THE GREAT WAR

The master of alternate history returns with this sequel to How Few Remain (1997), wherein the Confederate States of America, with the help of backing from the French and British, won its independence. Later, it’s true, the CSA was forced to free its slaves, but otherwise little changed. Now, in 1914, President Teddy Roosevelt has allied with Germany, while the CSA and Woodrow Wilson are backed by Britain and France. Abraham Lincoln’s brand of communism, however, has taken root, and even while WWI rages on American as well as European soil, the CSA’s oppressed blacks prepare for the inevitable revolution. A workmanlike yarn whose connection to reality, insecure at the outset, grows more tenuous with every turning page. Expect another sequel.