Robert Skimin’s alternate history novel is built around an amusing conceit: two years after George McClellan’s victory in the 1864 presidential election leads to independence for the Confederacy, the incessant rehashing of Jeb Stuart’s conduct in the battle of Gettysburg leads Jefferson Davis to convene a court of inquiry to settle the matter once and for all, thus allowing generals of both the real and armchair variety to rehash the conflict. For a group of Northern abolitionists training as terrorists, the venue is too tempting a target to ignore, and they plan a spectacular event that they believe will restart the war and achieve for good the postponed emancipation of the slaves.

Though Skimin’s novel starts out slowly, over time it develops it an enjoyable read. The basic denouement is predictable enough, yet Skimin proves more than able enough to keep the suspense mounting as to the details of the outcome. While he identifies Joseph E. Johnston’s continuation of command of the defense of Atlanta as his point of divergence, there really are two – the other being Jeb Stuart’s surviving the pistol shot received at the battle of Yellow Tavern, which gives him a rich and flamboyant personality around which to construct his novel. Yet his shrewdest decision was to focus the remainder of his narrative on second-tier historical figures, men such as John Mosby and John Rawlins, which gives himself more latitude in developing them as he sees fit. The result is a good read, and one of the better contributions to the famous “what-if” genre of Civil War alternate history. ( )

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