Missives From the Green

“Halfway down the trail to Hell, in a shady meadow green…”

Fiddler’s Green. A pleasant rest stop halfway to the Styx, the Green was originally accessed by nautical service to the English Crown. Alas, it has currently been infringed upon by those felled while mounted upon noble steeds both living and mechanical. This collection contains six “What ifs…” of military alternate history whose characters would certainly qualify as its eternal denizens:

• Ride with U.S. Army tankers as they rush their new Pershing tanks into the Battle of the Bulge in “Blackjack At Bastogne.”
• Stand on the deck of the U.S.S. North Carolina as she rushes to save an Arctic Convoy from Kriegsmarine raiders in “A Christmas Action.”
• Fly with American pilots as they desperately attempt to stave off the Luftwaffe during a Second Battle of Britain in “Londonfall,” a Usurper’s War short story.
• Join the 72nd Armored Battalion as it desperately stands against the Communist tide outside Pusan in “Mr. Dewey’s Fire Brigade.”
• Two decades later, witness VF-84’s Tomcats battle the North Vietnamese Air Force (NVAF) and its Communist allies over Hanoi in “Mr. Ford’s Cats.”
• Finally, for the first time as part of a larger collection, this volume also includes the Usurper’s War novella Pandora’s Memories.

So go ahead and empty the proverbial canteen and prepare to be regaled once more by a “Master of Alternate History.” There’s plenty of “sabers keen” and “fierce melees” to be found in this collection of clashes that might have been.

NOTE: These short stories can also be found in the Arc of Ares series edited by James Young. They are collated here for ease of accessibility and fiscal economy.