World of Difference, The Guns of the South (a speculative novel of the Civil War) and the Worldwar tetralogy that began in 1994 with Worldwar: In the Balance.

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