Valet Reader

The Guns of the South by Harry Turtledove

Turtledove sounds like the surname of an author who writes romance novels. Just thought I’d throw that out there.

Shabam! That’s kind of how this book hits you. Pretend the South had actually won the Civil War (I know, it’s pretty hard, but try). How would things be different? I tell you what, it would sure as hell be hard to imagine Obama being president. Oh yeah, imagine the South having won the Civil War with the aide of the AK-47 assault rifle. But, but, but… that’s not fair! Well, in Turtledove’s interpretation of how the South defeated the North, that’s just how they did it.

I was thinking about this book last night and it really actually made me start thinking of the Back to the Future movies. Two parts in particular. The sports almanac which could inevitably make someone wealthy and the whole third movie in which they travel back in time to the wild west. I don’t really feel like making all the allusions myself so I’ll leave it up to you to figure out what I’m talking about. I’d also like to point a small bit of irony. I think that irony can be found just about anywhere but I found it particularly ironic that I finished reading this book just after President Obama gave his State of the Union Address. Not too clear on the irony there, but I think it’s there.

I’ve pretty much already outlined the basis of the story but I promise you there is a lot more to it than just that. Take for example the portrayal of General Robert E. Lee. Here is a gentleman that I was taught in school was a bad man (my use of the English language is amazing isn’t it?). What Turtledove has done in this novel is portray the war through Lee’s eyes and given some context to the war behind the slavery conflict. Beyond the motivations for the war that we all know about (slavery, cessation from the Union), Turtledove also brings to light some of those which are less commonly known to those of us who haven’t not really studied the civil war (aka me). Lee is not the only historical personality present in the novel. It’s quite evident that Turtledove went to lengths to uncover the philosophies and personalities of other civil war notables like Abe Lincoln, Jefferson Davis and Nathan Bedford Forrest.

The story also is told from the perspective of a confederate soldier, Nate Caudell. Caudell, who was actually a soldier and served in the 47th North Carolina (according to Turtledove’s Historical Notes) tells the story from the front lines. The soldier’s perspective helps put everything into context, where everything in Lee’s world is very proper, and Caudell’s, well, his is very rudimentary. I will willfully and gratefully admit that I’m glad to be alive now and not then as the detailed daily life depicted in this novel is really not all that becoming.

I’m not going to touch on where the AK-47′s come from and how they get to the battlefield. It’s more fun if I leave that bit up to you. Clearly it’s an integral part of the story and for me to just up and say it would be a dastardly deed.

This story certainly peaked my interest in the civil war. Enough so that I would start reading non-fiction accounts of it, I don’t think so. But, it was fun nonetheless. There is certainly a few twists that you don’t anticipate and they’re pretty fun to see develop.

Maybe you’ll come away thinking that Robert E. Lee wasn’t such an asshole.