Good WW2 speculative fiction

[gchristie]

I'm curious after reading the AAR Max is writing and something Stauffenberg said about what might have happened had Germany elected not to launch Barbarossa and the potential for a Cold War between the two countries.

Does anyone know of any good speculative fiction on alternative outcomes of WW2, especially one that deals with the above?

As a point of reference, I think that Philip K. Dick's "Man in the High Castle" is a well done work on an alternative outcome of WW2. Stuff like the work of Harry Turtledove with AK-47s getting in the hands of the Confederate States of America is of little interest to me. It has to be plausible. I mean no disprespect to fans of Turtledove.

Regards,

[zechi]

One of the best WW2 alternate history books is "Fatherland" by Robert Harris (also author of other histoy novels like Enigma, Pompei or Archangel). The book plays in 1964 and the Third Reich won the war in Europe. All European states are either integrated in the the Greater German Reich or are puppet states (including Britain). The map looks likes this in Europe (it is included in the book).



There is a Cold War with the US and still (guerilla) fighting with an existing Soviet rump state with Omsk as capital. However, President Kennedy is about to visit Hitler on his 75th Birthday in Berlin, which could lead to an end of the cold war.

This is background of the book. The story itself is a criminal thriller, it begins with a murder in Berlin and a criminal investigation. There is also a movie about the book (as in case of most books of Robert Harris), but is not as good as the book.

[Kragdob]

Try reading Wiktor Suworow. He writes why actually Hitler had no choice but to attack in 1941. As an ex Red Army intelligence and GRU officer he seems quite convincing. Books are 'Ice Breaker', 'Suicide' and others. He is also quite talented novelist by the way.

[BuddyGrant]

"SS-GB" by Len Deighton is an excellent fictional account of a world where Germany successfully invaded Britain in the early years of WW2. Note that it won't necessary match up to the what-if experiments of a CEAW:GS successful Sea Lion invasion:).

[gchristie]

Thanks for the suggestions.

I did some quick browsing and also found these and wondered if anyone could recommend any of them?

The Plot Against America (2004) by Philip Roth looks at an America where Franklin D. Roosevelt is defeated in 1940 in his bid for a third term as President of the United States, and Charles Lindbergh is elected, leading to increasing fascism and anti-Semitism in the U.S.

Michael Chabon, occasionally an author of speculative fiction, contributed to the genre with his 2007 novel The Yiddish Policemen's Union. This book explores a world in which the State of Israel was destroyed in its infancy and many of the world's Jews instead live in a small strip of Alaska set aside by the US government for Jewish settlement. The story follows a Jewish detective solving a murder case in the Yiddish-speaking city of Sitka. Stylistically, Chabon borrows heavily from the noir and detective fiction genres, while exploring social issues related to Jewish history and culture.

[rtamesis]

Stephen Baxter's Weaver is a good read about a Sealion launched after the Germans push on to decimate trapped British troops trying to evacuate from Dunkirk.