The Game of What If?
Alternate history writers play the game of What If? What if America had lost the Revolutionary War? What if Alexander the Great had lived to a ripe old age? What if Kennedy had backed down during the Cuban Missile Crisis? The two biggest what if questions novelists and historians tend to focus on are what if Hitler had won World War II and, of course, what if the Confederate States of America had won the Civil War? Harry Turtledove has taken on that second question in How Few Remain ( Del Rey Books, 1997). The result is a complex, entertaining and, yes, thought-provoking masterpiece of the genre.
Not Your Average Fantasy Novel
One of the things that makes alternate history so compelling is the way in which premises are couched in actual history. The aura of authenticity and familiarity readers have with famous time periods, personae and events creates a willingness to look beyond the acknowledged pale to additional possibilities, no matter the seeming "unreality" of the alternate events depicted. Alternate history (or "counter-factual" history) derives its power not from a suspension of disbelief, as do traditional fantasy and science fiction, but from an "invention of belief." That is, the more one knows about a historical event, the more one can believably alter or massage that history to suit the purposes of storytelling.
Unlike his previous Civil War fantasy, The Guns of the South ( Del Rey Books, 1992), in which white Afrikaners traveled back in time to aid the confederacy with modern weapons, How Few Remain, is, at its core, a story based on actual history that attempts to extrapolate from real beginnings. Turtledove uses Robert E. Lee's infamous lost orders on the eve of the battle of Antietam as his jumping off point.
In Turtledove's world-building Lee does not have his orders lost, the South does not lose the battle of Antietam and does go on to win the war by 1862. From this rent in the fabric of history Turtledove constructs an enjoyable and plausible portrait of two Americas, one united and one confederated. This first order counter-factual "history" simply re-imagines the results of a historical event.
The Second Order Counter-factual
Where Turtledove's writing really shines, however, is in his creation of a second order counter-factual history. That is to say, Turtledove creates a world not based merely on the result of a change in history but on all the later additional changes that arise from that single moment. In this brave new world, a defeated Abraham Lincoln splits with the Republican party and throws in with the socialists. Stonewall Jackson does not die following Chancellorsville but becomes commander in chief of a Confederate army preparing to fight the North once again in the "Second Mexican War." Mark Twain remains Samuel Clemens, a dedicated newspaperman. All that might be, could be, and Turtledove takes great pains to make it as believable as possible.
More Nearly Real Than Fictional?
Of course, as in any alternate history attempt, some of Turtledove's re-imagining works better than others. The strained relationship of George Custer and Teddy Roosevelt is an amusing conceit and Turtledove works hard at making the character of both men dovetail with the historical record. Unfortunately this means that, at times, both figures seem more caricature than actual character.
Certain historical asides, such as the introduction of military camels into the American Southwest, while perhaps justifiably "alternate," also sometimes come across as a bit of stretch. These are minor quibbles though. For the most part the details and "scaffolding" of belief are quite impressive. And Turtledove really shines is in altering the warp and woof of large events to suit his own novelistic purpose. How Few Remain is an entertaining and, yes, educational read for any serious student of alternate history.
Sources
How Few Remain, Del Rey Books, 1997
The Guns of the South, Del Rey Books, 1992
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