Turtledove's Tropes

Because Harry Turtledove often writes alternate histories set in roughly the same time periods, or that address many of the same themes, certain specific ideas often turn up as plot-points in separate timelines.

Kentucky Plebiscite
The state of Kentucky has joined the Confederate States after a plebiscite in The Guns of the South and in Southern Victory. In fairness, the plebiscite in Southern Victory was to rejoin the Confederacy.

Washington, DC is NOT the U.S. Capital
For one reason or another, Washington, DC is rarely the capital of the United States in Turtledove's fiction after the point of departure. In In the Presence of Mine Enemies, the capital became Omaha, Nebraska after Washington was destroyed in the Third World War. In Worldwar, the capital is moved to Little Rock, Arkansas after it is destroyed by the Race. In Southern Victory, Philadelphia is the de facto capital (although Washington remains the de jure). In "Vilcabamba", Grand Junction, Colorado is the de facto capital; Washington is occupied by the Krolp.



Nuclear Free-For-All
In OTL, only the United States has used atomic bombs in war, using two against Japan in 1945. But in many of Harry Turtledove's timelines, beligerents involved in major wars have traded multiple atomic weapons. In Worldwar, the Soviet Union, Germany, and the United States swapped several atomic attacks with the Race in the year before the war ended. Subsequently, during the Race-German War of 1965 and even during peacetime, even more bombs were swapped. In Southern Victory, members of the Entente (the Confederate States and Britain) and the Central Powers (Germany and the United States) attacked members of the opposing alliance several times with atomic weapons before the Second Great War ended. In In the Presence of Mine Enemies, Germany and the United States used atomic bombs on each other during the Third World War.

Germany uses the A-bomb first...
Germany is the first country to develop and use the atomic bomb in Southern Victory, In the Presence of Mine Enemies and in Curious Notions. It is also the first human nation to deploy an atomic bomb completely of its own manufacture, without any material captured from the Race, in Worldwar.

...on the United States
In In the Presence of Mine Enemies and in Curious Notions, Germany drops the first atomic bombs on the United States.

Russia Is Where the First Human-Made Atomic Bomb Is Used
In Worldwar, the Soviet Union detonates the first human-made bomb against the Race near Kaluga; in Southern Victory, Germany uses the bomb against Petrograd.

Atomic Bombs Rarely Called By That Name
Atomic bombs are called by other names in Harry Turtledove's fiction. In Southern Victory, they are popularly called "superbombs." In Worldwar, they are called "explosive-metal bombs." In "Ready for the Fatherland", they are called "sunbombs".

The Sunbomb
"Sunbomb" is a term that describes atomic weapons in Southern Victory and in "Ready for the Fatherland." In the former, the term refers specifically to the then-theoretical hydrogen bomb. In the latter, it is (evidentally) applied to atomic weapons generally.

Cities Destroyed by Atomic Bombs in Multiple Timelines
The following cities were destroyed by atomic bombs in at least two Harry Turtledove timelines:
 * Hamburg (Southern Victory, Worldwar)
 * Los Angeles (The Valley-Westside War, "Half the Battle")
 * Philadelphia (In the Presence of Mine Enemies, Southern Victory)
 * Tokyo ("Ready for the Fatherland", Worldwar)
 * Washington, DC (In the Presence of Mine Enemies, Worldwar)

Multiple National Capitals Victims of Atomic Attacks
In both Southern Victory and Worldwar, several national capitals fall victim to damage or destruction courtesy of the atomic bomb. In Southern Victory, the capitals of Russia (Petrograd), France (Paris), Britain (London), and the United States (Philadelphia) are subject to superbomb attacks. In Worldwar, the capitals of Germany (Berlin), the United States (Washington, D.C.), Japan (Tokyo), and Denmark (Copenhagen) are attacked during the Race Invasion. During the Race-German War of 1965, Germany's new capital Nuremberg is destroyed by a Race explosive-metal bomb, and the capitals of Romania (Bucharest) and the defunct nations of Turkey (Istanbul) and Poland (Warsaw) were destroyed by German bombs.

''See Also:Cities Destroyed by Atomic Bombs



Post-Nuclear Societal Regression
Both "Half the Battle" and The Valley-Westside War are set in a post-nuclear Los Angeles where medieval kingdoms have sprung up fighting over small tracts of land. Another story, "Secret Names", shows Texans living as hunters and gatherers once again after a nuclear disaster.

Germany goes to Mars
In both In the Presence of Mine Enemies and in Worldwar, Nazi Germany makes a manned trip to the planet Mars, although in Worldwar, the United States goes there shortly after. In addition, in The Disunited States of America, Prussia is one of two countries to send manned flights to Mars (the other being California).



Protracted Russian Civil War Post-World War I
Russia falls into a lengthy civil war after being on the losing side in a World War I analog in both Southern Victory and in Curious Notions.

Revanchist Britain and France
Britain and France become revanchist after losing a World War I analog in Southern Victory and in Curious Notions.

Oswald Mosley Controls Britain
Although he doesn't quite rule Britain in Southern Victory, Oswald Mosley is extremely powerful and influential in the British government. He does attain the office of prime minister in In the Presence of Mine Enemies. He also has tremendous influence in Worldwar.

Prime Minister Horace Wilson
While an important figure in British history, Sir Horace Wilson was never an MP, much less a PM. However, in both Southern Victory and The War That Came Early, Wilson becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

Himmler succeeds Hitler
In both Worldwar and In the Presence of Mine Enemies, Heinrich Himmler becomes the head of state for the Greater German Reich upon the death of Adolf Hitler, despite the PODs of both those stories having come at a time when Hermann Goering was next in line (it should be noted that in ItPoME, Goering appears to have predeceased Hitler).

James McReynolds, Enemy of Tyrants
In Southern Victory and in "Joe Steele," Supreme Court Justice James McReynolds is a temporary hinderence to a duly elected president's efforts to seize absolute power.

Huey Long, Enemy of Tyrants, is Shot to Death
Huey Long was assassinated in OTL when he was shot by Carl Weiss. Long is also assassinated in "Joe Steele" (officially shot while trying to escape imprisonment) and in Southern Victory. In both works, Long was a possible hindrance to a duly elected president's efforts to seize absolute power.

Wendell Willkie, GOP Candidate in 1940
In three works, Wendell Willkie is the Republican Party nominee for the office of President of the United States, just as he was in OTL: "Joe Steele", where he defeated by American-born incumbent Joseph Stalin; The War That Came Early, where his efforts against incumbent Franklin D. Roosevelt are somewhat hampered by isolationist Republican candidate Alf Landon, and; Southern Victory, another three-way race where he and Democrat Robert Taft are defeated by incumbent Socialist Al Smith, although in this timeline, the GOP is a comparatively minor party.

A Major War Starts in the Wake of a Territorial Dispute Involving Germany
In Southern Victory, the Second Great War starts after Germany refuses to return Alsace-Lorraine to France. In Worldwar, the Race-German War of 1965 begins when Germany attempts to reclaim Poland, which it claimed was rightfully theirs.

Multi-lateral Cold War
In two stories, "Ready for the Fatherland" and Worldwar, the Cold War that develops after a World War II analog is fought out by several parties jostling for position. In "Ready for the Fatherland", the United States and its allies face not only the Soviet Union, but Nazi Germany as well. In Worldwar, the Race is added to that mix.

Japan is divided by the United States and the Soviet Union
In both "Joe Steele" and in "Ready for the Fatherland", Japan is divided up between the United States and the Soviet Union. In both stories, the Soviets control Hokkaido.

Nazi Germany Survives World War II
Nazi Germany manages to continue after World War II in three stories, In the Presence of Mine Enemies, "Ready for the Fatherland", and Worldwar. Only in the first does Germany actually win the war. In the second and third stories, circumstances of the war change, allowing for its continued existence without actual victory. And while the Nazis aren't in power at the end of The Man With the Iron Heart, Turtledove strongly implies that they will be within the foreseeable future.

Throat-Slitting as an Act of Mercy
In several of Turtledove's military works, various soldiers have slit the throats of comrades who have been fatally and painfully wounded.

Senior Officers Acting Like a Kid With a .22
In the American Empire trilogy of the Southern Victory series, Colonel Irving Morrell goes out on patrol by the Houston / Confederate border in a command car with a mounted machine gun. He has a high time shooting up a group of Confederate gun-runners he encounters (with a reference to a kid with a .22 shooting at tin cans). During the Second Great War, General Clarence Potter has less fun shooting a machine gun in his command car at U.S. fighter-bombers attacking his brigade.

In the Worldwar series, U.S. General Patton also had fun shooting the machine gun in his Willys MB at Race helicopters.

Abbreviated World Wars
The analogs of World Wars depicted by Harry Turtledove are usually much shorter (and sometimes more destructive) than their OTL analogs. World War I lasts a matter of months in Curious Notions and in "Uncle Alf". In Southern Victory, the Great War ends in 1917, one year earlier than the OTL WWI. In both Southern Victory and Worldwar, the second round of warfare between major powers comes to an end in 1944, one year earlier than in OTL. Morever, in Southern Victory, the Second Great War begins in 1941, a few years later than in OTL, where the conflicts that were folded into WWII began in 1937 in Asia and in 1939 in Europe. In Atlantis, a war similar to the Seven Years' War (a world war in all but name) appears to have started a few years later than in OTL (Turtledove was ambiguous on this.)

Confederacy Subject to Harsh U.S. Occupation by 1940s
In both "Must and Shall" and Southern Victory, the victorious United States defeats and occupies the entire Confederate States, placing it under martial law and initiating retributions against anti-U.S. rebellion. In addition and in comparison, the occupation of the C.S. in Southern Victory takes place in 1944, rather than beginning in the 1860s and continuing into at least 1942 as had occured in "Must and Shall."

The Kaiserreich Occupies Belgium
Imperial Germany occupies Belgium following a World War I analog in both Southern Victory and "Uncle Alf".

German Congo
The Belgian Congo is ceded to Germany in both Southern Victory and In the Presence of Mine Enemies, after a German victory in WWI in the first case and WWII in the second. The fate of Belgian Congo in "Uncle Alf" is not mentioned.



The Wireless
Domestic radio service (and international shortwave) is referred to as "the wireless" in Southern Victory and in The Two Georges. This Briticism is understandable in a book without the American Revolutionary War (the book is filled with them) but not so understandable for United States citizens to use it in a series where the Confederates won the American Civil War and are allied with the British.

Russian Alaska
In Southern Victory, The Two Georges and in The Disunited States of America, Alaska is a Russian territory into the 20th and 21st century.

The Nation of Quebec
Quebec is an independent country in Southern Victory and in the short story "Elder Skelter". It is also independent in The Disunited States of America, but that features North America that is totally Balkanized.

Edward VIII Holds the Throne
Edward VIII remains monarch of Britain in both The Two Georges and in Southern Victory.

Austria-Hungary Forever
For one reason or another, the Austro-Hungarian Empire survives into the 20th and 21st century in Southern Victory, Curious Notions, and The Disunited States of America.

The Ottoman Empire Forever
For one reason or another, the Ottoman Empire survives into the 20th and 21st centuries in Curious Notions, Southern Victory, and The Two Georges.

The Brazilian Empire Forever
For one reason or another, Brazil is still an empire in Curious Notions and Southern Victory. In the former, however, the Empire is beholden to the German Empire.

Monarchy Forever
The above several entries are specific cases of a more general theme, appearing in numerous Turtledove works – timelines where historical developed facilitated the survival and/or restoration of monarchies where they have become extinct in OTL.

These include, among others:
 * In The Two Georges, the American Revolution and the French Revolution were both nipped in the bud, and with them modern Republicanism as a whole. Monarchy remains the common form of government throughout the world at least until the end of the 20th Century, republican forms of government being confined to the Swiss cantons and some Italian and German city states of marginal importance.


 * In OTL, the First World War culminated with a great fall of old monarchies and creation of many new repuiblics. A different outcome of WWI could have a different fate for monarchies:


 * In Curious Notions the victorious Imperial Germany not only preserves its own monarchy and props up those in Austro-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire, but also actively restores fallen monarchies, e.g. in Portugal, Brazil and China – all of which remain in place at the end of the 21st Century.


 * Also in the Southern Victory timeline, Imperial German victory in Great War]] gives an extra lease of life to existing monarchies (Germany, Austro-Hungary, Ottoman Empire and here also Russia), and also leads to restoration of old ones (Poland, where a monarchy abolished in the 18th Century in revived as a German satellite, and France where a monarchy abolished in the 19th Century is revived by rabid anti-German nationalists). Already earlier in the Southern Victory timeline, victory of the Confederacy makes possible the stabilization of Habsburg monarchy as the decades-long government of Mexico, where it was a fleeting unsuccessful interlude in OTL.


 * In In the Presence of Mine Enemies, the Japanese-backed puppet monarchy of Manchukuo survives into the 21st Century, where in OTL it was dismantled after a single decade.


 * In Days of Infamy the Polynesian monarchy of Hawaii is restored as a Japanese puppet after the islands' conquest by Imperial Japan.


 * As recounted at the end of The Disunited States of America, in the Home timeline the monarchy in Iran is restored, apparently due to a Western military intervention in the middle 21st Century, and the re-installed Shah acts with savage repression against the overthrown ayatollas.


 * Some of the numerous mini-states into which the United States broke up after the 1967 nuclear war in "The Valley-Westside War" developed monarchial governments, with their specific own kind of ceremonial and ritual (for example, a King a wears 20th Century-style business suit as his royal regalia).

Japan Controls Korea
In In the Presence of Mine Enemies, Southern Victory, and The Two Georges, Korea fails to be liberated or liberate itself from the domination of Japan. (For a switch, the Race controls Korea in Worldwar.)

Southern Empires Join Northern Barbarians to Resist Even More Northern, Even More Barbaric, Barbarians
In King of the North, Gerin the Fox, an Elabonian feudal lord-turned-sovereign monarch, joins with the Elabonians' longtime enemies, the Trokmoi who live to the north of the Empire's lands, in an uneasy alliance to fight the Gradi, a much crueler, much more aggressive barbarian tribe from even farther north. In Beyond the Gap, the Raumsdalian Empire, the Bizogots, and the Rulers copy the same dynamic both geographically and socio-politically. And in Krispos of Videssos, survivors of Kubrat help the Videssians fight Harvas's Halogai, albeit not terribly effectively.

The World Turned Upside Down
In both the Derlavai series, which is a sorcerous analog of World War II, and the War Between the Provinces series, which is a sorcerous analog of the American Civil War, Turtledove gives his fantasy worlds a map in which the southern hemisphere is the site of the action (both wars were fought principally in the northern hemisphere), generally puts southern points in the north and vice versa so that the climate conditions will be comparable (one notable exception is the Land of the Ice People, a North Africa analog) and also reverses the maps along longitudinal axes, so that, for example,geographical areas in the southwest of the Derlavaian and Detinan maps play roles analogous to points in the northeast of the real world map.

Blondes as the Underclass
In two fantasy works, the Darkness and the War Between the Provinces, ethnic groups that are distinguished by their blond hair stand-in for OTL groups that have traditionally been oppressed. In the former, the Kaunians stand-in for the Jews (although there are certain historical similarities to the Kaunian Empire and the Roman Empire). In the latter series, blondes do double duty, paralleling the black slaves of the United States, and to a lesser extent, the Native Americans.

Chemical Weapons in WWII Analogs
In both Worldwar and Southern Victory, events analogous to World War II see the use of chemical weapons on the battlefield. In the former, the banned weapons are used in a measure of desperation against The Race. In the latter, the weapons are not banned and are simply used as a matter of course, with some soldiers reacting in a somewhat blasé manner to them.

The Accidental Deaths of Werner Heisenberg
German physicist Werner Heisenberg meets an unfortunate accidental death in two Turtledove stories. In Worldwar, Heisenberg is killed when the atomic pile he is working on melts down. In The Man With the Iron Heart, Heisenberg is accidentally shot in the head by one of Reinhard Heydrich's men.

Germans Blow Up St. Paul's Cathedral in the 1940s
In both In the Presence of Mine Enemies and in The Man With the Iron Heart, St. Paul's Cathedral is specifically noted as being destroyed by Germans. In the former, the Cathedral (and most of London) is destroyed by a German invasion early in World War II. In the latter, the Cathedral is destroyed by a German truck bomb. As London is destroyed by a German atomic bomb in Southern Victory, St. Paul's Cathedral was also implicitly destroyed, but is not specifically referred to.

Germans Destroy the Eiffel Tower
In three Turtledove works, the Eiffel Tower is destroyed by Germans during a World War II analog. In Southern Victory, the Tower is melted down to a stump when Paris is destroyed by a German superbomb. In The Man With the Iron Heart, post-war terrorists level the Tower with a truck bomb in 1946. In Hitler's War, the Tower is destroyed in aerial bombings in 1939.

...just as an unfortunate weatherman happens to be on the top
In The Man With the Iron Heart, a weatherman falls on the Seine River along with the upper half of the tower when it is knocked down but escapes with only a broken wrist. In Hitler's War, the upper half of the tower is destroyed by German bombers instead, and the unfortunate weatherman (if he happens to be the same) gets blown to pieces too little to fill a coffin. We can only speculate if there was also a weatherman in Southern Victory, though any remains are unlikely to be found if that was the case.

Benjamin Butler Sucks!
While this bias is probably borne out by the historical record, Turtledove works the idea that Union General and onetime military governor Benjamin Butler was a slimeball into three works. In The Guns of the South, Robert E. Lee and his colleagues revile Butler. In How Few Remain, Abraham Lincoln has few kind thoughts about Butler. In "Must and Shall", Neil Michaels views a statue of Butler, concluding that Butler was an unlikely choice for such an honor.

Roman Republic in the New World
Both A Different Flesh and the Atlantis series depict republics analogous to the United States in terms of history, but that adopt governments much more closely patterned on the Roman Republic than the actual US is. Interestingly, the PODs of both timelines are in prehistory.

Stan the Man
Turtledove has on two separate occasions named female POVs' young grandsons Stan: Stan Enos, grandson of Sylvia Enos, in Southern Victory; and Stan Neft, grandson of Diana McGraw, in The Man With the Iron Heart.

Grant Back on the Sauce
In both Southern Victory and The Guns of the South, disappointment at the Confederate victory over the Union causes Ulysses S. Grant to relapse into alcoholism.

Palestine: Sleepy Backwater
In Southern Victory and in The Two Georges, Palestine is specifically referred to as a sleepy backwater province of the Ottoman Empire. In Gunpowder Empire, another Palestine-as-sleepy-Turkish-province is referenced, but that actual timeline is not shown.

Terrible Cooks, But Not Too Terrible
In any Turtledove story, be it fantasy, alternate history, science fiction, or straight fiction, short story, standalone novel, or series, any time a character finds himself in a situation in which a meal must be hurriedly prepared under field conditions, he will almost invariably find himself being served meat that is "burnt on the outside and raw on the inside," and Turtledove will mention that he eats it anyway.

World War I in North America
In both Southern Victory and The Disunited States of America, Turtledove posits that, on a North American continent on which several nation-states compete with one another and none gain hegemony, different North American governments would align with different European governments, and the Sarajevo Incident would lead to the Central Powers and the Entente invoking these American alliances, and WWI being fought on the North American continent with all the ferocity and devastation seen in Europe in OTL. In both timelines, the war is known as "The Great War".

Californian Cities Attacked by Asian Countries
In both Southern Victory and "Getting Real", Los Angeles is attacked by an Asian power. The Japanese bomb the city in Southern Victory in the 1930s, and the Chinese attack outdated American defenses in "Getting Real." Both countries attack L.A. in order to humiliate the United States, a plan that succeeds in each story.

In Days of Infamy, Japanese forces based in Hawaii launch an aerial bombing raid on San Francisco.

US Conquers Canada after the North Loses the Civil War
In both Southern Victory and The Guns of the South, timelines where the South won the American Civil War, the United States invades Canada and occupies it. In the latter, it happens very shortly after the Civil War. In the former, it happens during the Great War.

The Babe Always Calls his Shot
Babe Ruth's legendary called homerun from the 1932 World Series is fondly remembered, but actually shrouded in mystery (did he actually mean to call his homerun, or was his dramatic pointing something else). In the works of Harry Turtledove, Ruth undeniably calls his shot. In "Before the Beginning", the time-viewer confirms that Ruth indeed was calling his shot. In "The House That George Built", Ruth, a minor leaguer, calls his shot while playing for Baltimore Orioles in the early 1920s. And in The Disunited States of America, a "George Hermann" called his shot while playing a game of rounders.

A VIP's Death Sparks World War II
Much as the assassination of Franz Ferdinand triggered World War I in OTL, Harry Turtledove has used the death of a prominent person to help trigger several World War II analogues. In Southern Victory, the death of Kaiser Wilhelm II helps trigger the Second Great War. In Darkness, the death of Aledro, Duke of Bari is the catalyst for the Derlavaian War, a war closely based on our World War II. And in The War That Came Early, the assassination of Konrad Henlein triggers a different World War II in 1938.

Japan Attacks Soviet Union/Russia
In OTL World War II, Japan and the USSR fought a series of border skirmishes in the late 1930s, then reached a ceasefire and remained at peace with each other all through World War II until the Soviets invaded Japanese holdings in mainland northeastern Asia in August 1945. In Hitler's War, in which the main war begins while the Soviet-Japanese war is still festering, the Japanese take advantage of Soviet distraction in Europe to launch an ultimately successful offensive to gain Vladivostok.

In Southern Victory, Japan makes territorial demands on the Russian Empire after the Second Great War. Much like Hitler's War, Japan is seeking to control parts of Siberia.

In the Darkness series, Gyongyos, which is a Japanese analog, resumes its earlier war in the sparsely inhabited forests of the Gyongyos-Unkerlant border region, again forcing Unkerlant to keep an eye on its remote frontier while fighting a major war at the other end of its massive territory.

Racial Enlightenment Not Gender Enlightenment
Turtledove has written several characters, in different stories, who call for reforms of institutionalized racial discrimination within their societies, but who, when given the opportunity to extend their belief in racial equality to matters of gender equality, fail to do so. Examples include Frederick Radcliff in Liberating Atlantis and Alva in Advance and Retreat.

Storm=Strom
In The Victorious Opposition, Turtledove implies the presence of the historical figure Strom Thurmond by having Anne Colleton make an offhand reference to "Storm or something like that." In Liberating Atlantis, Thurmond is invoked by Storm Whitson.

The President Lives in the Gray House
Southern Victory and Worldwar have Executive Mansions known as the Gray House. In the former, the President of the Confederate States resides in the Gray House. In the latter, the Gray House is the home of the President of the United States (the original White House having been destroyed along with Washington, DC).

A Rough 21st Century for the US Dollar
In the Crosstime Series's home timeline, in "Getting Real," and in In the Presence of Mine Enemies, the American dollar has been subject to severe inflation in the 21st century. In the former two stories, the US government mints small aluminum coins--worth $1 in Crosstime Traffic and $10 in "Getting Real"--which are practically worthless.

Unfortunately, the first tenth of the 21st century in OTL would seem to suggest that Turtledove might be on to something.

Vile France
Turtledove has portrayed France negatively on any number of occasions.


 * In Atlantis, France is defeated and stripped of its Atlantean colonies. It is however later instrumental in achieving victory in the Atlantean War of Independence. In the very first chapter of "New Hastings," François Kersauzon indicates his willingness to share a meal with Edward Radcliffe by saying that he'd rather sit with an Englishman than a Frenchman. In "The Scarlet Band," Athelstan Helms and James Walton continue to make miscellaneous disparaging remarks directed at the French.
 * In "Before the Beginning ", France is described as turning out some of the best second-raters in the world.
 * In Curious Notions, France is dealt repeated military defeats by Germany, permanently losing its influence in European and world affairs.
 * In Every Inch a King, the fantastic kingdom Narbonensis is based on France. Narbonensis is the hereditary enemy of Schlepsig, the homeland of Otto of Schlepsig, the book's only POV. Thus, in the narration, Narbonensis is repeatedly derided.
 * In In High Places, France is the home of a primitive backwater civilization.
 * In In the Presence of Mine Enemies, France is annexed to Germany.
 * In The Man With the Iron Heart, France comes across as barely capable of administering its occupation zone. French officers are so touchy that they would rather compromise security efforts against the German Freedom Front than admit their dependence on the stronger Allied Forces members, though they do indeed rely on military and economic support from the Allies. They are also seen as treacherous, willing to play the United States and Soviet Union off against each other. Meanwhile, while some German characters acknowledge that the US, USSR, and UK are entitled to attempt to occupy Germany by right of conquest, all are disgusted and outraged at being subjected to occupation by France, which Germany had defeated.
 * In Ruled Britannia, France is in a very difficult geopolitical situation, as its Hapsburg enemies have encircled its territory.
 * In "Someone is Stealing the Great Throne Rooms of the Galaxy," France is described as "a second-rate power on a third-rate continent on the most insignificant planet in the galaxy with a glorious future behind it," and the French are generally portrayed as a craven, contemptible people.
 * In Southern Victory, France begins by supporting the Confederate States for opportunistic purposes, and during the Second Mexican War is generally perceived by the Confederates as a freeloading ally, demanding political influence in Richmond and spoils of war but doing little to attack the US militarily. During the Great War France is the first of the Western members of the Entente to bow out when discipline in the ranks breaks down and the army mutinies. Quebecois reflect that they feel no ties to their ancestral homeland because its government and society have become hopelessly corrupted in the century and half since the Seven Years' War. Characters in Occupied Canada remark that the Quebecois "act french", in that they indulge in sexual harassment. In the interwar years France eagerly embraces political authoritarianism and revanchism. In the Second Great War France is soon exposed as militarily impotent but diplomatically arrogant, with its foreign minister making obscene comments on the public record. Finally, France is attacked with atomic bombs and apparently begs for mercy immediately thereafter, suggesting a failing of national courage. At the end of the series the possibility of a French ascendancy in the foreseeable future is slim to nil, nor is this seen as undesirable.
 * In The Two Georges, France is a leading ally in the Holy Alliance, a distasteful federation to say the least.
 * In "Uncle Alf," even Adolf Hitler reflects on how disgustingly degraded the French are
 * In the Videssos series, the lone French (well, Gaul) character, Viridovix, while portrayed as a protagonist, has several qualities which could be viewed as distasteful, such as a willingness to side with the Roman soldiers of Marcus Scaurus to save his own life, and a rather overactive libido. These are consistent with traits which Turtledove uses to show French decadence in other works.
 * In Worldwar, the French begin the story occupied by and collaborating with the Nazis. As the Race makes inroads into France, the French collaborate with them as well, to the point that Leslie Groves fears they will offer to help the Lizards make chemical weapons to use against human soldiers. In the Colonization trilogy, France appears equally willing to kiss the Germans' asses and, after the Race-German War of 1965, the Lizards' talestumps, unlike most other occupied people shown in the series, who are nationalistic first and foremost even if they are willing to accommodate occupiers for their own purposes. Meanwhile, Free France is seen as something of a joke of a country which exists on international sufferance. And nearly all French characters are portrayed as bombastic, cowardly, touchy, and/or immoral, especially the male characters.

It should be noted, however, that France is portrayed in a perfectly inoffensive if not complimentary light in The War That Came Early, The Disunited States of America, and "Les Mortes d'Arthur."

Who Needs Vichy?
After Germany conquered France in 1940, it directly annexed broad swaths along the northern and western coasts to its empire, but left about a third of France's territory in the southeastern corner in the hands of Vichy France, a puppet regime made up of Frenchmen who either held Fascist sympathies or were just opportunists. In both Worldwar and In the Presence of Mine Enemies, in which Germany continues to rule France after World War II ends, the Germans eventually dispense with the collaborationist regime and annex Vichy France outright.

This might or might not be in keeping with Turtledove's Francophobia, as documented in the entry above this. It is possible that the Germans found working with Frenchmen as nominal equals, even Frenchmen who were on their side, too exasperating to be worthwhile.

Italy: Unreliable Ally
In the works of Harry Turtledove, especially those set during World War II, Italy resembles an albatross around the neck of its allies, usually Germany, and rarely aids its allies.

In Southern Victory, Italy refuses to meet its obligations to the Quadruple Alliance in 1914, just as its OTL counter-part refused to join the Triple Alliance. In this timeline, however, Italy stays out of the war completely, rather than changing sides as it did in OTL 1915. It also avoids participating in the Second Great War.

In The War That Came Early, Benito Mussolini expresses panic at Adolf Hitler's plan to launch war in 1938. Even after the war breaks out, Italy officially declares war on the Allies, but doesn't actually engage them on the battlefield. Italian support for the Spanish Nationalists in the proxy war in Spain is also halfhearted.

In Worldwar, Italy surrenders to the Race relatively quickly, and only the presence of German troops in Italy proper keep it from falling altogether. After the Peace of Cairo, Italy is annexed outright to the Greater German Reich.

In In the Presence of Mine Enemies, Italy is one of the only countries to support Lothar Prützmann's 2011 Putsch.

In the Darkness series, the Italian analog, Yanina, is pretty worthless and ineffective, with a few exceptions.

Time Traveling Plagiarism
In "We Haven't Got There Yet," William Shakespeare is incensed to learn that a new acting troupe is offering a play which borrows liberally from his own Hamlet. The actors are in fact from the distant future.

In "Hindsight," it is Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, Samuel R. Delany, Robert A. Heinlein and Larry Niven who are plagiarized by the time-traveling Mark Gordian.

No Israel
The modern state of Israel, recognized in 1948, rarely exists in the works of Harry Turtledove for one reason or another. It does exist in "The R-Strain," but is subject to never-ending attacks upon its sovereignty, with "no end in sight" well into the 21st century.

Israel Defeated
In "Occupation Duty", the Kingdom of Israel was defeated and conquered by the Philistines. In "Next Year in Jerusalem" and "Les Mortes d'Arthur", Israel is defeated by the Arab World in the 21st century. (The two stories may or may not take place in the same timeline). In "Shock and Awe," a rebellion by the Israelites is defeated by the Romans.

Israel Stillborn
In Worldwar and In the Presence of Mine Enemies, outside forces prevent the Zionist dream of a Jewish homeland from coming to fruition. In Worldwar, the Race encourages Jewish settlement of the Middle East because Jews are among the Tosevite peoples most amenable to Race governance. The Race shows no inclination to extend them statehood, however. In In the Presence of Mine Enemies, we meet the far darker specter of the Nazis controlling the traditional Jewish homeland.

The Battle of Volgo-Stalin-Tsaritsin-Grad
In OTL, Stalingrad (originally called Tsaritsin, now called Volgograd) was the scene of a pitched battle from 1942-1943 between Soviet and German forces. Many historians believe that the Soviet victory proved to be the climactic event of World War II. Harry Turtledove has repeated this theme at the exact same site in several timelines.

In Southern Victory, we learn that the Russian socialists have met their definitive end in Tsaritsin, marking the climax of an analog of the Russian Civil War. Joseph Stalin is among the socialists killed.

In The Disunited States of America, we learn that the critical battle of the War of the Three Emperors (evidently a partial analog of World War II) was also fought at Tsaritsin.

In "Joe Steele", the climactic battle of World War II takes place at Trotskygrad.

Turtledove also patterned the Battle of Pittsburgh in Southern Victory and the Battle of Suligen in Darkness directly upon the Battle of Stalingrad.

America Imperialized
In Curious Notoions, In the Presence of Mine Enemies, Days of Infamy, The Gladiator, "Getting Real," and "Vilcabamba," the United States is, in whole or in part, the victim of imperialist exploitation by outside powers.

. . . But Still A Threat
In Curious Notions, Days of Infamy, In the Presence of Mine Enemies, and The Gladiator, said external powers are concerned that the US could still pose a viable threat to them, not just in American territory but on the world stage, if it were to launch a determined rebellion or resistance. Indeed, in Days of Infamy, the story ends with the U.S. retaking Hawaii, and the timeline more or less converging with OTL.

In "Getting Real" and especially "Vilcabamba," however, the imperialists are inclined to laugh off American resistance.

Madame President
Women are elected President of the United States in the 21st Century in both Homeward Bound and in "Elder Skelter".

Shakespeare's Recusancy
Biographers of William Shakespeare sometimes suggest that both he and his father may have been Catholics, in defiance of Elizabeth I of England's imposition of the Church of England as England's national religion. There is a fair amount of evidence that the elder Shakespeare may have been a recusant, but it is not definitive: He was fined for failing to attend Church of England services, and in the eighteenth century a signature of dubious authenticity was found on a written pledge made to St Edmund Campion, swearing to remain a Catholic in his heart despite the difficulty of receiving Sacraments regularly in the face of Protestant persecution.

For Will Shakespeare himself, there is no hard evidence of recusancy, merely speculation and assumed double meaning in some of his writings.

In both his Shakespeare stories, Ruled Britannia and "We Haven't Got There Yet," Turtledove definitively insists that John Shakespeare was Catholic throughout most of a lifetime of persecution. He also shows Will, while not as willing to profess the faith himself, at least sympathetic to Rome. In Ruled Britannia Shakespeare mulls over the fact that he finds Catholic ritual appealing, and indicates that, if he were allowed true religious freedom, he might adopt Catholicism. In "We Haven't Got There Yet," after reflecting that his father had practiced Catholicism, he adds that he "retained some leanings that way himself."

Americans in a Provincial town of the Roman Empire
Household Gods and Gunpowder Empire start from different premises – in the one case time travel to the historical Roman Empire, in the other a "sidewise" travel to an alternate timeline where the Roman Empire survived. The two resulting stories have, however, very many similar plot elements. In both cases, it is essentially the story of modern American(s) living clandestinely in a provincial Roman city, having a perfect knowledge of Latin which in itself does not impart a complete understanding of the nuances of Roman society; facing the daunting prospect of being irrevocably marooned in the Roman milieu and deprived of many things conceived of as indispensable amenities; needing to deal with the prevalent institution of slavery in general and establishing a personal relationship with one individual slave, in both cases ending with setting her free (a woman slave in both cases); being caught in a dangerous invasion from beyond the imperial boundaries and consequently developing willy-nilly a strong partisanship and a fevrant hope for the victory of the Roman legions.

Exploited women workers, a bullying foreman
Both Sylvia Enos in American Empire and Lucy Woo in Curious Notions are driven by economic need to a workplace where the mainly-female workforce is harshly exploited and suffers from a tyrannical and bullying foreman. Though set in different timelines and in widely disparate times and places (early 20th Century Boston in the one case, late 21st Century San Francisco in the other) the atmosphere in the workplace and the character of the bullying foreman are virtually identical in both books. Incidentally, both are placed in a timeline where the US has stong links to Imperial Germany - though for different reasons, a voluntary alliance in the one case, defeat and occupation in the other.

Border guard, soldiers enforcing annexation
Both How Few Remain and Into the Darkness have a scene early in the book where soldiers (Confederates in the one case, Algarvians in the other) arrive to enforce the recent annexation of a territory to their country {Chihuahua and Sonora/Bari) and talk with a border guard who is engaged in taking down the former ruler's flag. However, the scene which began very similarly in the two books ends in a diametrically opposite way - the Mexican border guard, unhappy with the dimunition of his country but resigned to it, carefully folds the flag of Mexico, to be taken back to what is left of the country; the Barian border guard, enthusiastic to be reunited with Algarve, contemtuously drops to the ground the flag of the Dutchy of Bari, which had ceased to exist. Regrdless of this difference, in both books the annexation itself is achieved bloodlessly but provokes a war (Second Mexican War/Derlavaian War).

Conversations with Stalin
There is a significant similarity between the conversations of Molotov with Stalin, which are a recurring theme throughout the Worldwar books, and the conversations of Marshall Rathar with King Swemmel of Unkerlant - an obvious Stalin analogue - which are a similarly recurring theme throughout the Darkness books. In both cases, the conversations are seen from the point of view of a valued, high-level subordinate, who is nevertheless always filled with trepidation since the Dictator/King is rabidly paranoid, quite capable of ordering the summary execution of anyone arousing his suspicion. And still, both Molotov and Rathar are far from fawning, and when they think it important are both ready to contradict and confront Stalin/Swemmel - which few in the Soviet Union/Unkerlant would dare to do, and even fewer would survive doing. In both series, these sets of conversations are dramatic moments in themselves and also serve to inform the reader of important developments in the ongoing war. The Worldwar books include as a kind of counterpoint the conversations between Fleetlord Atvar and Shiplord Kirel, who sometimes discuss the same subjects discussed by Molotov and Stalin. These conversations seem mild and civilised by comparison, since Atvar has neither the power nor the inclination to summarily execute his underlings. The Darkness series has no such counterbalanicng set of conversations.

Tough But Loveable Sergeants
In all of the Turtledove works describing the life of combat soldiers - Southern Victory, Worldwar, Darkness, The War That Came Early as well as various stories and stand-alone books - there are recurring appearances of tough sergeants who are often hated by the soldiers under their direct authority but are also appreciated by them. (The character Istvan in the Darkness series starts out as a raw recruit, mercilessly disciplined and punished by Sergeant Jokai; after having undergone terrible combat and being promoted to sergeant, Istvan is startled to find himself copying the mannerisms of Jokai - who was killed in the meantime - and then reflects that "Of whom can one learn how to be a sergeant, if not of a sergeant?") As especially evident in the multiple-character series, sergeants act in much the same way in all armies, whatever the regime, ideology and cause they serve - Democracy, Absolute Monarchy, Fascist and Nazi or Communist. Also the magical weapons used in the Darkness series make no difference to the character of the sergeants, and also the non-human soldiers of The Race have their close approximation.

Duping Enemies To Surrender Despite Numerical Advantage
In How Few Remain, Jeb Stuart captures an American fort. He does this despite commanding a force far too small to overwhelm the US garrison through an elaborate deception: The night before, he has his men tend multiple campfires and generally create the hustle and bustle of a much larger force than they actually are. Believing himself to be outnumbered, the US commander surrenders. On realizing Stuart's deception, the commander is so indignant at having been duped that he appeals to Stuart's honor to release his men and allow them to refight the battle without deceptions. Stuart declines.

In Darkness Descending, Istvan's squad encounters an Unkerlanter force of unknown number while out on patrol in the wild forests in that kingdom's western frontier. The mage in Istvan's squad, whose name escapes me right now, casts a spell which amplifies the sounds of the Gyongyosian soldiers so that it sounds as though the squad is a regiment. As they approach the Unkerlanters, they hear the sounds of a brigade-level unit. Istvan is about to give up the pretense and surrender when an Unkerlanter soldier requests that Istvan accept his unit's surrender. The Unkerlanter unit was also a squad, and its number included a mage who had attempted the same trick. Despite the Unkerlanter mage casting a more ambitious spell--trying to pass a squad off as a brigade instead of a regiment--the Unkerlanters were more thoroughly deceived and were the first to surrender.

Accountants as Action Heroes
In both literature and real life, there is a widespread image of accountants and bookkeepers as staid, sedentary people. On two occasions in Turtledove's works - the character of Heinrich Gimpel in In the Presence of Mine Enemies and those of Ealstan and his father Hestan in the Darkness series - this image is turned upside down, and the accountant characters act with considerable courage and initiative in highly dangerous and challenging situations. Moreover, some of the characteristics needed in order to be a good accountant - for example, meticulous attention to details - are also of great value in surviving as, respectively, a hidden Jew in the capital of Nazi Germany and a Forthwegian under Algarvian (later Unkerlanter) occupation.

Help From Heroes' Dead Relatives
In Werenight, Gerin the Fox receives a brief message from the ghost of his deceased older brother. Though the message is confusingly nonsensical at first, it later proves to contain invaluable information which allows Gerin to triumph in his climactic battle against Balamund.

In Krispos of Videssos, Krispos falls into a drug-induced trance after being given narcotics by Trokoundos. In the trance, Krispos meets his father, who had been dead for some years. Krispos's father helps his son reawaken memories of country along the Kubrat border which the family had travelled in Krispos's youth. This in turn gives Krispos knowledge of the country's terrain which allows him to steal a march on Harvas's Halogai army.

In Between the Rivers, Sharur's late grandfather accompanies Sharur on some of his adventures. The ghost sometimes offers Sharur useful advice, though he provides mere comic relief, even to the point of annoying our hero, at least as often.

Outside of fantasy stories, or in fantasies which are meant to be comedic as opposed to dramatic, or are meant to be very realistic and relatable from the perspective of readers who live in a non-magical world, characters do not deal directly with deceased relatives. Characters will often take some sort of motivation, inspiration, or solace from the memories of their lost loved ones.

Losing Parents Is Hard
The murder of Sylvia Enos in The Victorious Opposition led George Enos, Jr. to wrestle with feelings of anger and bitterness from which he had not recovered by the end of the series.

The death of Marie Galtier in The Center Cannot Hold pushed the normally lighthearted and humorous Georges Galtier to experience inconsolable grief.

In The Victorious Opposition, Nicole O'Doull's grief at the death of Lucien Galtier leaves her feeling somewhat tender, to the point that she is hurt by her husband's sardonic comment about the sordid circumstances of his death--though Leonard also feels a profound sense of loss at his father-in-law's passing.

Gerin the Fox deeply mourns the death of his father, naming his oldest son in his father's honor and desiring revenge against the Trokmoi for decades.

Krispos is deeply affected by the death of his father. This is expressed in many ways throughout the trilogy of books which tell his story.

The death of Arthur McGregor inspires his daughter to devote her entire life to avenging him. Later, Mary's death traumatizes her young son.

Ethel Radcliffe is so affected by the death of her father (despite being only twelve at the time) that she spends twenty years plotting her revenge against William Radcliff, who was responsible for the pirate's demise. Ethel kills him. She is so driven to avenge her father that she cares nothing for the facts that she will die herself; that she will leave behind her husband and children; nor that William Radcliff had shown her mercy at Avalon and that she had benefited from his generosity and providence since then.

Losing Parents Is Hard, But Other Things Are Harder
In The Center Cannot Hold, Lucien Galtier reflects on the death of his wife by thinking that he had thought losing his parents had been hard. He quickly amends this to say that it had been hard, but that losing his wife was much harder.

Later, in Return Engagement, Leonard O'Doull considers Marie's death to have been one of the greatest sources of pain in his married life with Marie's daughter Nicole. Two other sources of pain were the deaths of Lucien himself and of Leonard's mother, the latter of which occurred offstage and was never commented on at the time. O'Doull quickly concludes that these parental deaths had not been painful enough to pose any serious disruption to the happiness of his life in Riviere-du-Loup.

In Drive to the East, Cincinnatus Driver mourns his mother, but does not feel as heartbroken at her loss as he might have, since he is more concerned with himself and his father surviving genocide.

In The Man With the Iron Heart, Diana McGraw reflects that, had her mother died instead of her son, she would have experienced emotional pain, but not as much as she did at losing Pat.

The death of Edward Radcliffe affects his sons Henry and Richard not so much as the death of a parent, but as an illustration of the threat which Richard Neville poses to New Hastings.

Cassius Madison grieves for his father and mother as well as his sister, but his grief comes within the context of mourning for the millions of black people who died under the genocidal Freedom Party, which lessens the feeling of individual loss.

This dynamic may be reversed in the case of Krispos, who remembers his father far more often than he does his wife, his sisters, or his foster brother, even decades after the elder Phostis's death.

Losing Parents Is Not Hard
Frederick Radcliff thought of his father from time to time, but never seemed to feel his loss, which occurred when Frederick was only three.

Jorge Rodriguez does not have much of a reaction to the news of Hipolito's death.

The younger Phostis, Evripos, and Katakolon never seem to give much thought to the late Dara.

George Enos, Jr. quickly comes to terms with the death of his father.

Especially if the Reader Never Met Them
Anne and Tom Colleton often think back on their deceased brother Jacob, at least in the years immediately after his death; and in Walk in Hell and Breakthroughs, his memory drives them to seek revenge against the leaders of the Congaree Socialist Republic. After Anne's death in Return Engagement, Tom sometimes remembers Anne as well, but neither one ever spares much of a thought on their parents, who had died offstage before the characters were introduced--and while Anne and Tom were quite young.

Jake Featherston lost both of his parents before his character was introduced in American Front, meaning they died when he was in his early twenties at the latest, an age at which most people still have a great deal of parental involvement in their lives, especially people who are unmarried (as Jake was). Nevertheless, in ten novels as a viewpoint character, with scores of scenes he narrates, Featherston mentions his parents only twice: once to say that his father had been an overseer who resented manumission of slavery (a stance with which the younger Featherston disagreed) and once to say that he had never allowed his mother to fuss over him while she lived. Neither reference gives any sign of a mournful tenderness; the former carries no emotional charge whatsoever, while the latter seems to suggest some irritation and resentment.

Neither Skarnu nor Krasta ever gives much of a thought to their deceased parents, despite both siblings being major POV characters throughout the six books of the Darkness series.

Vanai, another Darkness character whose parents were killed before the action of that series commences, likewise thinks but very seldom of her parents. However, she does go into mourning when she learns of the death of her grandfather, Brivibas, who had taken her in and raised her after her parents died.

However, William Shakespeare does grieve for his father in both Ruled Britannia and "We Haven't Got There Yet," despite the elder Shakespeare having died offstage before either story began (in the former case, anachronistically.)

No One Bleeds Pinstripes
Turtledove's alternate histories very often result in great New York Yankees playing their careers elsewhere.


 * In "The House That George Built," when Ruth finally managed to break into the major leagues he played for the Philadelphia Phillies, Boston Red Sox, and St. Louis Browns, but never the Yanks.
 * The void in baseball history left by Ruth's absence is filled by Buzz Arlett, who plies his trade not for the Yankees but for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Even after Arlett's retirement, the glamor that his presence gave the Dodgers has made them into perennial contenders, as the historical Ruth did for the Yankees.
 * In Southern Victory, Lou Gehrig plays football instead of baseball, like all historical baseball players named in the series. Gehrig plays not for a New York City team (which could be thought of as a Yankees analog) but for the Philadelphia Barrels.
 * In Worldwar, Mickey Mantle plays for the Kansas City Blues.

One-State Water
On Earth, it is quite common to encounter water in both its solid and liquid states. Turtledove has twice constructed alien societies where this is not so.


 * In A World of Difference, the planet Minerva is dominated by temperatures at or below the freezing point of water for most of the year, and the Minervans and other organisms of that planet have evolved to prefer ingesting solid ice to liquid water. During the summer months, water melts, though it remains quite cold by terrestrial standards. During particularly severe summers, Minervans sometimes resort to drinking water in its liquid form, but they find this distasteful. They use cold water for bathing and hot water as a weapon.
 * In Worldwar the Race has limited exposure to ice. Exactly how limited their exposure is, is the subject of some inconsistencies within the text. In In the Balance, as the Conquest Fleet approaches Earth and observes solid ice on the ground in the Arctic and Antarctic Circles, the Lizards reflect that on Home ice is rarely seen outside physics laboratories. In Homeward Bound, the Race acknowledges that solid water in the form of snow is a not-infrequent occurrence in the winter months in their planet's Antarctic Circle, though it does not remain on the ground year-round.

The Nazis can't Win for Losing
While Turtledove has dealt with several timelines where the Nazis won or at least did better than in OTL, he has also written several stories where the Nazis still manage to undo themselves, a proposition arguably supported by history.
 * The most dramatic example is Worldwar, where Nazi Germany, having survived an extra 25 years, launch a war against the Race, confident that the Race will fall. It doesn't, and the Reich is crushed in short order.
 * Despite their best efforts, the Nazis are unable to completely wipe out the Jews in the short story, "In the Presence of Mine Enemies", as some hide in plain sight well into the 21st Century. In the novel that expands the story, the Nazis find their rule challanged by reformers who harken back to the democratic ideals found in Mein Kampf.
 * In the short story "Shtetl Days", the Nazis decide to build historical Jewish villages populated by re-enactors. The Nazi demand for authenticity soon gives birth to new Jews, as the actors begin to identify more with their Jewish characters than with the cruel world the Nazis have built.