Britannia's Fist: From Civil War to World War
By Peter G. Tsouras
ISBN 978-1-57488-823-2
Four stars out of five.
Pros: Superb research, unique POD, interesting story
Cons: A bit of weaponry fetish, may not be suitable for casual readers, dashes of Ameriwank
Britannia's Fist: From Civil War to World War is not a book about the Trent Affair. And given the number of alternate history books released in recent years (1862, Stars and Stripes series, etc.) that have revolved around that subject, I immediately gave Tsouras extra points upon cracking this book open. Instead of just another Ameriwank fantasy that has Gatling guns, repeating rifles, and ironclad warships magically produced and used by the most effective commanders in the Union by the end of 1861, what I found was a well-researched, interesting story with at least a semi-plausible backstory. Any potential reader should be warned that this is just the first book in a planned trilogy, however.
Rather than the Trent Affair, Tsouras chooses the diplomatic conflict surrounding the construction of the Laird Rams, a series of ironclad commerce raiders constructed in British shipyards for the Confederate States of America. In our history, American diplomacy and the desire of the British government to avoid war caused the seizure of the rams before they could be turned over to the British government. Here, that government is slightly slower to act, and an American ship attacks the first of the ironclads in British waters before it can be outfitted with guns and a full crew. A British ship attempts to intervene, and is sunk in the process. The public on both sides of the Atlantic is inflamed, and the war is on.
Unusually for an alternate history novel, which tends to assume a bit of familiarity with the subject by its readers, Tsouras spends a good quarter of the book establishing backstory and setting the scene. Given the relative obscurity of his point of departure from our history, however, the words are well spent. Particularly nice is a foreward in which he partially explains why he chose this subject. I assume that we'll see future volumes building upon the backstory established in this first volume, as there isn't much character development in the book -- Tsouras balances his time among three different theatres of war, and two others are hinted at.
That balancing act forces Tsouras to spread himself thin in showing readers the overall course of the war, and at just 255 pages (including approximately 30 of appendices and footnotes), I felt I didn't get as much bang for my buck as I hoped. This can be made up in future volumes, but if Tsouras spends too much time in the next volume recounting what we've learned here, it may limit what he's able to cover in the overall series. The footnotes and appendices are extremely useful for someone hoping to find out more, and there are dozens of allohistorical notes that provide hints of the future story.
Because the book is mostly written from the angle of a history recounting the war, we don't get much characterization. That fact may have prevented Tsouras from falling into the typical alternate history author's trap of giving past characters modern morals -- or Tsouras may be savvy enough to avoid falling into that trap. I simply can't tell at this point. That isn't the case with Tsouras' non-human characters -- the weapons used by the combatants.
I use the phrase "non-human characters" for the simple fact that far more attention is devoted to the details of Dahlgren Guns and Armstrong cannon than President Lincoln or the other figures who appear in the story. Tsouras' attention to these "characters" extends to the point of him seeming to set the stage for faster technological development of weapons -- Gatling Guns, repeating rifles, etc. -- in future books. He does manage to put this into the context of historical characters, however, and gives at least some basis for the movements in that direction.
In doing so, Tsouras avoids falling into the trap of Harry Harrison's Stars and Stripes Forever trilogy -- to which I think this series can be compared. Both deal with British/American conflicts during the Civil War, both will involve the quicker development of technology, and both (likely) deal with American victories. Although this is only the first book in the trilogy, Tsouras' writing heavily foreshadows an American victory in the war, even at this early point in the overall story.
Fortunately, the foreshadowing and characterization isn't absurd as it was in the Stars and Stripes trilogy. Tsouras seems to have a well-researched series in the works here, and if it can keep from advancing technology too quickly (or if it can at least provide enough justification for such a move) and if it can avoid falling into the bombastic Americanism of Harrison's series, this could be Tsouras' best work yet.
I'd recommend alternate history fans with an interest in the Civil War pick this up, but I'd warn alternate history fans in general or Civil War history fans in general to be wary of buying this at full price.
By Peter G. Tsouras
ISBN 978-1-57488-823-2
Four stars out of five.
Pros: Superb research, unique POD, interesting story
Cons: A bit of weaponry fetish, may not be suitable for casual readers, dashes of Ameriwank
Britannia's Fist: From Civil War to World War is not a book about the Trent Affair. And given the number of alternate history books released in recent years (1862, Stars and Stripes series, etc.) that have revolved around that subject, I immediately gave Tsouras extra points upon cracking this book open. Instead of just another Ameriwank fantasy that has Gatling guns, repeating rifles, and ironclad warships magically produced and used by the most effective commanders in the Union by the end of 1861, what I found was a well-researched, interesting story with at least a semi-plausible backstory. Any potential reader should be warned that this is just the first book in a planned trilogy, however.
Rather than the Trent Affair, Tsouras chooses the diplomatic conflict surrounding the construction of the Laird Rams, a series of ironclad commerce raiders constructed in British shipyards for the Confederate States of America. In our history, American diplomacy and the desire of the British government to avoid war caused the seizure of the rams before they could be turned over to the British government. Here, that government is slightly slower to act, and an American ship attacks the first of the ironclads in British waters before it can be outfitted with guns and a full crew. A British ship attempts to intervene, and is sunk in the process. The public on both sides of the Atlantic is inflamed, and the war is on.
Unusually for an alternate history novel, which tends to assume a bit of familiarity with the subject by its readers, Tsouras spends a good quarter of the book establishing backstory and setting the scene. Given the relative obscurity of his point of departure from our history, however, the words are well spent. Particularly nice is a foreward in which he partially explains why he chose this subject. I assume that we'll see future volumes building upon the backstory established in this first volume, as there isn't much character development in the book -- Tsouras balances his time among three different theatres of war, and two others are hinted at.
That balancing act forces Tsouras to spread himself thin in showing readers the overall course of the war, and at just 255 pages (including approximately 30 of appendices and footnotes), I felt I didn't get as much bang for my buck as I hoped. This can be made up in future volumes, but if Tsouras spends too much time in the next volume recounting what we've learned here, it may limit what he's able to cover in the overall series. The footnotes and appendices are extremely useful for someone hoping to find out more, and there are dozens of allohistorical notes that provide hints of the future story.
Because the book is mostly written from the angle of a history recounting the war, we don't get much characterization. That fact may have prevented Tsouras from falling into the typical alternate history author's trap of giving past characters modern morals -- or Tsouras may be savvy enough to avoid falling into that trap. I simply can't tell at this point. That isn't the case with Tsouras' non-human characters -- the weapons used by the combatants.
I use the phrase "non-human characters" for the simple fact that far more attention is devoted to the details of Dahlgren Guns and Armstrong cannon than President Lincoln or the other figures who appear in the story. Tsouras' attention to these "characters" extends to the point of him seeming to set the stage for faster technological development of weapons -- Gatling Guns, repeating rifles, etc. -- in future books. He does manage to put this into the context of historical characters, however, and gives at least some basis for the movements in that direction.
In doing so, Tsouras avoids falling into the trap of Harry Harrison's Stars and Stripes Forever trilogy -- to which I think this series can be compared. Both deal with British/American conflicts during the Civil War, both will involve the quicker development of technology, and both (likely) deal with American victories. Although this is only the first book in the trilogy, Tsouras' writing heavily foreshadows an American victory in the war, even at this early point in the overall story.
Fortunately, the foreshadowing and characterization isn't absurd as it was in the Stars and Stripes trilogy. Tsouras seems to have a well-researched series in the works here, and if it can keep from advancing technology too quickly (or if it can at least provide enough justification for such a move) and if it can avoid falling into the bombastic Americanism of Harrison's series, this could be Tsouras' best work yet.
I'd recommend alternate history fans with an interest in the Civil War pick this up, but I'd warn alternate history fans in general or Civil War history fans in general to be wary of buying this at full price.
