Posted on 02/25/2021 7:46:31 AM PST by Swarthy Greek Immigrant
I ran across Harry Turtledove's Twitter feed and it turns out he is an Trump hating super liberal loon. He just accused Sen Josh Hawley of being a Nazi and that was the final straw for me.
I am pretty sure most (probably 90%) of his reading audience aka customers tend to be men who fall on the right of the political spectrum.
Stop making this liberal and other liberal scum any money. So if I may humbly ask for a boycott against Harry Turtledove. I won't post links to his Twitter and I am pretty sure it is his account but he also wrote an anti Trump book - so even if it was not his Twitter that is good enough for me to boycott him for life and I hope most if not all of you agree.
Some of his stuff I like...some is repetitive. His problem is that he sometimes has a great idea/concept, but lets it drag on for too long.
Who is Harry Turtledove? Is related to Mitch McConnell?
I don’t know if it is his Twitter for sure but on Amazon I found he wrote an anti Trump alternate history book.
Buy Turtledove’s books second hand - this way the author gets no royalty from you.
Umm, I really do admire HT’s books. Was unaware of his politics. I’ve been collecting SF books for decades — some go back to the 70’s. Am now in process of liquidating the ~5k copies.
That said, there is a way to avoid buying books from authors/outfits (e.g., Amazon) you loathe. I replaced most of my hardcopy books with electronic copies by going to : https://1lib.us/?regionChanged=&redirect=184788137 It is called ZLibrary. Easily download and read on any device. If they lack the proper format you want, just install Calibre software and convert any format into any other. All free.
I justified doing this by thinking of it as a way to create a backup of all (yes, all 5k) of the books I already bought.
I bet that’s it! You the man.
I only read one of his books years ago. I don’t like alternative history crap.
Sorry, you posted this in 'bloggers' so I assumed you have a blog.
Yeah— felt the same way about his stuff— stringing along (part of a book a year contract of linked “issues” no doubt). Turtledove his nom de plume- his parents- unknown, grandparents Romanian jewish immigrants prior to his birth in 1949. His history theses are written under Harry Norman Turtledove (which is odd, as it cannot be his real name). Anti-Nazis make great Leftist libs who fellow travel- whole generation of them. So now the AOCs and ultra Marxist are getting rid, as they always do— the socialist fellow travellers (as they are not true to the purist Commies with their doublespeak).
Guns of the South he made the interlopers from the future being Boer Afrikaners “white supremacists” so called exporting back in time AK 47s and other modern tech to the 1860’s. Which really would have changed the outcome of Gettysburg and the final northern campaign. He cast Robert E. Lee in a very different light than the current “re-writers” of the Communist Left who have cherry picked apocryphal tales of Lee’s pro-slavery (which he was not, and he was anti-Secession until he had to make a choice of his State vs. the military force which would invade to represent a political philosophy anathema to the post-Colonial colonies. Turtledove cast Lee as being against the “nazi” Afrikaners- in poetic license inasmuch as Marx wrote his manifesto in pamphlets in 1848 and Das Kapital was out in 1867. The nazis had not come into being yet relative to the 1860’s US, but the beginnings of the laborite anarcho-communist revolts were ascendant by 1870s in Europe.
As in all cases- not to jump to the commie dialect— wars have been fought over largely economic issues and lately globalist spats.
Amorality is a commonality in alt-history type writers— who are fantasists of being... “in control” of others (just like the inner heart of all progressive Lefist libs— totalitarians in thin disguise). Another one is S.M. Stirling and his Nantucket time travel series (which is huge amongst preppers— everyone thrust into early 1800’s from modern times). He descends into his dream (like a lot of these) medieval peasantry, lords ladies and these in criminal tribal gangs. Interesting series without the amorality which is un-needed in the script.
Best in alt- history is Newt Gingrich alternate Gettysburg military history— a real “if only” and “what if” factually based historical war game that would have been likely outcome had it happened (the Longstreet strategery winning).
Another helpful novel (based as it is on EMP weapons destroying US infrastructure— thrusting back to 1800’s, but machinery still able to work, unlike Stirling’s anti-physics— is, “One Second After” 2009 by American writer William R. Forstchen. Quite realistic and vulnerablities pointed out dramatically (the drug gangs running out of food in Charlotte— come up the highway to raid the mountain people). No amorality but searches for retention of morality in extemis.
I think this is the book you mean.
Remember the Alamo by Kevin D. Randle.
I took it to mean you use this space to blog.
I agree with you on the excellence of Newt Gingrich and William Forstchen’s 3 volume alternate history of the Battle of Gettysburg.
As for straight alternate or counter-factual military histories without the ‘political bent’ of most science fiction “alternate history” writers I highly recommend the books written by Peter G. Tsouras. He is a retired Army lieutenant colonel and military intelligence analyst (Soviet & Warsaw Pact). His focus is on “what if another decision had been made” by commanders. He has also written several non-fiction books on military history.
I also enjoyed retired British general Sir John Hackett’s two volumes on “The Third World War.” Although I’m a bit bias because I was a captain with the 3d Armored Division sitting 60 miles west of the Fulda Gap when it was published in 1985.
Just looking at a map of Germany/France from the 1840’s (all of the hundreds of principalities, duchies, and communes which all disappeared as a result of WWI). And the Fulda Gap— which was a major route to be defended against a potential Soviet wave (tanks, infantry) major Cold War attack, coming from East Germany, in the 1800’s was internal to the German Confederation.
Interestingly the Fulda Gap never featured as a defense position in that Confederation, because any Russian or whatever attack had it reached that far in to Germany would mean the defeat of Germany. The presence of two routes through Fulda and Alsfeld, both cities in Hesse-— is the reason for the power that Hesse retained all through those years and into WWI and II.
Frederick the II, Landgrave of Hesse rented out thousands of the professional soldiers he maintained for just that purpose the mercenary (King owned- important point) Hessians who the British brought to America and whom Gen. Washington defeated completely at the Battle of Trenton on Christmas day. Also- many of the Hessians faded away during the end of the Revolutionary War to remain in the new frontierland (like in North Carolina) who were miners (gold), and there is Mecklenburg (like the German state) county/Charlotte of today. Lot’s of those Hessians stayed around, and joined the many German protestants who had escaped Euro-Monarchists and zero future.
It’s kind of hard to boycott someone you never patronized.
The Fulda Gap, which gave a fairly open route from the Thüringerwald to Frankfurt became significant because of how Germany was divided at the end of WWII and as being the best route for a mechanized force to cut through the US Army in the 3d Armd Div’s portion of the V Corps sector, for the Soviet 8th Guards Army to and over the Rhine River on its way to France. The North German Plain was a similar route for the Soviets to cut the US supply lines based upon Bremerhaven and to get to the NATO depots in Holland and Belgium.
Maps at: https://imgur.com/d1a6tSN
https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/images/map-de-fulda-gap-6.jpg
https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/images/map-de-fulda-gap-3.jpg
https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/images/map-de-fulda-gap-5.jpg
Thanks. Was looking earlier at the defensive force structure in the Cold War in the Fulda Gap. Included “backpack” nuclear bombs to be parachuted in (by very brave paratroopers) and placed for tactical use on an advancing Soviet force. That and the Davy Crockett nuclear 2-man tripod team recoilless gun- low yield tactical. If not mistaken, there was also nuclear howitzer shells, tested in Western US desert, and atomic demolition mines deployed by US in Fulda, and the Corporal and Sergeant small guided missiles. This was deadly serious tactical positioning and planning (NATO as well).
Fulda was right at the East German/West German border,called the Inner German Border which went some 860 miles between the two.
So much history there- Napoleon went through there on way back to France from losing at Leipzig. Great links- thank you!
Like many other commenters here, I read Guns of the South and enjoyed it. Especially the honest portrayal of Lee. I have a few of Turtledove’s other books but never could get interested in them. I’ll probably just can them now.
And just a few miles west of Fulda is the small town of Schlitz on the Hahn River.
Our battalion had it as out “hold until the last.” We asked if it was about the crossing points. The CO said, “No, we have to hold it because when you’re out of Schlitz, you’re out of beer.”
Just joking.
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