History is changed by one small act. In an extraordinary saga of nations locked in war, master storyteller Harry Turtledove examines a very different World War II one which erupts eleven months earlier, and over Czechoslovakia rather than Poland. Now comes the final installment in this landmark series. Hitler s Plan A was to win in a hurry, striking hard and deep into France. There was no Plan B. Now the war grinds on. Countries have been forced into strange alliances. The Nazis fortify thin lines with Hungarian and Romanian troops. England, finding its footing after the suspicious death of Winston Churchill and a coup d etat, fights back in Europe and on the seas of the North Atlantic. Jews fight on both sides of the war in secret in German uniform, openly in Spain, France, and Russia. Into the standoff come new killing tools, from tanks to bazookas. In the Pacific, Japan prepares bombs filled with macabre biological concoctions to be dropped on Hawaii. For the U.S., the only enemy is Japan, as there has been no casus belli for America in Europe. Then Hitler becomes desperate and declares war on the United States. But is it too late? His own people are rising up in revolt. The German military may have to put down the violence, even perhaps bomb its own cities. In this epic drama, real men and women are shaped by the carnage, and their individual acts in turn shape history. Drawing on the gritty, personal reality of war and on a cast of unforgettable characters, Harry Turtledove has written an alternate history that intrigues, fascinates, and astounds. Praise for "Last Orders" "" From our perspective seventy years later, we re accustomed to thinking of WWII s outcome as being inevitable. Not so, says [Harry] Turtledove. . . . Disdaining broad brush strokes, Turtledove s focus on the characters serves to fill out the big picture with patient, nitty-gritty detail. It s all quite plausible. . . . Armchair warriors will have much to ponder. "Kirkus Reviews" Praise for Harry Turtledove If you like alternate histories, you re going to like this series a lot. "The San Diego Union-Tribune" "" Turtledove is the standard-bearer for alternate history. "USA Today" "Coup d Etat" "" This is what alternative history is all about. "Historical Novel Society" "The Big Switch" The Hugo Award winner continues to delight in exploring the world of what if? "Library Journal" "" "West and East" There s plenty to satisfy fans of military strategy, tactics, and armaments. "Publishers Weekly""Hitler s War" Turtledove is always good, but this return to World War II . . . is genuinely brilliant. . . . The characterizations in particular bring the book to extraordinary life. "Booklist""
Author Biography
Harry Turtledove is the award-winning author of the alternate-history works "The Man with the Iron Heart, The Guns of the South, "and "How Few Remain" (winner of the Sidewise Award for Best Novel); the War That Came Early novels: "Hitler s War, West and East, The Big Switch, " "Coup d Etat, "and" Two Fronts; "the Worldwar saga: "In the Balance, Tilting the Balance, Upsetting the Balance, " and" Striking the Balance;" the Colonization books: "Second Contact, Down to Earth, " and" Aftershocks; "the Great War epics: "American Front, Walk in Hell, " and "Breakthroughs;" the American Empire novels: "Blood & Iron, The Center Cannot Hold, "and "Victorious Opposition;" and the Settling Accounts series: "Return Engagement, Drive to the East, The Grapple, "and" In at the Death." Turtledove is married to fellow novelist Laura Frankos. They have three daughters: Alison, Rachel, and Rebecca."
