Although published in a different format and by a
different publishing company, A Date Which Will Live in Infamy is
clearly a companion volume to Brian M. Thomsen and Martin H. Greenberg’s
Alternate Gettysburgs. Both
anthologies focus on a single battle and include many of the same authors.
Furthermore, they both contain the intelligent inclusion of a
couple of essays on the actual events of the battle and the use of the
battle in writing alternate history.
In his introduction, Thomsen reveals something about
his own misplaced feelings about history when he states, “Historians
like facts that are carved in stone.”
This statement is made immediately after noting that his brother is
an historian, leading the reader to wonder how Thomsen came by this point
of view if he has had any historical discussions with his sibling. If history were simply a matter of “facts that are carved
in stone,” there would be no need for the ongoing historical debate to
determine why things happened the way they did.
Several years ago, Simon Hawke published a series of
twelve novels in the “Time Wars” series.
He opens A Date Which Will Live in Infamy with a short story
set following the last novel. “The
Sumter Scenario: A Time Wars
Story” is a short, discussion between General Lucas Priest and his
subordinate Finn Delaney in which Priest explains how Franklin Roosevelt
set the stage and encouraged a Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor.
Although the story ends with Delaney and another agent going back
to 1941 to ensure that the surprise attack does occur, there is very
little action beyond the talking heads aspect, and even the relationships
only exist to a reader who is familiar with the earlier series. On the other hand, “The Sumter Scenario” may be an
indication that Hawke is interested in returning to the series with a
fresh point of view.
In “The Secret History of Mr. Churchill’s
Revenge,” Tony Geraghty continues the early stories absolution of the
Japanese by laying the blame for the planning and initiation of the attack
on other feet. While Hawke
chose Roosevelt as his scapegoat, Geraghty lays the blame, as the title
indicates, on a Churchill who is tired of being ignored by Americans,
first his mother, and now Roosevelt.
In the end, the story takes a strange turn into secret history,
although it is not surprising and Geraghty provided plenty of clues
throughout.
Jim DeFelice is the first real alternate history
story in the novel. “Cain”
looks at two brothers, Louis, an army officer who warns the President
about an impending attack on Pearl Harbor, and William, a naval officer
who leads the counterattack following Pearl Harbor.
DeFelice successfully creates two brothers who have a long and
jealous history. He further
demonstrates how the events of history can rely on the activities and
petty issues of individuals who do not appear on the national or
international stage.
Ed Gorman provides a look at the consequences of
action in “Pariah.” During
the war, Frank Stover revealed that Roosevelt knew about the attack on
Pearl Harbor before it happened. Years
later, he is a scapegoat for people’s lack of faith in their government
and the destruction of a national icon.
Gorman provides a rational, and upsetting, examination of the way
this country treats whistleblowers.
R.J. Pineiro opens the next section of the book with
the story “Green Zeros,” which is set in 1943 in a world in which
Pearl Harbor was not attacked and the U.S. delayed even longer before
entering the war. Because of
German, Italian and Japanese expansion, the stakes are even higher for the
aircraft carrier and crew.
“The East Wind Caper” is a detective-noir story
which results in James Reasoner’s private eye getting caught up in the
events of the Japanese attack through no fault of his own. It serves as a strong reminder that although most of the
stories focus on the military aspect of the attack, there was also a
civilian population near the attack which was going about its own
activities.
“Path of the Storm” by William C. Deitz is,
perhaps, the story which most details the actions and decisions made
during the attack. Jumping
between different characters on both sides of the battle, Deitz presents
an interesting, and balanced view of where the decisions could have gone
differently, resulting in a different battle and outcome.
Unfortunately, by focusing so much on the single battle, Deitz
fails to provide what could have been an interesting follow-up presenting
the different path the war would have taken.
William H. Hallahan’s “The Fourth Scenario”
depicts a scenario in which Admiral Kimmel and others knew of the Japanese
attack before it could happen. The
story focuses on a sailor who is first reporting for duty with a minor
examination of Kimmel’s analysis of the situation.
In the end, advance n\knowledge does less good that surprise and
the reader is wondering about the importance of the sailor’s part in the
story.
Brendan DuBois looks at the maxim that history is
written by the victors in “Victory at Pearl Harbor.” Set on the
thirtieth anniversary of a nearly forgotten Pearl Harbor, Alex Dwyer is a
cub reporter in a depressed United States given the assignment to write a
brief article about a group of Pearl Harbor survivors.
Upon hearing their story of a Japanese surprise attack, Dwyer
writes a much longer exposé describing what really happened.
DuBois deals with revisionist history well by reversing the tables
on established history.
Barrett Tillman portrays himself as an apologist for
Charles Lindbergh’s pro-Nazi sentiment and activities in “I Relieve
You, Sir.” This is a story
of Lindbergh’s first days as president following a successful bid to
unseat Franklin Roosevelt in 1944. At
the same time, Tillman successfully portrays a view that the Communists
were a greater threat while demonstrating the disbelief that the Nazis
were capable of carrying out the atrocities which we know were committed.
Doug Allyn eschews looking at Pearl Harbor in favor
of a story set in the jungles of Viet Nam.
“Beer, Betrayal, and Ho Chi Minh” allows Ho Chi Minh to offer
his assistance to a United States which is trying to figure out how to
wage successful war against the Japanese war machine. Allyn’s story tries to do a little too much, tying in
French actions, the United States’ problems, Ho Chi Minh’s
aspirations, and the downing of an American pilot, in too short a space. Furthermore, the characters and action come across as little
more than a series of talking heads.
In a world in which Japan destroyed the US fleet at
Pearl Harbor and was prepared to impose a one-sided armistice on the
United States, William H. Keith, Jr.’s version of the end of the world
requires “A Terrible Resolve” for the United States to gain a victory.
Keith allows some of the scapegoats for Pearl Harbor, Admiral
Kimmel, Admiral Stark and Cordell Hull, to redeem themselves by offering
both a peace and a self sacrifice.
“December 7, 2001: A Classroom on the American Continent” is a short alternate history which focuses more on what
consensus history is and how revisionist history is created than on its
own allohistorical point. Although
Allen C. Kupfer has produced more of an essay than a story, it provide a
good historiographical ending to the fiction portion of the anthology.
