WWII starts with racist Featherstone's CSA lining up beside Hitler's Germany. This was back when HT was considered more liberal than he seems now. ( )

This is the eighth book in Turtledove'series though it's sort of being marketed as the first in a trilogy. It is not a suitable entry point to this universe. Even long time readers of this series will find this book annoying.

It exhibits all the usual, unfortunate features of Turtledove's padded novels. The Homeric character epithets are frequently repeated. There's very little onstage battle action for a series about war, and all the important battles are given a worm's eye view. There are frequent puns and ironic turns of phrases -- here German Nazi phrases find their way in to the conversations of Freedom Party people.

Unlike his Worldwar series which featured many historical characters, the only ones of note here are General Patton leading the Confederate blitzkrieg which takes him to Lake Erie, General McArthur (who seems to be doing this world's version of Inchon by landing at the mouth of the James River), Louis Armstrong (who, after being forced to entertain frontline troops, makes a break with his band to USA lines), and President Al Smith who dies and is replaced by LaFollette.

The war outside the American theater is interesting but only briefly covered with Russia's Czar battling, with the British, the USA's ally Germany and Japan's empire building in the Pacific. But there's precious little alternate history speculation in a book, however fast reading, that's 623 pages long. The relationship between the USA and its troublesome Utah Mormons is the most interesting feature of this series.

But this book adds new annoyances. Several of the characters say things which are not that insightful but are hailed as such by fellow characters. Their "insights" just come off as clumsy ways for Turtledove to foreshadow and explicate via dialogue. And not only do we get the usual long interior monologues. We get references to the thoughts the characters don't entertain. This is a way to highlight the most striking feature of the book: the vicious racism or casual indifference of the characters, with the exception of USA Congresswoman Flora Blackford, to blacks. Hipolito Rodriguez, a character we've come to like, has disturbingly little problem committing genocide. And that, the psychology of genocide, is the main theme of this book. ( )

I enjoyed this book a lot. I liked the move into WWII, and how it was started by the South. I like the set up of this series, with different points of view describing life over an extended period of time. I am just not a fan of how characters repeat themselves so much. It is almost as if the author thinks we might forget something they said last time that character was describing life. Overall a good read, just read the previous 7 books first. ( )

It occurred to me that this Timeline-191 series is like a big ol' soap opera. The books jump between dozens of characters, each caught up in their own little stories, which together make up a larger tale. I was impressed by the format in the first volume that I read of this series, now it seems like just another formula. There are times I get tired hearing that Scipio once served as the head butler for Anne Colleton, or that Mary Pomeroy's brother was unjustly executed by the occupying American troops during the Great War. But, I keep on reading. Like a junkie, I went out and borrowed this next volume, even though I have a number of other half-read books clamoring for my attention. What a wretched man I am! Anyway, on to the book. Return Engagement starts the Settling Accounts four-parter, the story of World War II in a world where the Confederate States of America won the Civil War and remained an independent nation. The year is 1941 and June 22nd becomes the day that will live in infamy. The president of the CSA has launched his attack on the United States, sending bombers over Philadelphia and tanks and troops into Ohio. The plan is to thrust up to Lake Erie and cut the USA in half. The question is, will the USA be up to the challenge of thwarting President Featherston's plan? Or will they pay the price of relaxing in the glory of their victory in the Great War?
--J. ( )

Poorly written, repetitive expressions and comments, anachronistic expressions such as "crime against humanity". Mass production writing results in poor quality. Interesting basic idea, poorly carried out. ( )