Published by Del Ray, 1992.
paperback, 563 pages, $5.99, ISBN: 0-345-38468-7

The Guns of the South takes alternative history back to the American Civil War, circa 1864. Gettysburg has come and gone, the Union is starting its massive offensive, and the Confederate army has the spirit, but not the manpower or arms, to stop the drive on Richmond--or anywhere else.

Enter Andries Rhoodie, an eccentric "Dutch" inventor with an even more eccentric accent who wishes to show Robert E. Lee a new "carbine" which may turn the tide of the war -- the AK-47. And if something like the repeating rifle could "shoot all week," this new fangled AK-47 could shoot all month.

Needless to say, Lee takes the offer of all the AK-47s his soldiers can use, plus unlimited rounds of ammo, and the rest of the war plays out with superior Southern firepower versus superior Union numbers.

The arms, as you probably guessed, came via time travel, and the Dutchman proves to be a South African with an apartheid vision for the post-Civil War CSA. Turtledove brings out the battles by following the 47th North Carolina regiment through the campaign to wrest Washington DC from the Union. He weaves politicians, generals, and other historical figures on both sides into his prose.

As always with alternative histories, the farther afield from history, the more speculation creeps into the work. Turtledove portrays General Lee in a sympathetic way as Lee balances issues of states rights (apartheid included) with CSA solidarity. Of course, the 47th NC is recalled to duty to serve as a police force for enforcing martial law.

The Guns of the South is another Turtledove alternative history full of style and substance, with the imaginative world of a victorious CSA providing as much enjoyment as the events that led them there.