Settling Accounts: Return Engagement
Encyclopedia
Return Engagement is the first book of Harry Turtledove's
Settling Accounts
series
of alternate history
novels. It is an analogy of World War II
being waged on American soil between the United States
and the Confederate States
.
This series is part of a larger series of novels. For convenience's sake, many Turtledove fans refer to this as the Southern Victory Series. It takes the Southern Victory Series Earth
from 1941 to 1942.
and Houston to the Confederacy
in early 1941, President Jake Featherston
breaks his solemn vow and re-militarizes them, essentially declaring war against the United States in act if not in word. US President Al Smith
hurries to prepare for war, but his country is sent reeling by the Confederate attack into Ohio
on June 22, 1941.
The Yankees under General Abner Dowling and Colonel Irving Morrell fight desperately, but by 1942 the Confederate Army has reached the shores of Lake Erie
and cut the country in two. Meanwhile, the Mormon
s in Utah
have once again revolted, prompting a swift response from the U.S. Army. A US counterattack in Virginia
bogs down, and the Confederates are preparing a second offensive for the summer of 1942 when Al Smith is killed in a bombing raid on the capital city of Philadelphia. A shaken Charlie La Follette
is sworn in as President of a nation fighting for its survival.
Meanwhile, in the Confederacy, the murderous persecution of Blacks
is escalating towards a full-scale genocide
, similar to our timeline's Holocaust. Another hint of things to come is provided when Featherston makes a strategic blunder in rejecting the offer of a physics professor to start research towards producing nuclear weapons, believing that the professor just wants government money to finance an abstruse scientific project - while it is hinted that the US does start a version of the Manhattan Project
, located in this case in the state of Washington and overseen by Franklin Roosevelt - in this world an Assistant Secretary of War harboring no presidential ambitions.
Harry Turtledove
Harry Norman Turtledove is an American novelist, who has produced works in several genres including alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy and science fiction.- Life :...
Settling Accounts
Settling Accounts (Harry Turtledove)
The Settling Accounts tetralogy is an alternate history setting of World War II by Harry Turtledove in North America, presupposing that the Confederate States of America won the U.S. Civil War. It is part of the Southern Victory Series, following How Few Remain and trilogies Great War and...
series
Book series
A book series is a sequence of books having certain characteristics in common that are formally identified together as a group. Book series can be organized in different ways, such as written by the same author, or marketed as a group by their publisher....
of alternate history
Alternate history (fiction)
Alternate history or alternative history is a genre of fiction consisting of stories that are set in worlds in which history has diverged from the actual history of the world. It can be variously seen as a sub-genre of literary fiction, science fiction, and historical fiction; different alternate...
novels. It is an analogy of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
being waged on American soil between the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and the Confederate States
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
.
This series is part of a larger series of novels. For convenience's sake, many Turtledove fans refer to this as the Southern Victory Series. It takes the Southern Victory Series Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
from 1941 to 1942.
Plot summary
Following the return of the occupied states of KentuckyKentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
and Houston to the Confederacy
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
in early 1941, President Jake Featherston
Jake Featherston
Jacob "Jake" Featherston is a fictional character inthe Southern Victory Series novel series by Harry Turtledove. He is the fictional timeline's equivalent of Adolf Hitler.-Character introduction:...
breaks his solemn vow and re-militarizes them, essentially declaring war against the United States in act if not in word. US President Al Smith
Al Smith
Alfred Emanuel Smith. , known in private and public life as Al Smith, was an American statesman who was elected the 42nd Governor of New York three times, and was the Democratic U.S. presidential candidate in 1928...
hurries to prepare for war, but his country is sent reeling by the Confederate attack into Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
on June 22, 1941.
The Yankees under General Abner Dowling and Colonel Irving Morrell fight desperately, but by 1942 the Confederate Army has reached the shores of Lake Erie
Lake Erie
Lake Erie is the fourth largest lake of the five Great Lakes in North America, and the tenth largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has the shortest average water residence time. It is bounded on the north by the...
and cut the country in two. Meanwhile, the Mormon
Mormon
The term Mormon most commonly denotes an adherent, practitioner, follower, or constituent of Mormonism, which is the largest branch of the Latter Day Saint movement in restorationist Christianity...
s in Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
have once again revolted, prompting a swift response from the U.S. Army. A US counterattack in Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
bogs down, and the Confederates are preparing a second offensive for the summer of 1942 when Al Smith is killed in a bombing raid on the capital city of Philadelphia. A shaken Charlie La Follette
Charles M. La Follette
Charles Marion La Follette was an American lawyer and politician from Indiana. His great-grandfather was William Heilman, who was in the United States House of Representatives from Indiana...
is sworn in as President of a nation fighting for its survival.
Meanwhile, in the Confederacy, the murderous persecution of Blacks
Black people
The term black people is used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups.Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a...
is escalating towards a full-scale genocide
Genocide
Genocide is defined as "the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group", though what constitutes enough of a "part" to qualify as genocide has been subject to much debate by legal scholars...
, similar to our timeline's Holocaust. Another hint of things to come is provided when Featherston makes a strategic blunder in rejecting the offer of a physics professor to start research towards producing nuclear weapons, believing that the professor just wants government money to finance an abstruse scientific project - while it is hinted that the US does start a version of the Manhattan Project
Manhattan Project
The Manhattan Project was a research and development program, led by the United States with participation from the United Kingdom and Canada, that produced the first atomic bomb during World War II. From 1942 to 1946, the project was under the direction of Major General Leslie Groves of the US Army...
, located in this case in the state of Washington and overseen by Franklin Roosevelt - in this world an Assistant Secretary of War harboring no presidential ambitions.