Alternate Gettysburgs by various authors
It's a collection and like all collections...
Published in 2002 by Berkley
...it suffers from the fact that it was written by a dozen different authors. Some are very good, most are decent. Two are awful.
The gimmick in this alternative history is, of course, 'What if the Battle of Gettysburg had turned out differently?' It is inspired by this Faulkner quote:
Confederate Major General George Pickett (1825-1875) |
Is it worth reading? If you're a Civil War buff and don't mind 'slumming' by reading an alternative history rather than a normal history book - yes it is worth your time. Personally, I don't think of it is as slumming - I think of it as nice little foray into what-may-have-been. However, alternative histories are often looked down on by more than a few serious readers of history.
I would recommend if you are not very familiar with the facts of the Civil War and general and the Battle of Gettysburg in particular that you read the Appendix (the last section) first - included are the 'Gettysburg Address', three good short histories of the war and the battle and one interesting essay (controversial, but also my favorite) that tells you why the Confederacy never could have won anyway, no matter the outcome of the battle.
I rate this collection 4 stars out of 5.
This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Alternate Gettysburgs.
Reviewed September 19, 2005.
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