Second Part of my Review, 5 Jun 2004

Although the writing on the back cover was sparse, it got my interest. Rommel fighting Patton in the Battle of the Bulge...A Peace with Russia...the mass production of the ME262, the fighter plane that could have won Germany the war. It sounded too good to be true, especially as it was in a form of a novel and not an essay form.

I will say that i have not bee too disappointed by the book. The facts appear to be correct, down to the writers creating an entire fictional army division, and the do seem to have got the personalities down to a 't'. The action is fast-paced and exciting, with enough basis in history to make it more than credible, down to the way in which the SS sieze power from the plotters. In most ways it is a good book.

The reason that it did not get 5 stars is because of what i believe to be slightly unreal historical facts. (Warning- Spoilers).Would Stalin really have made a peace with a Germany that he was on the verge of defeating, and would the Germans have given away so much of their territory to an enemy that would make good use of it? I found these questions slightly disturbing in an otherwise good book, as i also found some of the characters to be unusual. A pilot who carries a whip around in his briefcase and uses it to whip slave prisoners was something that i find a little too stereotypical and melodramatic for a book based on such firm historical ground. Would Rommel have surrendered so easily... and would the Alliesd have risked WW3 by fighting the Russians, as the plot of their next book goes?

Still, apart from a few odd historical facts and a tendency for melodrama, it is a very good book and worth buying.

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An excellent alternate history novel, 1 Dec 2000

After Hitlers death Henrich Himmler seizes power and makes a seperate peace with Stalin.With General Rommel back in command of German troops in the west.Then Germany mass produces jet fighters devestating Allied airforces.

The book climaxes with massive German winter offensive against Amercian forces led by General George Patton.This book has a surprising ending.

A brilliantly written book with real historical charactors and belevable fictional charactors.

This I believe one best alternative history books ever written.

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