Bring the Jubilee
Cover of the original 1953 Ballantine Books edition
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| Author | Ward Moore |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Alternate history |
| Publisher | Ballantine Books |
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Publication date
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1953 |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 243 (paperback) |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 38014790 |
| 813/.54 21 | |
| LC Class | PS3563.O668 B75 1997 |
Bring the Jubilee by Ward Moore is a 1953 novel of alternate history. The point of divergence occurs in July 1863 when the Confederate States of America wins the Battle of Gettysburg and subsequently declares victory in a conflict referred to within the book as the "War of Southron Independence" on July 4, 1864, after the surrender of the United States of America. The novel takes place in the impoverished rump United States in the mid-20th century as war looms between the Confederacy and its rival, the German Union. History takes an unexpected turn when the protagonist Hodge Backmaker, a historian, decides to travel back in time to witness the moment when the South won the war.
The title, "Bring the Jubilee", is a reference to the chorus of the popular military song "Marching Through Georgia".
In the wake of Robert E. Lee's great victory at the Battle of Gettysburg and subsequent capture of Philadelphia, the United States were forced to recognize Confederate independence with the Treaty of Reading on July 4, 1864, which became known as Southron Independence Day. Lee succeeded Jefferson Davis to become the second Confederate President in 1865 (a historical inaccuracy, as the Confederate Constitution set the end of Davis's term in early 1868). Although Lee tried to establish a benevolent national policy, and was able to free the slaves, his anti-imperialistic desires were thwarted by a Congress with increasingly imperialistic ambitions, which sent forces to invade Mexico and eventually conquer the whole of Latin America before moving west to Pacific islands such as Hawaii. The Confederacy thrived as cities like Washington-Baltimore (merged from those two cities plus Alexandria) and Leesburg (formerly Mexico City) became renowned international centers of culture and learning. The Confederacy stood as one of the world's two superpowers following the German Union's decisive victory in the Emperors' War (1914–1916) in Europe (analogous to World War I). The German Union (an apparent merger of the German and Austro-Hungarian empires) spread its hold from the Baltic to the Balkans and formed an alliance with a rejuvenated Spanish Empire. To maintain the balance of power, the Confederacy purchased Alaska from Russia and allied with the British Empire. Tensions grew between the CSA and the Germans up until the 1950s, and people around the world lived under constant threat of impending war, with the defenseless United States certain to be the battleground.
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Wikipedia