1920: America's Great War

Mr. Conroy is an entertaining author who loves history. That does not make him an expert on whatever period he has decided to alter, but he has the tools to reliably entertain the reader who enjoys these forays. A German invasion of the United States from Mexico is a fine starting point, and the military campaign that ensues makes for a good read. His characters are good enough, except for his felt obligation to salt his story with famous names drawn mostly from the next war. These "names" have the requisite traits commonly associated with them, but are not particularly interesting otherwise. As for his Germans, some are painted as proto-Nazis while the campaign is directed by Crown Prince Wilhelm. There is a commando raid against American east-west rail lines early in the book that is interesting even as it stretches the bounds of credibility. But it is a necessary device to prevent the US from moving troops quickly against the invaders. Finally, this is not a book for those seeking to immerse themselves in the "feel" and speech of 1920. Mr. Conroy sticks to the military campaign and does his best to keep out anachronisms.

This novel is set in a world where the USA maintained strict neutrality in World War One resulting in an early German/Central Powers victory. Considering the USA to be a weak rival the Kaiser takes it to the next level by allying with Mexico in 1916 and providing both armaments and training to the Mexican Army. As the title says, this results in a full blown war in 1920 with Germany and Mexico on one side and the USA on the other. While there are some interesting characters and the book is a fun romp I don't find the scenario very plausible. A victorious Germany would IMO be fully occupied with its world wide empire in 1920, not spoiling fir another fight just a few years after defeating the Allied powers. The book is a good summer read but shouldn't be taken to seriously.

I like history & am a fan of good alternate history. I think it takes an inventive mind to mold changes in the fabric of time. Mr Conroy does a good job of this. World War I was war that was mired in the past while trying to bring new inventions to bare. Aircraft & tanks were new, untried. But by WWII they had matured & their worth was priceless. War seems to bring leaps in innovation at an unparalleled pace. Without war governments or corporations are slow to invest in untried things. Consider air power. In 1940 planes were barely out of being bi-planes. 10 years later we had jets, flying 6 to 7 times faster than that decade before.Mr Conroy has taken the real people of that time & made them believable & more real to the reader. This is a novel that could spin off another book based on his interpretations of WWI. So think of how WWII might have come about after this tale...So why didn't I give this book a 5 star rating if I liked it so much? Because his editor left too many word errors. Something I've noticed more & more with e-books. The e-books are almost the same price as paperbacks (larger profit margin) so I'd expect a little more effort in the editing, especially when you consider that they should cost less because of lack of 'physical material'... (soap box done.)Check out Robert Conroy. I think you'll like him.

Conroy knows how to spin alternate history.  The US does not take part in WW I; Wilson gets elected for a third term; and the Germans won WW I controlling all of Germany, Belgium, France, etc.…UK is still independent.  Germany has a pact with Mexico…you can see what is coming.  Mexico wants what the US “stole” and Germany wants oil rich California.  He sets up a compelling story, with a US that is no way ready for any conflict.  A compelling story filled with many heroes. 

Here's the biggest issue with a lot of Conroy's writing: he spends a bit too much time explaining things in-character. Whereas authors like Harry Turtledove or Tom Clancy prefer to simply slip into an omniscient narrator tone when explaining technology, out-of-character events, and so on, Conroy just has his characters give fairly detailed explanations on things that, while they MAY very well know about, that they publicly and abruptly go into detail in the middle of a conversation is extremely jarring, to say the least.The other issue is that Conroy tends to have his original characters (and historical as well, to a lesser extent) be a bit too "James Bond" or larger-than-life: they know basically everything, they almost never get seriously hurt, and they NEVER die. True, it's a single novel taking place over the course of perhaps a year, but I would still expect SOME degree of drama beyond the human factor.So, overall, the book suffers pretty heavily from just... bizarre writing choices. To have an admiral briefing a captain or lieutenant on the state of the war in the middle of a battle isn't completely unbelievable, but it is very, very surreal.It's a shame, because the concept itself is interesting; all of the background bits, related to politics, technology, the effect of the "point of divergence", it's all VERY well done. It's a shame that it's presented so poorly and in a haphazard manner. It's a character-driven book (at least superficially) and the characters are, with few exceptions, largely unbelievable and a bit too "perfect" for me to like. That said, I do like the concept behind the story, it IS well thought out, and it's a fairly reasonable price for a few days reading. That said, looking back, I'd much rather have gone through some inconvenience and just borrowed it from the library.