Missive #306

Alternate Generals (1998) is a collection of short alternate history stories, edited by Harry Turtledove, Roland J. Green and Martin H. Greenberg. It includes Turtledove’s own short story, The Phantom Tolbukhin.

Many of the stories deal with key battles of various ancient and modern wars going differently than in OTL [original timeline] because a general took a different decision, or because a different person was in the specific position. In several of the stories, various generals (and admirals) are depicted as fighting on the opposite side to that on which they fought in OTL, or in a context completely different to that in OTL. This is a good read if you like alternative history. There are two more books in the series that I will get to in due time. A common theme in the stories of different writers is of generals trusting their instinct, taking risky initiatives to the displeasure of their superiors – and achieving major victories.

Another theme common to several stories is of generals turned statesmen reviewing their respective lives at an old age and (in some stories) being given a chance to go back and correct mistakes.

A few of the stories are not technically alternate history, but are secret histories with possible elements of fantasy.

The cover picture of a Roman soldier in the turret of a tank does not correspond to any of the actual stories in the collection. — Harry Turtledove Wiki

I have quoted the last two paragraphs from a very good posting, Who Turned Off The Gaslight, by James Howard Kunstler. I suggest that you read it all.

 Last week’s debate gave away the game. It had the effect of finally turning off the gaslight that the news media has been shining over the republic lo these many years. They can no longer pretend that this president is anything close to okay in body and mind. They can’t annul the gaslighted public’s delayed realization that they’ve been subject to a concerted program of deliberate lying for a long long time.

     So now, inveterate pretenders and liars, such as Jake Tapper of CNN and Maggie Haberman of The New York Times — and many others — have to pretend that they were innocently duped into supporting all the turpitudes of the Democratic Party / Deep State axis-of-evil. It is really hard to imagine that they can successfully rehabilitate their reputations. They have done immense harm to our country. It’s hard to see how the Democratic Party might survive, too, no matter who they finally put up for election this year. Of course, there’s still plenty of time left for them to destroy the country altogether. Just keep giving American missiles to Ukraine to fire into Russia and see what happens.