Yes it was, I like the jaw dropping conclusion that the alien captain had at the end, WHAT HAVE WE DONE?
I think by the end of the next decade humans have pretty much taken over the galaxy at that point....
I had just never really thought of it from that direction before but it appears to be the way Turtledove writes all the time.
They could travel all across the galaxy at will but had zero understanding of anything above muzzle loading rifles.