- Hardcover: 330 pages
- Publisher: J-Views (21 April 2010)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 4990516524
- ISBN-13: 978-4990516529
- Product Dimensions: 14 x 21.6 x 2.2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
Beneath Gray Skies
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
David Slater, a conscript in the 1920s Army of the Confederacy, faces a dilemma. When he and his regiment were shipped to Germany to help stage a coup there, his Limey fellow-soldier Brian was acting strangely. David now has the choice of reporting his best friend to his commanding officers, or keeping quiet and just doing his job: preparing for the arrival of Bismarck, the giant Zeppelin flying Hitler and his Nazi cohorts to meet their new allies, the Confederates. Beneath Gray Skies follows the adventures of David and those around him in a past that never happened-where the Civil War never took place, and the Confederacy survived as a pariah slave-holding nation into the 20th century. Confederates, Unionists, British and Germans plot and counterplot in a tightly woven tale of espionage, treachery and romance. The cast of Beneath Gray Skies includes rogue British agent "Bloody Brian" Finch-Malloy, hard-drinking Henry Dowling, and Christopher Pole, a slave who escapes from the hell of the Confederacy-living against a backdrop that includes real historical characters. Adolf Hitler, Hermann Goering, and Dr. Hugo Eckener, the brilliant anti-Nazi Zeppelin captain, all live again in this "extraordinarily well-written piece of mind candy that becomes more and more difficult to put down" (Christopher Belton). Almost without realizing what has happened, David finds himself part of a conspiracy within the Confederacy that includes "Bloody Brian", which is working to prevent the airship's arrival in Georgia, to seize the mysterious priceless treasure on board the Bismarck, and to halt the spread of slavery to Europe. As David Slater and his President, Jefferson Davis III, confront each other on the doomed dirigible, David must ask himself once again where his loyalty lies: to his country, or to a higher morality. Beneath Gray Skies is the first published novel by Hugh Ashton, a British-born writer and journalist currently living in Kamakura, Japan.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I enjoyed this. It doesn't pretend to be great literature, but the story, based on the premise that the American Civil war was never fought and therefore that a slave owning Confederacy exists in the Thirties, is interesting and carries you along. Despite its rewriting of history, the plot is convincing and the characters well drawn.
A recommended holiday read.
A recommended holiday read.
Format:Kindle Edition
I'm not sure how I came across "Beneath Gray Skies" on Amazon but I'm really pleased that I did and having enjoyed it so much I immediately got a copy of his second book "Red Wheels Turning".
I found them to be both an enjoyable read in terms of the actual stories and fascinating because of the 'alternative history' dimension. The characters which are common to both are strong and well developed with the main character being a British secret agent ( a sort of mixture of Biggles and Bulldog Drummond if that doesn't show my age!!)
I would thoroughly both books and look forward to new book in the series....
I found them to be both an enjoyable read in terms of the actual stories and fascinating because of the 'alternative history' dimension. The characters which are common to both are strong and well developed with the main character being a British secret agent ( a sort of mixture of Biggles and Bulldog Drummond if that doesn't show my age!!)
I would thoroughly both books and look forward to new book in the series....
Format:Kindle Edition
I have always been fascinated by 'What if?' scenarios in history, where the course of history could have changed by a particular event turning out differently, such as for example, what would have been the outcome today had the Jacobite rebellion succeeded, what if Henry VIII had never met Ann Boleyn etc.
The author paints a very thorough picture of the global landscape in the event of the American Civil War never having happened, and the Confederacy surviving into the 20th century. Against this is the formation of an alliance between the Confederates and Nazi Germany in the years preceding World War II (which in the author's alternative history line will never happen).
The story unfolds mainly through the eyes of a young, intelligent but impressionable Confederate soldier with whom the reader is able to identify. The book also implicitly draws parallels between the xenophobia of the Confederates with 'Dubya' era US politics, something which appears to have made uncomfortable reading for certain readers!
If the reader can suspend belief, and immerse ones self in the alternative world picture created, this becomes a gripping and thought provoking read from beginning to end. The plot is full of intriguing twists and turns, and the story runs along at a cracking pace - highly recommended!
The author paints a very thorough picture of the global landscape in the event of the American Civil War never having happened, and the Confederacy surviving into the 20th century. Against this is the formation of an alliance between the Confederates and Nazi Germany in the years preceding World War II (which in the author's alternative history line will never happen).
The story unfolds mainly through the eyes of a young, intelligent but impressionable Confederate soldier with whom the reader is able to identify. The book also implicitly draws parallels between the xenophobia of the Confederates with 'Dubya' era US politics, something which appears to have made uncomfortable reading for certain readers!
If the reader can suspend belief, and immerse ones self in the alternative world picture created, this becomes a gripping and thought provoking read from beginning to end. The plot is full of intriguing twists and turns, and the story runs along at a cracking pace - highly recommended!
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