In his acclaimed novels of alternate history Harry Turtledove has scrutinized the twisted soul of the twentieth century from the forces that set World War I in motion to the rise of fascism in the decades that followed Now this masterly storyteller turns his eyes to the aftermath of World War II and asks In an era of nuclear posturing what if the Cold War had suddenly turned hot Bombs Away begins with President Harry Truman in desperate consultation with General Douglas MacArthur whose control of the ground war in Korea has slipped disastrously away MacArthur recognizes a stark reality The US military has been cut to the bone after victory over the Nazismdashwhile China and the USSR have built up their forces The only way to stop the Communist surge into the Korean Peninsula and save thousands of American lives is through a nuclear attack MacArthur advocates a strike on Chinese targets in Manchuria In actual history Truman rejected his generalrsquos advice here he does not The miscalculation turns into a disaster when Truman fails to foresee Russiarsquos reaction Almost instantly Stalin strikes US allies in Europe and Great Britain As the shock waves settle the two superpowers are caught in a horrifying face-off Will they attack each other directly with nuclear weapons What countries will be caught in between The fateful global drama plays out through the experiences of ordinary peoplemdashfrom a British barmaid to a Ukrainian war veteran to a desperate American soldier alone behind enemy lines in Korea For them as well as Truman Mao and Stalin the whole world has become a battleground Strategic strikes lead to massive movements of ground troops Cities are destroyed economies ravaged And on a planet under siege the sounds and sights of nuclear bombs become a grim harbinger of a new reality the struggle to survive manrsquos greatest madness Praise for Harry Turtledove ldquoTurtledove is the standard-bearer for alternate historyrdquomdashUSA Today Last Orders ldquoAll quite plausible Turtledoversquos focus on the characters serves to fill out the big picture with patient nitty-gritty detail Armchair warriors will have much to ponderrdquomdashKirkus Reviews Two Fronts ldquoA you-are-there chronicle of battle on land and sea and in the airrdquomdashTorcom Coup drsquoEtat ldquoThis is what alternative history is all aboutrdquomdashHistorical Novel Society The Big Switch ldquoThe Hugo Award winner continues to delight in exploring the world of lsquowhat ifrsquo rdquomdashLibrary Journal.
