A Damned Fine War: A Novel of Alternate History

by Bill Yenne

May 1945: Having defeated Hitler, Josef Stalin sets out to conquer the world with his mighty Red Army. One man stands in his General George S. Patton, Jr. A young journalist finds herself face-to-face with a sinister conspiracy to ignite World War III in the ashes of World War II. A young GI finds himself face-to-face with the unthinkable. They are suddenly caught up in a sweeping drama with global implications Writes Charles M. Province of the General George S. Patton, Jr. Historical Society, “A Damned Fine War is A Damned Fine Book! Patton did, indeed, have the intelligence, ability, and capacity for five-star rank.” Editorial Bill Yenne’s A Damned Fine War is an action-packed, Patton-size novel. This book, a classic battle between good and evil played out on an international stage, is fast moving and entertaining. Any person interested in history will be properly moved by the what-if scenarios involving victorious armies and men of history. A great read. I highly recommend it! —Brian Sobel, Author of The Fighting Pattons I have always enjoyed counterfactual histories, but good ones are more than just entertainment. Alternative histories can make us think about what might have happened if things had turned out a little differently, and what the consequences would have been. Bill Yenne’s A Damned Fine War succeeds triumphantly on both accounts. It is an excellent read, and offers us some sobering “might have beens.” — Gary Sheffield, Professor of War Studies, University of Birmingham (UK)

Genres: Alternate History, Historical Fiction, Fiction

452 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 3, 2004

About the author

Bill Yenne is the author of several novels and over three dozen books on historical topics. He has also been a contributor to encyclopedias of both world wars.

The New Yorker wrote of Sitting Bull, his biography of the great Lakota leader, that it "excels as a study in leadership." This book was named to the number 14 spot among Amazon's 100 Best Books of the Year.

Library Journal observed that "enthusiastic World War II readers will be drawn to" his dual biography, Aces High: The Heroic Story of the Two Top Scoring American Aces of World War II.

Recently, his book Convair Deltas was named as Book of the Month by Air Classics, while his book Tommy Gun was named Pick of the Month by Shooting Illustrated.

His book Guinness: The 250 Year Quest for the Perfect Pint was listed among the top business books of the year by Cond Nast Portfolio Magazine, which rated Yenne's tome as its TOP pick for "Cocktail Conversation."

Yenne's Rising Sons: The Japanese American GIs Who Fought for the United States in World War II, was praised by Walter Boyne, former Director of the National Air & Space Museum, who called it "a fast moving... page turner," and the "best book yet written on the saga."

The Wall Street Journal wrote, when reviewing his Indian Wars: The Campaign for the American West, that Yenne writes with "cinematic vividness," and says of his work that it "has the rare quality of being both an excellent reference work and a pleasure to read."

The author lives in San Francisco, California, and on the web at www.BillYenne.com

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Reviews

[Kelly Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A darned, fun story

A fun, alternate history story that posits a Russian attack shortly after VE-Day. It’s a book I’ve come back to more than once for a good read.

That having been said, if the author had sucked Patton off any harder they would have had to change to category to Adult Erotica.

[Alicia Melvin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fast moving alternative 1945

Yenne is such a good story teller that I found myself reading for pleasure even though there are huge holes in the patterns he outlines. At one level I found myself fascinated by the emphasis of the impact on Truman and his advisers of the very early Soviet violations of Yalta in Poland. On the other hand there are a number of logistics problems that Yenne simply ignore. It is a fun read and will stimulate you to think about other alternatives.

[David Kennedy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent alternative history and engrossing military fiction

I am a fan of alternative history and this is among the best I have read. Additionally, the envisioning of Patton’s tactics against numerically superior red army units has a feeling of authenticity. I am going looking for more of Mr. Venne’s books.

[Ronald Roche · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes, you have to read this book

An absolute must read! To describe this story as an exciting, vivid page turner doesn't begin to do ADFW justice. Mr Yenne has outdone himself with this one.

[James Heckman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent story telling and character development

I'm a fan of alternate History and George Patton, so this was a no-brainer Choice and I'm glad I picked it. You will enjoy it!

[Nicholas D Landry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read!

Right up there with Turtledove! One of the best I've read in years! Hope to see more in the future.

[Harry L Skinner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good story

Excellent story. Author was true to the actual characters and developed the fictional ones very well. Story idea was fun to read.

[Charles H Berlemann Jr · Rating 1 out of 5]

I just finished this and thought it was a good attempt at a alternative history story. However, there were numerous flaws and plot holes that just kept me from seriously enjoying it. The author states that his idea and the actual departure from real history occurs on the 2nd of May 1945. Yet, numerous times through out the book it actual seems as though he starts the counter-factual earlier. For example he states that the P-80 was in squadron service by the 1st of August 1945. That isn't right since it was still being flight tested in the real world by the time the 2nd World War end. Another seems to be the fact that he has a number of ships that participate in the invasion of Southern Russia that weren't commissioned or weren't started to be built (such as the Battleship Montana and a couple more of the Essex class Aircraft carriers such as the Reprisal). This and as others have stated the inaccuracies with what both the US and Russian forces were wielding as firearms. The plot holes are just numerous. The war against the Russians are going on along with the war against the Japanese, so he has the invasion of the home islands go ahead but at the same time strips nearly all of the forces that were supposed to invade the Japanese away and puts them in Europe (including US Marines) to fight the Soviets. He ends up killing the love interest of one of his heroes and then as an afterthought brings her back to life as though he was told this was a stupid idea by an editor and ends up having a chance to really build his other hero (the US Army Sargent. The main hero seems to be Patton) beyond a typical stereotype of western cowboy. The other major plot hole seems to be after the first big battle near the opening of the book the whole Red Army just collapses upon itself and never again gives the US Army ( and the 3rd Army which is constantly mentioned) a run for their money. The Russian Generals either switch sides or kill themselves and whole armies surrender.

I am glad that I got this as a pass down from a friend and didn't actually buy this. I really, really tried to like it but it just got harder and harder to like it as I got further and further into the book. I wasn't expecting a Harold Coyle or Tom Clancy style book, but at least something that seem tighter from someone who has other book writing credentials under their belt. I am going to be wary of anything else this author writes if this is typical of his research and writing abilities.

[Elliott · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was consumed by the Patton Legend when I was younger, so when this novel came out I immediately snatched it up, consumed it and loved it for many years. But when I revisited both the legend and this novel years later I found much wrong with both. This novel ascribes to that legend as well and automatically assumes Patton's record was due in large part to a military genius rivaling the greats of history. But while Patton's drive across France was indeed impressive, he had a habit of overstretching himself, bypassing dangerous amounts of German soldiers, and floundering in more tactical minded decisions. Where caution would certainly be prudent and warranted, Patton insisted on the mad dash with disastrous consequences (see his attempt to liberate his son-in-law from a German POW camp), furthermore he was often impossible to work with being egotistical, vain, and flamboyant to the extreme. As to Yenne's take on Patton I have many problems with his conclusions. For one Stalin was not so stupid to immediately attack the Western Allies, he himself admitted this fact. Another on the technical side is that the battleship Montana which Yenne states as having sunk the Yamato, was never in any sense near completion, and would not have been completed in the time frame of this novel. Also I sincerely doubt that had the Soviets attacked Western Europe Patton could have rolled up the several million strong Soviet Army before Christmas 1945, I doubt the likelihood of Patton being appointed Supreme Allied Commander upon the death of Eisenhower, the Soviets also could not have created ballistic missiles in such a sort time, and that the Soviet generals would also learn nothing from the German tactics of the war that Patton mimics rather well. The writing style is decent enough although the scene wherein Patton has a shooting contest with a village chieftain was almost from some bad comedy film, but perhaps the worst example is the usage of "Celtic goddess" to describe the main character's love interest not once, but several times, and while Speculative fiction authors are not generally known for creating good romances, this was by far the worst I have ever read. All in all a highly flawed novel, written as some dark fantasy of the Cold War that nowhere near captures the real Patton, or the world of 1945.

[Adam · Rating 2 out of 5]

It actually shocks me that any one can rate this book higher than two stars. I am not ruining anything in the plot to say the Americans have a huge fight with the Soviets and the Americans do really well. (Americans ARE the heroes.) What I find completely unreasonable is the time scale, the Americans are able to roll through the Soviet forces in 6 months. 6 months?!?!

Everything seems to go to well for the Americans. Now, I am the first to accept by the middle of 1945, the American armed forces were the finest in the world. But the author seems to simply any troubles the army meets and I suspect makes the novel a comfortable read so it can win 4 stars from all those reviewers.

As many Turtledove fans have enjoyed throughout the years, a multiple viewpoint book is fun to read. Mr. Yenne decided to boil the single civilian viewpoint down to one lucky lady reporter. Then she goes on to be at each of the important places in the book. This is worst than just being in the right place and right time, its being in all the best places when the plot demands it Its lazy writing.

After slogging through all this utter BS, the writer panics and realizes he needs a romantic interlude. So, he throws in a right curve and pauses any sort of forward progress by having a shy romance. I am keeping this generic to not reveal any spoilers, but it was poorly placed and not exactly in character with the rest of the book.

To sum this up, as a fan of alternate history this book fails in every way, except to keep it at the level of a exciting boy's novel of the 1950's. Its overly enthusiastic with its heroes and explains victories with the brilliance of its singular hero and the pure incompetence of the Soviet army.

[kevin stone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Compelling!

A brilliant story. I enjoyed the overall book, but especially the insight into who Patton was, and could have been. I highly recommend this book for military fiction readers everywhere.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read, surmising what would happen if Patton had not died and the war continued in 1945 between Russia and the allies.

[P.P. Corcoran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read, completely believable alternate history - if only!