
The War That Came Early: West and East
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $20.20
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Todd McLaren
-
By:
-
Harry Turtledove
About this listen
In 1938, two men held history in their hands. One was Adolf Hitler. The other was British prime minister Neville Chamberlain, who, determined to avoid war at any cost, came to be known as "the great appeaser". But Harry Turtledove, the unrivaled master of alternate history, has launched a gripping saga that springboards from a different fateful act: What if Chamberlain had stood up to Hitler? What would the Nazis' next move have been? And how would the war---which Hitler had always regretted waiting 11 months to start---have unfolded and changed our world?
Here, Turtledove takes us across a panorama of conflict fueled by ideology and demagoguery. Nations are pitted against nations, alliances are forged between old enemies, ordinary men and women are hurled into extraordinary life-and-death situations.
In Japanese-controlled Singapore, an American marine falls in love with a Russian dance-hall hostess, while around him are heard the first explosions of Chinese guerilla resistance. On the frontlines of war-ravaged rural France, a weary soldier perfects the art of using an enormous anti-tank gun as a sniper's tool---while from Germany a killer is sent to hunt him down. And in the icy North Atlantic, a U-boat bearing an experimental device wreaks havoc on British shipping, setting the stage for a Nazi ground invasion of Denmark.
From an American woman trapped in Germany who receives safe passage from Hitler himself to a Jewish family steeped in German culture and facing the hatred rising around them, from Japanese soldiers on the remote edge of Siberia to American volunteers in Spain, The War That Came Early: West and East is the story of a world held hostage by tyrants - Stalin, Hitler, Sanjuro - each holding on to power through lies and terror, even in the face of treacherous plots from within.
©2010 HarryTurtledove (P)2010 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
-
Hitler's War
- By: Harry Turtledove
- Narrated by: John Allen Nelson
- Length: 17 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The New York Times best-selling master of alternate history delivers the captivating first novel in his new World War II series. Harry Turtledove imagines how the war in Europe would have ended had British prime minister Chamberlain refused to allow Hitler's annexation of the Sudetenland.
-
-
Interesting
- By B Daigle on 01-04-10
By: Harry Turtledove
-
Worldwar: In the Balance
- By: Harry Turtledove
- Narrated by: Todd McLaren
- Length: 26 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
War seethed across the planet. Machines soared through the air, churned through the seas, crawled across the surface, pushing ever forward, carrying death. Earth was engaged in titanic struggle. Germany, Russia, France, China, Japan: the maps were changing day by day. The hostilities spread in ever-widening ripples of destruction: Britain, Italy, Africa...the fate of the world hung in the balance. Then the real enemy came.
-
-
Awesome
- By W on 03-29-10
By: Harry Turtledove
-
How Few Remain
- A Novel of the Second War Between the States
- By: Harry Turtledove
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 24 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the master of alternate history comes an epic of the second Civil War. It was an epoch of glory and success, of disaster and despair. 1881: A generation after the South won the Civil War, America writhed once more in the bloody throes of battle. Furious over the annexation of key Mexican territory, the United States declared total war against the Confederate States of America in 1881.
-
-
A Civil War Alternate History Classic! Fantastic!
- By Michael on 10-06-12
By: Harry Turtledove
-
Return Engagement
- Settling Accounts, Book 1
- By: Harry Turtledove
- Narrated by: Paul Costanzo
- Length: 25 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1914, they called it The Great War, and few could imagine anything worse. For nearly three decades, a peace forged in blood and fatigue has held sway in North America. Now, Japan dominates the Pacific, the Russian Tsar rules Alaska, and England, under Winston Churchill, chafes for a return to its former glory. But behind the façade of world order, America is a bomb waiting to go off. Jake Featherston, the megalomaniacal leader of the Confederate States of America, is just the man to light the fuse.
-
-
Need Guidall back!!
- By William on 06-29-16
By: Harry Turtledove
-
The Guns of the South
- By: Harry Turtledove
- Narrated by: Paul Costanzo
- Length: 24 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
January 1864: General Robert E. Lee faces defeat. The Army of Northern Virginia is ragged and ill-equipped. Gettysburg has broken the back of the Confederacy and decimated its manpower. Then, Andries Rhoodie, a strange man with an unplaceable accent, approaches Lee with an extraordinary offer. Rhoodie demonstrates an amazing rifle: its rate of fire is incredible, its lethal efficiency breathtaking - and Rhoodie guarantees unlimited quantities to the Confederates. The name of the weapon is the AK-47.
-
-
Loved the book but...
- By Tami A. on 10-28-16
By: Harry Turtledove
-
Bombs Away
- By: Harry Turtledove
- Narrated by: Henry Stozier
- Length: 17 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From "the master of alternate history" comes a new trilogy that reimagines a mid-20th century in which General MacArthur, without bothering to consult President Truman, detonates nuclear warheads in several Manchurian cities after China enters the Korean War. In his acclaimed novels of alternate history, Harry Turtledove has scrutinized the twisted soul of the 20th century, from the forces that set World War I in motion to the rise of fascism in the decades that followed.
-
-
This Bomb's a dud
- By Dallas Huybregts on 09-27-16
By: Harry Turtledove
-
Hitler's War
- By: Harry Turtledove
- Narrated by: John Allen Nelson
- Length: 17 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The New York Times best-selling master of alternate history delivers the captivating first novel in his new World War II series. Harry Turtledove imagines how the war in Europe would have ended had British prime minister Chamberlain refused to allow Hitler's annexation of the Sudetenland.
-
-
Interesting
- By B Daigle on 01-04-10
By: Harry Turtledove
-
Worldwar: In the Balance
- By: Harry Turtledove
- Narrated by: Todd McLaren
- Length: 26 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
War seethed across the planet. Machines soared through the air, churned through the seas, crawled across the surface, pushing ever forward, carrying death. Earth was engaged in titanic struggle. Germany, Russia, France, China, Japan: the maps were changing day by day. The hostilities spread in ever-widening ripples of destruction: Britain, Italy, Africa...the fate of the world hung in the balance. Then the real enemy came.
-
-
Awesome
- By W on 03-29-10
By: Harry Turtledove
-
How Few Remain
- A Novel of the Second War Between the States
- By: Harry Turtledove
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 24 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the master of alternate history comes an epic of the second Civil War. It was an epoch of glory and success, of disaster and despair. 1881: A generation after the South won the Civil War, America writhed once more in the bloody throes of battle. Furious over the annexation of key Mexican territory, the United States declared total war against the Confederate States of America in 1881.
-
-
A Civil War Alternate History Classic! Fantastic!
- By Michael on 10-06-12
By: Harry Turtledove
-
Return Engagement
- Settling Accounts, Book 1
- By: Harry Turtledove
- Narrated by: Paul Costanzo
- Length: 25 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1914, they called it The Great War, and few could imagine anything worse. For nearly three decades, a peace forged in blood and fatigue has held sway in North America. Now, Japan dominates the Pacific, the Russian Tsar rules Alaska, and England, under Winston Churchill, chafes for a return to its former glory. But behind the façade of world order, America is a bomb waiting to go off. Jake Featherston, the megalomaniacal leader of the Confederate States of America, is just the man to light the fuse.
-
-
Need Guidall back!!
- By William on 06-29-16
By: Harry Turtledove
-
The Guns of the South
- By: Harry Turtledove
- Narrated by: Paul Costanzo
- Length: 24 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
January 1864: General Robert E. Lee faces defeat. The Army of Northern Virginia is ragged and ill-equipped. Gettysburg has broken the back of the Confederacy and decimated its manpower. Then, Andries Rhoodie, a strange man with an unplaceable accent, approaches Lee with an extraordinary offer. Rhoodie demonstrates an amazing rifle: its rate of fire is incredible, its lethal efficiency breathtaking - and Rhoodie guarantees unlimited quantities to the Confederates. The name of the weapon is the AK-47.
-
-
Loved the book but...
- By Tami A. on 10-28-16
By: Harry Turtledove
-
Bombs Away
- By: Harry Turtledove
- Narrated by: Henry Stozier
- Length: 17 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From "the master of alternate history" comes a new trilogy that reimagines a mid-20th century in which General MacArthur, without bothering to consult President Truman, detonates nuclear warheads in several Manchurian cities after China enters the Korean War. In his acclaimed novels of alternate history, Harry Turtledove has scrutinized the twisted soul of the 20th century, from the forces that set World War I in motion to the rise of fascism in the decades that followed.
-
-
This Bomb's a dud
- By Dallas Huybregts on 09-27-16
By: Harry Turtledove
-
American Empire
- Blood and Iron
- By: Harry Turtledove
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 24 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1920, as veterans question the very nation they fought for, socialist Upton Sinclair challenges Teddy Roosevelt for the presidency. And in the defeated Confederacy, a fiery racist whips his followers into a frenzy.
-
-
Please offer more Turtledove books
- By emdefmek on 06-13-08
By: Harry Turtledove
-
Days of Infamy: A Novel of Alternate History
- By: Harry Turtledove
- Narrated by: John Allen Nelson
- Length: 19 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On December 7, 1941, the Japanese launched an attack against U.S. naval forces stationed in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. But what if the Japanese followed up their air assault with an invasion and occupation of Hawaii? This is the question explored by Harry Turtledove in Days of Infamy, with frightening implications.
-
-
Could not finish it
- By Marion M Miller on 01-09-14
By: Harry Turtledove
-
American Front
- The Great War, Book 1
- By: Harry Turtledove
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 24 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hugo Award winner Harry Turtledove is the master of alternate history. In American Front he envisions World War I as it may have been if fought on American soil. The United States and Germany clash with the Confederacy, France, and Britain as the machines of modern warfare litter the landscape with carnage. Meanwhile, oppressed southern blacks head toward a fateful confrontation.
-
-
Cassette Recording?
- By Robert on 07-23-20
By: Harry Turtledove
-
Through Darkest Europe
- By: Harry Turtledove
- Narrated by: Pete Sapsis
- Length: 11 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Senior investigator Khalid al-Zarzisi is a modern man, a product of the unsurpassed educational systems of North Africa and the Middle East. Liberal, tolerant, and, above all, rich, the countries and cultures of North Africa and the Middle East have dominated the globe for centuries. But one region has festered for decades: Europe. Now, Khalid has been sent to Rome, ground zero of backwater discontent. He and his partner Dawud have been tasked with figuring out how to protect the tinpot Grand Duke, the impoverished Pope, and the overall status quo.
-
-
The world turned upside down.
- By Anonymous User on 02-12-19
By: Harry Turtledove
-
Three Miles Down
- By: Harry Turtledove
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 10 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It's 1974, and Jerry Stieglitz is a grad student in marine biology at UCLA with a side gig selling short stories to science fiction magazines, just weeks away from marrying his longtime fiancée. Then his life is upended by grim-faced men from three-letter agencies who want him to join a top-secret "Project Azorian" in the middle of the north Pacific Ocean—and they really don't take "no" for an answer. Further, they're offering enough money to solve all of his immediate problems.
-
-
Mistitled
- By Peter Wombat on 01-16-23
By: Harry Turtledove
-
Joe Steele
- By: Harry Turtledove
- Narrated by: Richard Poe
- Length: 16 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
President Herbert Hoover has failed America. The Great Depression that rose from the ashes of the 1929 stock market crash still casts its dark shadow over the country. Despairing and desperate, the American people hope one of the potential Democratic candidates - New York governor Franklin D. Roosevelt and California congressman Joe Steele - can get the nation on the road to recovery.
-
-
Turtledove Knocks It Out Of The Park!
- By Michael on 05-01-15
By: Harry Turtledove
-
Colonization: Second Contact
- Colonization, Book 1
- By: Harry Turtledove
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 28 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the extraordinary Worldwar tetralogy, set against the backdrop of World War II, Harry Turtledove, whom Publishers Weekly has called the "Hugo-winning master of alternate SF," wove an explosive saga of world powers locked in conflict against an enemy from the stars.
-
-
A great title poorly presented
- By Magnus on 06-27-12
By: Harry Turtledove
-
The Man with the Iron Heart
- By: Harry Turtledove
- Narrated by: William Dufris
- Length: 20 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the real world, Reinhard Heydrich, the number-two man in the SS and an architect of the Holocaust, was assassinated in Czechoslovakia in May 1942. In The Man with the Iron Heart, Heydrich survives that fated assassination attempt, only to hatch an insurgency as insidious as anything conceived by Osama bin Laden.
-
-
Iraq/Afghanistan Overlaid in post WWII Germany
- By Daniel O. Buchholz on 09-01-12
By: Harry Turtledove
-
Ruled Britannia
- By: Harry Turtledove
- Narrated by: Nigel Patterson
- Length: 21 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this novel of alternative history from best-selling author Harry Turtledove, the Spanish Armada has conquered England, King Phillip holds the English throne, and Elizabeth I languishes as a prisoner in the Tower of London. Meanwhile, in London, a mysterious stranger approaches young playwright William Shakespeare with an offer that could change the course of history.
-
-
Good Story
- By Matthew B. on 07-18-19
By: Harry Turtledove
-
In the Presence of Mine Enemies
- By: Harry Turtledove
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 18 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the 21st century, Germany's Third Reich continues to thrive after its victory in World War II - keeping most of Europe and North America under its heel. But within the heart of the Nazi regime, a secret lives. Under a perfect Aryan facade, Jews survive - living their lives, raising their families, and fearing discovery....
-
-
One of his best works
- By brian on 03-31-19
By: Harry Turtledove
-
Supervolcano
- Eruption
- By: Harry Turtledove
- Narrated by: Jim Frangione
- Length: 15 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A supervolcanic eruption in Yellowstone Park sends lava and mud flowing toward populated areas, and clouds of ash drifting across the country. The fallout destroys crops and livestock, clogs machinery, and makes cities uninhabitable. Those who survive find themselves caught in an apocalyptic catastrophe in which humanity has no choice but to rise from the ashes and recreate the world.
-
-
Jerky horrible narration.
- By Ann on 04-23-12
By: Harry Turtledove
-
1901
- By: Robert Conroy
- Narrated by: L.J. Ganser
- Length: 14 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The year is 1901. Germany's navy is the second largest in the world; their army, the most powerful. But with the exception of a small piece of Africa and a few minor islands in the Pacific, Germany is without an empire. Kaiser Wilhelm II demands that the United States surrender its newly acquired territories: Guam, Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the Philippines. President McKinley indignantly refuses, so with the honor and economic future of the Reich at stake, the Kaiser launches an invasion of the United States, striking first on Long Island.
-
-
Very Good Performance
- By Thomas Stephenson on 02-05-20
By: Robert Conroy
Critic reviews
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
Hitler's War
- By: Harry Turtledove
- Narrated by: John Allen Nelson
- Length: 17 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The New York Times best-selling master of alternate history delivers the captivating first novel in his new World War II series. Harry Turtledove imagines how the war in Europe would have ended had British prime minister Chamberlain refused to allow Hitler's annexation of the Sudetenland.
-
-
Interesting
- By B Daigle on 01-04-10
By: Harry Turtledove
-
In the Presence of Mine Enemies
- By: Harry Turtledove
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 18 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the 21st century, Germany's Third Reich continues to thrive after its victory in World War II - keeping most of Europe and North America under its heel. But within the heart of the Nazi regime, a secret lives. Under a perfect Aryan facade, Jews survive - living their lives, raising their families, and fearing discovery....
-
-
One of his best works
- By brian on 03-31-19
By: Harry Turtledove
-
American Front
- The Great War, Book 1
- By: Harry Turtledove
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 24 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hugo Award winner Harry Turtledove is the master of alternate history. In American Front he envisions World War I as it may have been if fought on American soil. The United States and Germany clash with the Confederacy, France, and Britain as the machines of modern warfare litter the landscape with carnage. Meanwhile, oppressed southern blacks head toward a fateful confrontation.
-
-
Cassette Recording?
- By Robert on 07-23-20
By: Harry Turtledove
-
American Empire
- Blood and Iron
- By: Harry Turtledove
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 24 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1920, as veterans question the very nation they fought for, socialist Upton Sinclair challenges Teddy Roosevelt for the presidency. And in the defeated Confederacy, a fiery racist whips his followers into a frenzy.
-
-
Please offer more Turtledove books
- By emdefmek on 06-13-08
By: Harry Turtledove
-
Return Engagement
- Settling Accounts, Book 1
- By: Harry Turtledove
- Narrated by: Paul Costanzo
- Length: 25 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1914, they called it The Great War, and few could imagine anything worse. For nearly three decades, a peace forged in blood and fatigue has held sway in North America. Now, Japan dominates the Pacific, the Russian Tsar rules Alaska, and England, under Winston Churchill, chafes for a return to its former glory. But behind the façade of world order, America is a bomb waiting to go off. Jake Featherston, the megalomaniacal leader of the Confederate States of America, is just the man to light the fuse.
-
-
Need Guidall back!!
- By William on 06-29-16
By: Harry Turtledove
-
How Few Remain
- A Novel of the Second War Between the States
- By: Harry Turtledove
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 24 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the master of alternate history comes an epic of the second Civil War. It was an epoch of glory and success, of disaster and despair. 1881: A generation after the South won the Civil War, America writhed once more in the bloody throes of battle. Furious over the annexation of key Mexican territory, the United States declared total war against the Confederate States of America in 1881.
-
-
A Civil War Alternate History Classic! Fantastic!
- By Michael on 10-06-12
By: Harry Turtledove
-
Hitler's War
- By: Harry Turtledove
- Narrated by: John Allen Nelson
- Length: 17 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The New York Times best-selling master of alternate history delivers the captivating first novel in his new World War II series. Harry Turtledove imagines how the war in Europe would have ended had British prime minister Chamberlain refused to allow Hitler's annexation of the Sudetenland.
-
-
Interesting
- By B Daigle on 01-04-10
By: Harry Turtledove
-
In the Presence of Mine Enemies
- By: Harry Turtledove
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 18 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the 21st century, Germany's Third Reich continues to thrive after its victory in World War II - keeping most of Europe and North America under its heel. But within the heart of the Nazi regime, a secret lives. Under a perfect Aryan facade, Jews survive - living their lives, raising their families, and fearing discovery....
-
-
One of his best works
- By brian on 03-31-19
By: Harry Turtledove
-
American Front
- The Great War, Book 1
- By: Harry Turtledove
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 24 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hugo Award winner Harry Turtledove is the master of alternate history. In American Front he envisions World War I as it may have been if fought on American soil. The United States and Germany clash with the Confederacy, France, and Britain as the machines of modern warfare litter the landscape with carnage. Meanwhile, oppressed southern blacks head toward a fateful confrontation.
-
-
Cassette Recording?
- By Robert on 07-23-20
By: Harry Turtledove
-
American Empire
- Blood and Iron
- By: Harry Turtledove
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 24 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1920, as veterans question the very nation they fought for, socialist Upton Sinclair challenges Teddy Roosevelt for the presidency. And in the defeated Confederacy, a fiery racist whips his followers into a frenzy.
-
-
Please offer more Turtledove books
- By emdefmek on 06-13-08
By: Harry Turtledove
-
Return Engagement
- Settling Accounts, Book 1
- By: Harry Turtledove
- Narrated by: Paul Costanzo
- Length: 25 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1914, they called it The Great War, and few could imagine anything worse. For nearly three decades, a peace forged in blood and fatigue has held sway in North America. Now, Japan dominates the Pacific, the Russian Tsar rules Alaska, and England, under Winston Churchill, chafes for a return to its former glory. But behind the façade of world order, America is a bomb waiting to go off. Jake Featherston, the megalomaniacal leader of the Confederate States of America, is just the man to light the fuse.
-
-
Need Guidall back!!
- By William on 06-29-16
By: Harry Turtledove
-
How Few Remain
- A Novel of the Second War Between the States
- By: Harry Turtledove
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 24 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the master of alternate history comes an epic of the second Civil War. It was an epoch of glory and success, of disaster and despair. 1881: A generation after the South won the Civil War, America writhed once more in the bloody throes of battle. Furious over the annexation of key Mexican territory, the United States declared total war against the Confederate States of America in 1881.
-
-
A Civil War Alternate History Classic! Fantastic!
- By Michael on 10-06-12
By: Harry Turtledove
What listeners say about The War That Came Early: West and East
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
- Thomas
- 10-08-10
War that came early
I gave up after about seven hours. It was hard to follow a story line when the switch from one group story line to another happened so often. I love most of his work but this one was too hard for me to handle. Part of the problem might be the sound quality which was not up to the standards I am accustomed to from your audio.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 09-16-23
Good Worldbuilding
Unlike the 13 year old review at the top of the list for this title, I quite like how the book jumps from perspective to perspective. It gives a good sense of the world at large while not devolving into pure exposition. You really feel for these characters, and when one of them meets their end, it hold real weight to lose a voice you’ve been following from the start. Turtledove can be campy, sure, but it’s in a way I still love.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
- Theodore
- 08-24-10
Alternate history and elegant story-telling
Even if you don't hear stem-winder lectures (sermons) so often nowadays about the Munich betrayal of Czechoslovakia ("peace in our time" was never quite the same, even as a prayer), there are abstract arguments - Britain had only just begun to build modern fighters, would the German army command have taken action to dump Hitler, was the German build-up itself ready to fight, etc.
Harry Turtledove makes you forget whatever you thought you knew, including real WW II history, and his cast of seriously developed characters live a story where neither you nor they know how it will turn out, let alone details.
His trademark effortless mastery of details runs from the motor, armor and weapons on a panzer Mark 1 or Mark 2, or the early anti-tank weapons (think a .50 calibre machine gun pretending to be a rifle; and here I found the LAAW and 3.5 inch rocket frustrating ;-) through Jewish life in Hitler's Germany. He invents Czech soldiers who fought hard in their own country, and escaped to fight in France - imagine "Good Soldier Schweik' with the same character but with his own country and fighting to keep it.
I just finished the second volume, and will re-audit the first, because Turtledove's prose and imagination richly reward the second reading.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Chris B
- 01-20-19
Just one thing
Chapter 9 repeats the same sentence 5 times in a row. otherwise great listen for anyone!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
- Augustus T. White
- 08-09-10
Good, but not one his best
Turtledove is never bad, but I wish that this one had been better. This volume was written to the usual Turtledove formula. If you don't know what that is, you have many hours of excellent reading ahead of you. However, this part of the tale is too much like the real history of World War II. Unlike Turtledove's long series based on a Confederate victory in the Civil War, none of the viewpoint characters is a political leader. As a result, the stories in this book are not so different from any WW II stories of ordinary people. The military positions are different, of course, but the day-to-day stories are about the same as those I heard from everyone in my parents' generation.
Don't let my whining put you off, though. Turtledove is still one of the best story-tellers around. I'd hoped for better. I'm just praising with faint damns.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Michael
- 09-23-12
Alternate History Buffs, Be Warned...
I love Harry turtledove's writing. Especially his alternate history work. If you haven't reAd, "How Few Remain," you're missing out on why alternative history as one of the best ways to understand actual history. He brings in a subtle, tiny change that ultimately changes the course of history in a dramatic way. We'll he's done it here in the work, and I'm pleased to say, it's intriguing and worth a review.
So, let's.
Harry's sometimes moved off alternate history for aliens, magic and alternate dimensions. Not bad, but frankly, this type of his work we're reviewing is where he SHINES.
Here's World War Two, one of my favorite times in history - So much so, I took college courses on the period. AND wrote a lengthy, in-depth work on Albert Speer, Hitler's architect. Why am I telling you this? Here's why - I know the time in which the author is writing. It contains HUGE events, twisting plots within plots in various governments, political deceptions, military lies, supreme sacrifices, countless losses, unsung heroes... the list goes on and on. AND. This was the first war that finally could be captured properly on photos, film, radio and QUICKLY, compared to previous wars. When it comes to World War Two, you can read a lifetime, and miss quite a bit. It's well documented, and so any alternate history effort can be truly scrutinized. It has to be researched to succeed.
Well, such is the case in this work. It's exceptional. It's a sit on the edge of your seat, waiting for the rest kind of audiobook, type listen. At least it was for me.
Here's British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, making a different decision based on simple turns of events, that change the timing and direction of Hitler's starting the war. Go read the synopsis, and maybe google the period. If you do, and you get this book, you'll agree that it reads like actual history, and in stirring fashion.
Again, I NEVER give away plots, favorite characters, nor events in my reviews. I consider that ruining the discovery, if you will, of the work. That's similar to telling you Darth Vader is Luke Skywalker's father before you read the "The Empire Strikes Back." I WILL however, give you an overview of the tone and where you'll head. Fair enough? Good . Let's move along, then.
As a reader, strap in, because you're going to be hearing the intertwining stories of leaders in different nations, in different governments, and making NEW decisions based on the accumulating changes, and it's worth the listen, to say the least. I said leaders, which can be politicians, soldiers, wives, pilots and more, but all having some impact on the storyline. From the "in the trenches" grit of the war, to the command centers that moved nations into battle, to the subterfuge often hidden in dank alleys and doorways, this audiobook takes you on a great journey. You don't have to be a history buff to enjoy this audiobook. This is action, history, and WHAT IF, all thrown together in one. You don't even have to LIKE history to enjoy this book. It makes you wonder what happens next, and makes you want more. That's what a good novel SHOULD do.
And. It's the first of four books in the series. I LOVE series, as you can tell from my reviews here at Audible. If I'm going to dedicate my listening time to an author's work, it should be more than just a few hours of enjoyment. Turtledove delivers in the War That Came Early. So much so, that I've already thrown down my hard-earned credits for the rest of the audiobooks in the series. If you know me, that says something huge about the author and his or her work.
It's my pleasure to recommend this audiobook to Audible's listeners.
Well done, Harry.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Michael
- 06-26-11
Not his best.
This story starts off messy, becomes a little interesting, has a glimpse of plot twist only to end up following the same path as WWII in fact. This story needed work and it feels like a draft of what could had been more fascinating. Perhaps rather than the soldiers point of view, the leaders actions might have been more interesting. Not happy Harry.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!