The War That Came Early The Big Swit..., Harry Turtledove
The War That Came Early The Big Swit..., Harry Turtledove
3 Rating(s)
List: $22.99 | Sale: $16.09
Club: $11.49

The War That Came Early: The Big Switch

Author: Harry Turtledove

Narrator: Todd McLaren

Unabridged: 17 hr 31 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 07/25/2011


Synopsis

In this extraordinary World War II alternate history, master storyteller Harry Turtledove begins with a big switch: what if Neville Chamberlain, instead of appeasing Hitler, had stood up to him in 1938? Enraged, Hitler reacts by lashing out at the West, promising his soldiers that they will reach Paris by the new year. They don't. Three years later, his genocidal apparatus not fully in place, Hitler has barely survived a coup, while Jews cling to survival. But England and France wonder whether the war is still worthwhile.

Weaving together a cast of characters that ranges from a brawling American fighter in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade in Spain to a woman who has seen Hitler's evil face-to-face, Harry Turtledove takes us into a world shaping up very differently in 1941. The Germans and their Polish allies have slammed into the gut of the Soviet Union in the west, while Japan pummels away in the east. In trench warfare in France, French and Czech fighters are outmanned but not outfought by their Nazi enemy. Then the stalemate is shattered. In England, Winston Churchill dies in an apparent accident, and the gray men who walk behind his funeral cortege wonder who their real enemy is. The USSR, fighting for its life, makes peace with Japan—and Japan's war with America is about to begin.

A sweeping saga of human passions, foolishness, and courage, of families and lovers and soldiers by choice and by chance, The Big Switch is a provocative, gripping, and utterly convincing work of alternate history at its best. For history buffs and fans of big, blood-and-guts fiction, Harry Turtledove delivers a panoramic clash of ideals as powerful as armies themselves.

About Harry Turtledove

Harry Turtledove (he/him) is an American fantasy and science fiction writer whom Publishers Weekly has called the "Master of Alternate History." He has received numerous awards and distinctions, including the Hugo Award for Best Novella, the HOMer Award for Short story, and the John Esthen Cook Award for Southern Fiction. Turtledove's works include the Crosstime Traffic, Worldwar, Darkness, and Opening of the World series; the stand-alone novels The House of Daniel, Fort Pillow, and Give Me Back My Legions!; and over a dozen short stories available on Tor.com. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, novelist Laura Frankos, and their four daughters.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Carol

Book after book, I keep paging through Harry Turtledove's WAR THAT CAME EARLY, hoping that something will happen. Something big, explosive, and unexpected. Some huge surprise. And over and over, NOTHING HAPPENS! Please, please, please don't make me watch the ugly French Lieutenant smoke another Gitan......more

This was another entertaining entry into this alternate World War Two series. Perhaps some may consider it spoiler territory, but with a title like "The Big Switch," I think one should be able to figure out what may occur. And if you can't; the UK and France sign a peace with Germany then side with......more

Goodreads review by Daniel

Sometimes a book falls short due to the author and sometimes due to the reader. In this case it was due to both of us. As evidenced by many passages in this book, Harry Turtledove is not a bad writer. He can build suspense and is decent at world building. But and this is a big but, he could not deli......more

Less dragging and repetitive than the previous entries in the series, so that's good. Sadly, the main plot point is absurdly unbelievable. France and England accepting a cease-fire or even a full peace treaty I could accept, actually switching sides to join Germany in a crusade against the Soviets?......more

Goodreads review by Kent

Another good book in this series, Churchill dies in a questionable car accident, and Rudolf Hess parachutes into Britain to convince the British and French to join them in fighting the Russians. The characters in this book have great realistic interactions from a German panzer crew to a Check snippe......more