"[Harry Turtledove] handles his huge cast with admirable skill. The
insights into racial politics elevate this novel to a status above mere
entertainment, although it provides that aplenty."--Publishers
Weekly
It's 1941, and an alliance of peace holds in check the most powerful
nations of the world--but it is an uneasy peace. Japan dominates the
Pacific, the Russian tsar rules Alaska, and England, under Winston
Churchill, chafes for a return to its former glory.
Behind this façade of world order, America is a bomb waiting to explode.
Jake Featherston, the megalomaniacal leader of the Confederate States of
America, is just the man to light the fuse. Opposite him is Al Smith, a
Socialist U.S. president in the Philadelphia White House. Smith is a
living symbol of hope for a nation that has been through the hell of war
and depression.
Featherston and his Freedom Party are determined to conquer their
Northern neighbor at any cost. After crushing a Negro rebellion in his
own nation, Featherston sends Confederate army planes to attack
Philadelphia. In the aftermath of the CSA blitzkrieg, the war machine
spins a vortex of destruction, betrayal, and fury that no one--not even
Jake Featherston himself--can control.
"Turtledove plays heady games with actual history, scattering object
lessons and bitter ironies along the way. [Return Engagement
features] strong, complex characters against a sweeping alt-historical
background."--Kirkus Reviews
"Another absorbing installment of [Turtledove's] character-centered
alternate-history saga."--Booklist
