Why I Am Tired of The South Winning the Civil War

Photo by Scott Umstattd on Unsplash

I mean in fiction, although I admit to being somewhat tired of those who insist the south run in reality.

The alternate history genre is a lot of fun, but there are two things that tend to be focused on to the point of ridiculousness:

1. The South winning the Civil War.
2. The Germans winning World War II.

Think about what these things have in common.

I Blame Harry Turtledove

So, I don’t exactly have something against Harry Turtledove (although I will admit the one time we met I didn’t much like him).

But in 1992 he published an amazing alternate history book, still his best work, entitled The Guns of the South.

In this book, the conceit is that time travelers from South Africa decide to interfere with the Civil War because, well?

Because they’re white supremacists, natch. This book says the quiet part out loud, and then Lee uses the future history to, well…decide that abolition and equality are inevitable.

The Guns of the South is far from being a racist book, although it is a bit clumsy in its anti-racism. And it is beautifully well written. (Sadly, Turtledove has not impressed me with his more recent work).