Gettysburg: An Alternate History

by Peter G. Tsouras

In the Battle of Gettysburg, the difference between victory and defeat was as narrow and sharp as a knife edge. And in those three horrific days of sweltering heat and roaring cannon fire, the outcome was decided not only by acts of courage and strategic decisions but by the character of the players, complex relationships, and pure coincidence. What if a few key factors had gone another way?

What if Robert E. Lee’s brilliant young cavalry commander Jeb Stewart had arrived earlier than the second day of battle? What if Pickett’s Charge had been swifter and stronger? What if the Army of the Potomac was commanded by the daring Winfield Hancock instead of the more cautious George Meade? Gettysburg fuses a chaotic clash of arms with a keen vision of how wars are fought and won–or lost. Most of all, this is a monumental, blow-by-blow reimagining of one of history’s most famous battles–the men who shaped it, the events it triggered, and the way it might have been.

Genres: Alternate History, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Civil War, American Civil War, Science Fiction, Military History

380 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

The decisions and actions that led to and occurred during one of the most famous battles in American history has garnered attention from historians and armchair generals. Gettysburg: An Alternate History by Peter G. Tsouras changes the movement of troops and the tactics of the commanders to refight one of the most consequential battles in history.

Tsouras goes with three points-of-divergence, with the first being a night attack by Ewell on Cemetery Hill that gets into the rear of the Union but is beaten back. The second is Stuart arriving in time for the second day of the battle, which changes the Confederate angle of attack on the right. Yet after brutal fight that includes Dan Sickles foolish decision to advance off the line and almost ruining the Union—again—the day ends with both sides essentially ending at their historic lines. The previous two scenarios allow Tsouras to set up a massive version of Pickett’s Charge that is barely able to break through a stretched thin, battered Union line only to be steamrolled by a Union counterattack ordered by Hancock that shatters the Army of Northern Virginia into fragments that are defeated in detail within the coming weeks. One can credit Tsouras with doing an alternate Gettysburg that goes with an overwhelming Union victory, yet how he gets there and in doing so with historical actors is a bit ham-handed that he tries to hide with mixed results. The level of detail to the battlefield is great, but unless you are an aficionado on the detailed geography of the battlefield you are guessing where the action is taking place if it’s not one of the historical major locations. The fictional footnotes very early give away the end of the battle but are a unique touch to the book.

Gettysburg: An Alternate History is a very good book for those interested in a battle narrative as well as a counterfactual occurrence from the historical outcome. Peter G. Tsouras is noted for his alternate historical writing, and he delivers in this book.

[Charles van Buren · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unlikely outcome, September 18, 2016

This review is from: Gettysburg: An Alternate History (Paperback)

In this amazing book things "go right" for the Arny of Northern Virginia at Gettysburg which results in the catastrophic loss of the battle and eventually the war. Stuart arrives on July 1st. Ewell is more aggresive in pursuing attacks. The attack against the Union center is larger and better coordinated. All of this results in disasters for the Confederacy and not just a lost battle but a lost war. I don't and didn't buy it.

[Kyle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Audiobook. The major changes here are that on the second day Longstreet is given permission to move around the Round Tops to the South, leading to a large part of day 2 being fought on the Taneytown Road behind Cemetery Ridge. The US Army’s left still holds. Pickett’s Charge fails again on day 3, but much more spectacularly and with a Federal counterattack, leading to a quick end to the war and the political rise of Hancock.

It was fun as an audiobook. Common references to confederate generals as resembling “demigods” is off-putting, as is a lot of the glorification of combat stuff, at least for my taste. It is also written in an odd blend of fake non-fiction and fiction which can feel a bit jarring when it goes form almost textbook sounding battle descriptions to being in a character’s head. The book is stronger where it’s zoomed into a character’s experience rather than meticulously putting together a fake history. My guess is that because this book makes such an attempt, it’s probably going to be pretty difficult to follow for someone who’s unfamiliar with the battle’s details going in. I definitely pulled up a map of the battlefield a few times while listening.

I appreciated that it dodged a lot of the more commons “what if” scenarios that are debated over and over. Nonetheless, he has no doubt that were Jackson there, the battle would have played out differently. This focus on individual officers’ personalities and interventions as a primary driver of events permeates the book at the expense of other logistical and tactical factors. I also thought it was cool that the US still wins the battle, just more so. I was definitely expecting the main counterfactual to be a Southern win, so it was pretty surprising to realize that wasn’t gonna happen.

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unlike some authors who use alternate history as a springboard to tell political or social stories, this really IS just an alternate history story, the tale of what might have happened in the great battle at Gettysburg. In some ways, that weakens the book's impact, because Tsouras makes no real attempt to examine what have happened as a result of the altered battle, but it's still an interesting story.
As something of a Civil War buff, I found his chosen points of change to be plausible and reasonable...things that really could have gone differently based on simple human decisions, rather than any major deus ex machina. The cover blurb is slightly misleading about what the points of change really are, but I found this version of day 2 of the battle of Gettysburg to be especially interesting, and I think he had an excellent handle on the personalities involved.

[George · Rating 3 out of 5]

First off, While far from an expert on Gettysburg, I have read many accounts of the battle and visited the site three times so I am reasonably familiar with the terrain and the participants.

This book was tedious and very confusing in many spots with too many names, too many divisions, too many “ facts” into a single story. Extremely difficult to follow in spots.

Second, the e book had dozens upon dozens of errors in syntax and spelling that just irk me.

I had this one on my list for along time and it wasn’t worth the wait

[Alicia Melvin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A useful exploration of an alternative gettysburg

Peter tsouras has written a number of interesting alternative histories. He clearly understands a lot of military history and cloaks his alternatives in very believable details. His analysis reinforces a reality that the existence of the sixth corps meant the union army was simply too big for the Army of Northern Virginia to win a slugging match.

[B.L. Blankenship · Rating 5 out of 5]

They played well with the characters surrounding Gettysburg and bent the events with different choices transpiring. I mean, hey - it's fiction.

[Bjoern · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've always been a great fan of Alternate History. But i think i'd prefer it in full novel mode while this book tries to be the middle ground between a pure chronology or diary of the famous battle and a novel telling us about persons living through it.
Therefore i had a lot of trouble following the first hundred and eighty or two hundred pages as they put a lot of emphasis on the large scale happenings, which regiment was led by whom and the respective sizes before and after a certain charge or defensive action. During the more crowded moments of many battle scene it came close to the family trees inside the bible or similar number-strong listings...
The narrative only truely began to bloom, when it went over to the third and decisive day, where the great changes could be felt and seen, here the author managed to induce the thrill of a close engagement on the field of battle to his readers and it didn't let really out up to the end and epilogue... Would that only all the text had been that enthusing and enjoyable.

So as my conclusion: it's not a bad book and the version of the real happenings at Gettysburg the author has described is certainly worth of regarding in any discussion about the what if's on this specific battleground. Yet the book as it is, is rather written for the history buffs and theoreticians that live to go into the smallest details of organization and casualties. For readers rather oriented towards the reading experience and the less objective but more personal tone of a novel there are many others to recommend like the famous "Killer Angels", which fulfill these needs better.

[Hanjinax · Rating 4 out of 5]

Painstakingly detailed book that presents an alternative history of the battle of Gettysburg. Tsouras certainly has produced a well researched product, as the mountain of footnotes can attest to. If you are a Civil War buff this will probably be a really fun book for you. For the layman it is really probably too difficult to follow and bogs down in technical details. I loved it but it's definitely not for everyone.

[Matthew Lemieux · Rating 2 out of 5]

frustrating read. the alternate history selling point is misleading because we think Mr tsouras actually cooked up a strategy in which in the Confederacy can win but it's merely the same battle with several tweaked events occurring.

[Avis Black · Rating 1 out of 5]

Who needs an alternative history when people still can't agree about happened during the real battle?

[Jimmy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fine look at how the battle could have went. However, I'm not sure that having fictitious footnotes was really necessary.

[Brian Sweetman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Get it.... Read it.... Enjoy it immensely

[Nicole Radcliffe · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm more interested in what really happened at Gettysburg rather than this "what could have happened" scenario.

[M. Lerp · Rating 1 out of 5]

Huh?

I can't help but wonder why this ebook didn't download properly. I only got a few pages so there's no way that I review it