7.2 /10 1 Votes
Language English Media type Print (Paperback) OCLC 64279922 ISBN 0345482379 Country United States of America | 3.6/5 Goodreads Publication date 2006 Pages 410 pp. Originally published 2006 Genre Alternate history Publisher Ballantine Books | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Similar Red Inferno: 1945, 1945, 1901, 1882: Custer in Chains, Rising Sun | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1862 is an alternate history novel by Robert Conroy. It was first published in paperback by Presidio Press/Ballantine in June 2006, and as an ebook by Presidio in December 2007.
The novel depicts an alternative version of the American Civil War in which the United Kingdom allies itself with the Confederacy after the Trent Affair. In the real history, cooler heads prevailed after the seizure of the RMS Trent by Union forces, with the British only retaliating diplomatically (recognizing the Confederacy as a belligerent instead of merely being a rebellion).
Plot summary
In the year 1862, the United Kingdom gets involved in the Southern rebellion on the side of the Confederacy in the wake of the Trent Affair. After numerous defeats for the alliance, losing Robert E. Lee and most of Canada, Great Britain accepts an offer of peace from the Union on the Union's terms. As a result, Britain frames the Confederacy for supposedly causing the Trent Affair, and switches sides in the war.
Most of the battles take place in Canada or in the oceans, like Hampton Roads. A cavalry battle near the end of the novel takes place on the outskirts of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, presumably Hummelstown, Pennsylvania and Hershey, Pennsylvania. The climactic battle takes place at Washington, D.C..