
Wisely, in
our history, Truman turned down MacArthur’s request. The request for nuclear
weapons was one of the many clashes between Truman and MacArthur that
eventually led to MacArthur being fired as commander of UN forces in Korea.
However, in
Bombs Away, the first of his three-part
Hot War trilogy, Turtledove posits
that MacArthur’s request made against a Korean situation that was more
desperate. With no way out, Truman
accedes to the general’s wishes.
Both the
United States and the Soviet Union began trading cities in a drawn-out nuclear
exchange, much as described by cold war theorist Herman Khan (one of the
real-life models for the character of Dr. Strangelove) suggested might
happen. Meanwhile, conventional fighting
breaks out in Europe as the Red Army begins its drive across Germany and to the
Rhine. The action unfolds in a
frighteningly plausible fashion.

As
befitting any of his multivolume works, Turtledove presents us a wide and
diverse cast of characters, ranging from the high and mighty to the soldiers on
the front line and civilians caught in the crossfire. It’s to his continual
credit that he does not lose track of any of his characters. In a very real
way, Bombs Away is a counterpart to
the author’s other examination of the same time period, Joe Steel (reviewed earlier in this blog).
Upshot: highly
recommended. I will be looking forward to reading the next volume in the
series, Fall Out, once it’s out in
paperback (remember, I pay for my books).
What’s next?
Next month,
I will be reviewing the most recent book in Charles Stross’ the Laundry Files series, The Annihilation Score. Following that, I’ll
be exploring a trio of Robert Conroy books:
1882: Custer in Chains, Germanica,
and Red Inferno: 1945.
Meanwhile, you can purchase Elvis Saves JFK! for just 99 cents and War Plan Crimson, A Novel of Alternate History, for $2.99 and now The Key to My Heart, also $2.99 (all are free to preview). All books -- which are already on Smashword's premium distribution list -- are also available through such fine on-line retailers such as Sony, Chapters Indigo, Barnes & Noble and Apple's iTunes Store. Thanks.
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